I’ve been remiss in the past few days, because of the Easter holidays, but I’m determined to catch up by the end of the upcoming weekend. This challenge is very engaging and I am learning a lot about blogging. I really count on having built better blogs (as most of you know I have two) by the end of the 31 days, but part of it is staying on track, so back on track I get!


I just want to remind everyone that i am chronicling my own Challenge in order to encourage those who either already have blogs that are perhaps languishing, or small, nascent blogs like mine, and want to bring them to the “next level,” or have been thinking about creating a blog.
The great thing about this Challenge and about Problogger is that all this great material will still be there after the challenge is officially over. So if you haven’t joined now, no fear. You can take it up anytime you want and just follow the steps one at a time. But don’t forget, this is a challenge for existing blogs, so don’t try to do it at the same time as you are setting the blog up for the first time.
Today’s task is self-promotion, and Darren suggests 11 different ways in which we can promote our blogs. This is a particularly difficult thing for many people, and for me in particular. If you want to have any hope of succeeding as an online entrepreneur or blogger of any kind, you must learn this crucial part of your work: marketing yourself, your product, your content, your skills.
To make this task easier, Darren suggests promoting a particular post, rather than the blog as a whole, and in general I think this is an excellent idea. It’s more focused, so it’s not as daunting as trying to promote the whole blog. Also it allows you to pick one of your best posts, or more successful ones, and draw attention to the “best of you,” as it were. This can be more effective in drawing readers who will come back and read more.
The post I chose to promote is the one on Freelancing and managing our work time, and these are the ways in which I’m promoting it:

• I have “stumbled” the post – this means that I acted as one of my own readers and clicked on the “Share This” button at the end of the post. Then I selected Stumbleupon as the website on which I wanted to share the post. I followed the instructions, once I had clicked on my choice, and it gave me an option to write a little blurb on the post. Click on this link and you will see my favorite sites or posts that I have “stumbled.” If you click on this link, you will see that someone had already stumbled this article because they liked it: my friend Mario from Mario LIVE! So I didn’t have to write a blurb because he had already written it. But the article has now been stumbled by two people, and that raises its popularity.
• I have “dugg” the post – same thing again, I clicked on the Share This button and chose Digg as the site where I wanted to promote the post. If you click on this link, you will see that I did write this blurb.
• I posted a comment on someone’s blog. This is a very interesting thing, because I chose to comment on a post by Caroline Middlebrook, whose blog I love, and who also has installed a plugin on her blog called Commentluv, which automatically inserts the latest post you have published. So in the comment you can click on the person’s name and visit their blog, and you also see the title (which is a link as well) of their latest post, and click on that. Click here and go to the bottom of the post, in the comment section, to see what I mean. You will see a link to this very post you are reading right now.
• I used my newsletter. Last week, because of Easter, I didn’t publish the newsletter, so it’s going out today and I’m going to promote the Freelancer post in it.

If you are interested in reading all the 11 ways in which Darren suggests promoting a post, here is the link to the post on Day 3 of the Challenge. Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Day 1 of the 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge: The Elevator Pitch In this post I accept the Challenge launched by Darren...
2. 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge Roundup – Days 4-21 In this post a summary and roundup of days 4...
3. Reader of the Week: Miryam Stenger – Day 22 – 31-DBBB Challenge In this post I publicly thank one of my readers,...

A while ago I started using a new strategy for writing posts to my blogs: an editorial calendar. It’s low-tech, a paper wall calendar where I can see one month at a time. In combination with the calendar, I have two clipboards, one for each blog, hanging from the shelf above my desk. On the clipboards I write down ideas as they come to me. So at any given time there are a dozen or more ideas per blog. Every weekend I take the calendar off the wall and put it on the kitchen table, then I strategically take some ideas from the clipbaords and plot out the coming week, with the posts for both blogs and their respective newsletters. All this to say that I had a post programmed for today. It was the announcement of my Amazon Store on this site, something I’m very excited about.


At the same time, I am now taking part in the 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge, and today, day 2, our task is to write a list post. List posts can be great, because they allow the writer to easily organize her thoughts while also helping the reader. Lists are easy to scan, so the reader can see if there is anything of vital interest in the article without having to read the whole thing.

What was going to be an essay post in which I waxed poetic on the joys of having my own Amazon Store (aStore for short) is now going to be a list post which will break things down very easily for you, my dear readers. Here are the 5 reasons it’s g-r-e-a-t to have an aStore:

1. If you like my blog and the tech tips I give you, in addition to the “putting your skills online” tips, you will be interested in the books I recommend. Also, since Amazon sells everything, my store is not limited to books, so when for instance I answered a question on how two computers can share one monitor, I was able to list in my store the sexy device switcher thingy sold by Amazon that will do exactly what my friend Denise wants. So, reason number 1 is that having my own store allows me to recommend books and other products I think you as my readers might enjoy. One thing I would like to point out here is that having this store allows me to practice what I preach. I have taken some offline skills I have and put them online: I am good at teaching people how to do things, and I am also trustworthy, honest and reliable. You as my readers know you can count on me to tell it like it is, so if I recommend something you can be sure it is what I say it is.
2. I am not limited to the Amazon categories. If I want to create a category called “All Things Polka-Dotted,” I can. And then I can put in it shoes, books, beauty products, cell phone, you name it. There is no rule that says I can only put the same type of product in a category. I get to mix and match however I please. This means that I can create “kits,” a grouping of items that one might need for a specific task or goal: A book, some tools, an appliance, an electronic gadget could all go together in the “Get Rid of Your In-laws Without Getting Caught” category.
3. You, the readers, have a very pleasant and straightforward experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon.com as much as the next gal, but when you find a product you think you might like and you start to scroll down to check out a review or the product description, you have to wade through a ton of “people who bought this also bought” and “frequently bought together” and “recommended for you” stuff before you finally get to the information you’re looking for. Not so in my aStore! Here you get a compact description of exactly the product you click on, nothing more, nothing less. In my book that’s worth a lot right there. Even I like to check out the products I recommend in my own store.
4. I get a commission on everything you buy. This is a nice perk for me, and if you enjoy the blog it will also give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, since you will be supporting the blog.  [oh, there is also 4a - I believe that if you click on the amazon button in the top of the button that contains the categories and go on to buy any product on Amazon.com at all, I get a commission; the reasoning being that you may not have visited Amazon.com that day had it not been for my store. Pretty nice, eh? So if you go in for a book and end up buying a lawn mower, I get a commission on that as well. Sweet!]
5. It has a personalized design, so I get to choose the features that the store has. I have chosen two features for my aStore. In addition to the small square at the top that contains the categories of products to be found in the store, you will find a Similar Items window, which might come in handy. If you click on a product, a second window opens up between the Category window and the Similar Items window, called Listmania! This is a compilation of lists made by Amazon customers like you and me, also lists that can cross categories (I’m not the first to have thought of this). If the item you have clicked on is on someone’s Listmania! list, then the link to the list will appear in the Listmania! window. I also get to choose the look and feel of the store, meaning the background color, the color of the links, the color of the banner, etc. I think my store is simple and pleasing to look at. What do you think?

So, don’t forget, when you read a review on the blog, or you think of buying something on Amazon, head to my store and use it as your portal. You will be getting what you want and I will be getting a small commission. Every little bit counts! Look for the aStore button on the upper right-hand corner of any page in the blog, and click on it. Thanks!

Related posts:

1. Ask Egg Bird: How to Sell a Book Published Abroad on Amazon In this post I answer the question, how to sell...
2. Day 1 of the 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge: The Elevator Pitch In this post I accept the Challenge launched by Darren...

I just wrote a nice long post about what this challenge is over on turtle^haus, my other blog. But if you don’t feel like taking a detour over there to find out about it, I will briefly outline it here.

The great Darren Rowse, who inispires me in so many ways, is promoting this Challenge. It’s the third time he’s doing it and every time it’s a little different. This is for people who already have a blog or two and want to take it or them to the “next level.” I would qualify as one of those people. So as I do the challenge I’m going to tell you all about it, so in case you ever want to start a blog, or you already have one but don’t quite feel up to the Challenge, you know where to read up on the various tasks and how it feels to go through them.

Today is day 1 of the Challenge, and we have been given our first task. It is: Write an Elevator Pitch for your Blog. The idea of an elevator pitch is, if you find yourself on an elevator with someone who could be a good person to network with, who could hire you, become a business partner, give you a nice affiliate program, write a review about your blog, interview you on the radio about your blog — you have about 30 seconds of elevator time to tell them what your blog is about in an interesting, captivating, intriguing way that is going to be clear but at the same time leave that person wanting to know more.

So here is my Elevator Pitch for Life+Web:

Hi, my name is Ilaria and I write a blog called Life+Web. It’s a blog made especially for the times we live in. I give people who are technologically challenged the tools to make friends with the computer and the internet. Then I show them various ways in which they can reinvent themselves, teaching them how to put their offline skills online and market them.

It takes me 19 seconds to deliver this, with the appropriate pauses for effect. Please let me know in the comments what you think of my Elevator Pitch. If you were in that elevator with me, would you get off and go check out the blog?

Related posts:

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The title of this post should perhaps have been, what are you good at in real life? or What are your offline skills? or What do you know how to do? or What are your hobbies? You get the idea.
This post is not meant to teach anybody how to do anything in particular. The intended goal is to get you to think, and not just for a minute but for a long time, about what you already know how to do, what you love, what you have a passion for, what you do in your free time, what you’ve always wanted to do, etc. Today I was reading some very informative and interesting stuff over at IttyBiz, and something that Naomi said caught my attention. She was talking about this guy, probably fictional, who works in a town with one big giant employer who makes canned soup. So the guy gets laid off together with a couple of thousand other guys and gals, and all he had been doing for twelve years was chopping mushrooms. Naturally there is no one in the area remotely interested in hiring someone with his unique “skill set.” I put the phrase in quotes because there is no actual “set” since all he does is chop mushrooms. Then she imagines another scenario in which this same guy a few years back had decided to set up a couple of small online ventures on the side that have been steadily growing all this while. So when he loses his job he’s not panic stricken like all his colleagues, but rather thinks he will just throw himself full time into his online ventures and make them blossom into fully fledged revenue streams.


So, what are you good at? I’m not just talking to people who have lost their jobs and are looking for a way to reinvent themselves. I’m talking to people who may already have a job but are coming to the realization that in the current climate there is no such thing as “job security.” And we are not likely to go back to a time when there will be. Ever again. I honestly don’t think we can ever go back to a situation in which people can get a job and expect to keep it until retirement. So, what to do?
I’ll make an example of a cousin of mine, whom I’m very fond of, and has a skill that I think could come in quite handy. I haven’t asked his permission so I won’t use his name or anything, and this is just as an example. My cousin Brad (not his real name) has become an avid fisherman, but what makes him unique is that he has taught himself to make his own flies and invented some fancy flies of his own. I don’t know anything about fishing or fly fishing or making flies, but I do know this:

• It is meditative, considered a Zen activity by many;
• Well made and innovative flies are considered works of art and admired by other fishermen;
• Fishermen are always looking for new flies, and not everyone is willing or has the ability to make his own.

I don’t know about you, but I see an opportunity in this. Now, Brad has a job, and as far as secure jobs go, his is pretty secure. But it’s still a salaried job and it is not likely that he will accumulate a great deal of wealth in his current position. With not too much effort, he could set up a blog and post pictures of his flies, videos on how to make his flies, and eventually develop an email course, a video course, an ebook, on fly making that he could sell to his readers. And I just know that there would be takers.

This is just an idea, of course, but I think it’s a valid suggestion. I also think that it has marketing potential. So I’m putting it out there, Brad, you know who you are! Start a blog and show all those wannabe fly makers how it’s done.

All joking aside, I don’t want anyone to run out and throw themselves into a new blogging activity or online marketing scheme without having thought about it well and hard. The world is a big place, the internet is a big place, and no matter how bad things get there will always be people interested in buying things, learning how to make things, learning how to do things, and in just plain being entertained. Life+Web is a blog devoted to helping people take real life, offline skills and putting them online, in order to obtain exposure to a broader audience than they can command from, say, their garage. They say that retail is dead. Retail is not dead, not by any stretch of the imagination. It has merely moved… to the internet. In this day and age, aside from the odd restaurant and coffee shop, I don’t recommend that the average Joe attempt to open a retail store. But an online store… well anyone can do that. And if you choose your product or service or information wisely, you will find an audience and you will find customers.

In order to get the ball rolling, here is a list of things I’m good at:

1. Reading (huge money maker);
2. Writing;
3. Translating back and forth between English and Italian;
4. Teaching;
5. Talking to people and making them feel at ease;
6. Empathizing and connecting with others;
7. Managing a household with close to zero clutter;
8. Being my own contractor in a renovation;
9. Buying the house of my dreams in New York in 8 weeks (do not underestimate this skill);
10. Going to school — meaning I’m a good student.

Well, that’s a list of ten items. I’m sure I could come up with another ten things. What’s amazing is that what you are good at can be a tiny, weird thing that nobody has ever heard of, that can turn out to be wildly successful if you just let people know you are doing it. Give me some feedback, put your top ten list in the comments, and I’ll give you some advice of what to do with it.

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