Alaa Hassan

The Most Passionate eCommerce Coach & Advisor

Blogging

My Brand New Affordable Blogging Course Is Now Open

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Affordable Blogging Course

It’s true when they say that when you put your mind into something and you schedule it, it gets done?

Well, I followed that advice and guess what? It worked!

3 weeks ago, I decided to launch a blogging for fun challenge after one of my friends pushed me in doing so.  I wasn’t really ready for it but I still decided to go ahead and do it!  I planned it quickly and scheduled it to start the following Monday.

Here I am now, after opening the challenge to 10 students, my blogging course is now open to the public. But there’s 2 catches:

  1. Registration is open until December 31st 2014 at midnight.
  2. Only 20 available spots!

If you’re still struggling with launching your blog, this is course is perfect for you!

Register Today!

My November 2014 Blog Traffic Report

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My November 2014 Blog Traffic Report

Highlight of The Month

What an incredible month! I’ve been tweaking my passionTribe strategy from all angles.  I decided to add a community component to my blog and it’s called The Private Tribe.  This has led me to launch my first online course-“10 Days of Blogging for Fun Challenge“.  I recruited the first 10 people to take part in it and so far, very happy with the results.  I will be opening the course to the public in the month of December and sharing my experience with you through a blog post.

Something I Learned This Month

There’s nothing more valuable than listening to your readers (customers).  Sometimes we overcomplicate things without even realizing (I do that a lot).  This month, a friend suggested that I launch a blogging course to help people get started.  Honestly, I was planning on launching one, but figured it’s better to do it in 2015.  I needed more time to plan and prepare the content.  This time, I decided to reduce the amount planning and thinking and get something started immediately. Thanks to him, I launched the blogging for fun challenge successfully.  Create products/services that your customers need and not that you think they need.  Listen to them.  That’s what I did and so grateful for it.

Traffic Details

The main reason why you see an big increase in pageviews is mainly due to my membership area.  As well, I launched a private forum and that has helped me bring back many return users to my blog.  I also started experimenting with some email marketing but only for my blogging course.  I plan on launching a bi-weekly newsletter in December.

Total Visits  842   +18.59%
Total Visitors  513   -3.53%
Total pageviews   2,510   +132.84%
Pages per visit  2.98   +96.34%

Top posts

Top 3 Traffic Sources

  1. Social +14.23%
  2. Direct -20.52%
  3. Organic +14.49%

Top 3 Social Network Sources

  1. Facebook   +20.31%
  2. Linkedin  +70.59%
  3. Twitter  -53.85%

Tools I’ve Discovered & Love Using

Awesome Screenshot. I don’t know how I can go about browsing the internet without using this amazing screenshot tool.  Whenever I discover a problem on my website or client’s website, I take a screenshot of it.  I can then add comments to it and save it.  Such an amazing tool!

Picmonkey.com  A great tool to help you modify images and spice them up for your blog or social media efforts.

Feedly. My favorite curation tool.  I use it to read all my favorite blogs.  I don’t have to visit any of them.  The tool grabs all the latest posts from all the blogs a I follow in one central location.  Saves so much time!

Online Communities or Blogs I’ve Discovered & You Should Follow

I started following The Muse Blog – Career Advice.  I love the way they write their easy to read blog posts and they always choose interesting topics.  I share lots of their content on my own Facebook Page.

A Podcast I Discovered & You Should Listen To

I discovered Michael Hyatt a very long time ago and so happy to have done so.  You should start listening to his amazing blog post called This is Your Life.  Recently, he changed the layout where now, he offers a video version as well.  I love listening to it because it helps me improve my personal brand and continuously learn about new leadership and productivity skills.  He is indeed my virtual mentor.

Let me know if you want me to share any other data that you feel will be useful for you.

I truly hope this inspires you to start or keep blogging!

The Best Way To Create A Blog – Getting Started

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Best Way to Create a Blog

In this post, I plan on sharing with you the best way to get started with a blog whether you’re doing it for personal reasons or for business purpose.

 

What Is A Blog?

Here’s how Google defines a blog:

A regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.

Simply put, a blog is a public or private website where you, the blogger, shares digital content (articles, images, videos and documents) about a specific topic with online readers.

Blogs have evolved over the years.  They became a serious source of knowledge for Internet users.  Businesses also started leveraging them to generate leads for their products and services.

Need some blog examples?

Here’s a great infographic with some blogging stats that will blow your mind away.

blog stats infographic

Why Even Bother Creating A Blog?

There are many reasons why people start a blog and you really need to ask yourself why are you trying to start one yourself?

Having a purpose is important as it will allow you to stay focused.  I recently wrote a post, 6 things you need to do before starting a blog where I share the benefits of blogging.

Examples of reasons why people blog:

  • A digital journal (share what’s on their mind)
  • Sell products / services
  • Generate customer leads
  • Improve their personal brand
  • Get noticed within the industry

When blogging, you need to have some goals in place because the last thing you want to happen is you getting discouraged and deal with the lack of motivation in writing.  Most blogs fail due to this reason. People get too excited and quit too soon when they see no positive results from their efforts.

How Much Does A Blog Cost?

Some of my friends believe that having a blog costs a lot money.  Most of them are wrong.

Launching a blog can cost you $0.  It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve and how much you want to invest in it in the short and long term.

But if you’re really serious about blogging and you want to have your own domain name (ex: YourName.com), you’re looking at spending around $8-$10/month.

If you’re planning on creating lots of content, optimize your blog to drive lots of traffic and be able to promote your products/services, expect to spend around $25-$50/month.

For those that want to do more such as creating videos, courses, podcasts, manage emails and have a unique design, a blog can cost you around $100/month.

Costs will go up only if you get a lot traffic or if you have to share large audio/video/image files.  Obviously if you want to customize the look and feel, expect to spend some dollars on programmers.

If you’re just starting off, spending $8-$10/month will be more than enough.

Which Blog Software Should You Use? Here Are 6 Options to Choose From.

One of the biggest challenges you might face when launching a blog is choosing the right software.

Over the past 8 years, there has been lots of improvements within blogging industry.  Blog software has evolved to a point that it can be used more than just for blogging purposes.

Here’s a list of the most popular blogging solutions:

1. WordPress (my favorite platform)

This solution powers more than 23% of the Internet.  It’s considered to be the most popular software for blogs.

OPTION 1: Free Version on WordPress
Perfect for beginners with no IT knowledge and $0 budget.

If you’re new to blogging, I recommend that you use their free hosted solution to start with.  Why? I truly believe you really need to test the waters a little before spending any money on your blog.  Like I mentioned before, lots of people quit blogging after a couple of weeks or months.

By starting with WordPress’s basic package at $0, you will not lose any money and it will allow you to blog without taking huge risks. One problem with this option is your blog is going to have a URL as “http://yourblog.wordpress.com”.

This option is limited but a great way to get started.

Click Here to Get Started with WordPress Basic Plan

OPTION 2: Paid Hosted Version on WordPress (around $99/year)
Perfect for beginners with no IT knowledge and who want to customize their blog name and design

This option is great for anyone who wants to have a great first impression.  You will be able to select your own domain name, choose from all sorts of blog templates (some cost money), no ads and good support. In addition, you will have additional space within your account in case you need to upload large videos or high quality images.

This option gives you the piece of mind of owning a WordPress blog since it’s being fully maintained by WordPress themselves. Please note that you will still be limited since they won’t allow you to install all sorts of plugins.  Nonetheless, it comes with everything you need out of the box.

Click Here to Get Started with WordPress Premium Plan

OPTION 3: Self-Hosted Using Bluehost (from $5.99/month)
Perfect for serious bloggers with some IT knowledge who want more flexibility. customization and don’t mind dealing with hosting related issues and future upgrades.

This option allows you to have your own hosting space where you can install WordPress or any other type of software.  You can also get your own email address under your domain name.  This option offers you a lot of flexibility but remember, you will have to manage your hosting environment.

Sign up to Blue Host

OPTION 4: Paid Hosted with WordPress Partners (from $15/month) -> MY FAVORITE
Perfect for more established bloggers with some IT knowledge and who want more flexibility and customization without the hassle of dealing with hosting issues.

Why is this my favorite? Well, I like the piece of mind. I don’t want to worry about hosting issues but I still like being able to customize the blog.  You tend to pay a little more than option 3, but I truly believe it’s worth it.

Here’s a list of WordPress hosting partners you can use:

2. Ghost

Unlike WordPress, this platform is made only for the purpose of blogging and nothing else.  It’s easy to use, simple to understand and comes with everything you need to start blogging immediately.  You can download the free version but you will need to install it on your own hosting server similar to what I recommended in option #3 for WordPress.

They do offer paid versions as well.  If you really want to have a unique blog, you should give Ghost a try.  I actually like it but because I wanted more than just a blog, I decided to go with WordPress.

Here’s a great chart showing you the difference between free & paid Ghost

Click Here to View Ghost Packages Starting from $10/month

3. Medium

Medium was created by a co-founder of Twitter.  I like this platform because it’s a great way to tell stories and get noticed via your social networks with minimal effort.  One of my favorite social media gurus, Gary Vaynerchuk, uses it.

Here’s a great post that will help figure out if you should be using Medium for blogging.

Click Here to Get Started with Medium

4. Blogger

Blogger is owned by Google.com.  It’s a really old platform.  I am not a huge fan of it.  I used to have a blog on it many years ago.  I’m sure it changed a little but I honestly haven’t played much with it recently.

Click Here to Get Started with Blogger

5. Typepad

Here’s another old platform.  I don’t have much experience with it.  I do know that my favorite writer Seth Godin uses it.  He blogs daily on it.  I might test it out later on as I create some of my blogging courses.

Click Here to Get Started with Typepad

6. Tumblr

Tumblr is owned by Yahoo.com.  In my opinion it’s the most complete blogging platform that’s free to use.  You can purchase many themes for it.  The level of customization is limited nonetheless, it’s still comes with all sorts of bells and whistles for bloggers.

Click Here to Get Started with Tumblr

8 Steps to Create Your First Blog On Any Blogging Platform

1. Planning
Just like any other project in life, blogging requires careful planning.  Start by selecting a topic, do some research about who’s blogging about that topic, define some goals and schedule time to writing and promoting your posts.  Being consistent is key.  I always recommend that people should write at least 3 posts a week if they plan on having their blog rank well on Google.  I plan on writing about this topic in the near future.

2. Setup
Whether you decide to go with WordPress or any of the other platform I recommended, you will need to create an account in order to setup your blog.  You will need an email address and probably a domain name.

3. Design
The next step, my favorite one, is to choose a design for your blog.  Some blogging platforms come with free templates while others offer you premium ones at an affordable price.  I usually change my blog design every year.  I just like having something new.

4. Customize
Whenever you launch a blog, you tend to want to change certain features or layouts.  You will need to customize the look and feel as well as the overall behavior such as notifications or restrictions.  Every platform offers a level of customization for bloggers.  Some of them are advanced while others are limited depending on the packages you choose.

5. Plugins
Most platforms offer you ways of adding or setup certain plugins.  Consider adding Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics so that you can monitor traffic and rankings on search engines.

6. Write
Start writing about the chosen topic.  There’s lots to learn about choosing the right keywords, choosing the right post title and how to optimize your post for search engines.  I plan on writing about this topic as well and sharing more tips but for now, just get into the habit of writing interesting stuff.

7. Promote
This is the part I enjoy most. Promoting your content is key to driving more traffic to your blog.  You can use social media or email.  Let everyone know about your latest articles you’ve just written.  Be proud of it and share anything you do with your network.

8. Track
This is very important.  Lots of people start blogging but do not monitor their performance.  That’s why I recommended in step 5 to install Google Analytics.  Keep track of your efforts by monitoring which posts drive the most engagement (visits, comments) so that you can create similar content since it’s a sign that people are interested in what you have to say.

Final Thoughts

There’s a lot more I can talk about but I believe this is enough to get you started.  I plan on writing more articles about improving your blogging success such as choosing the right keywords or how to advertise your posts.

What topic are you planning on blogging about?

My October 2014 Blog Traffic Report

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October 2014 Blog Traffic Report

Highlight of The Month

This month, I’ve been focusing on blogging.  I want to get into the habit of writing consistently.  If I plan on taking this blog to next level, I need to make sure I develop a discipline of writing regularly and not being lazy about it.  It takes time to get ranked well on Google and I don’t want to waste any of it.

Something I Learned This Month

If you plan on launching a podcast, which I did, you really need to be ready for this type of work and committed to it.  I launched my eCommerce Training Academy Podcast but noticed that I am not really being consistent.  Maybe it’s because I have so much going on but nonetheless, I should be serious about it.  I will be launching a couple more episodes shortly.

Traffic Details

Total Visits  710   +265.98%
Total Visitors  533   +244.52%
Total pageviews   1,078   +132.83%
Pages per visit  1.52   -36.38%

Top posts

Top 3 Traffic Sources

  1. Direct
  2. Google Organic
  3. Facebook

Top 3 Social Network Sources

  1. Facebook   80.33%
  2. Twitter   10.88%
  3. Linkedin   7.11%

Tools I’ve Discovered & Love Using

Anti-Social. I discovered this amazing app by listening to Michael  Hyatt’s podcast one day.  I helps me avoid wasting time by blocking access to social media sites for a specific amount of time.  Great thing about is that it only costs $15 and you can’t bypass it when you enable it.  I wrote about how I became anti-social with this tool.

Youcanbook.me  An amazing calendar booking tool I use every single day when customers need to schedule a call with me.  I use it religiously in my conversion rate optimization agency.  Easy to use and free basic access.

Pixlr.com I use this tool whenever I need to create a new image for some of my online projects.  Last month, I mentioned Canva, which I use a lot, but Pixlr is sort of a Photoshop type of solution (free of charge).

Online Communities or Blogs I’ve Discovered & You Should Follow

If there’s one person I always recommend everyone to follow it’s Pat Flynn.  He blogs at Smart Passive Income.   I learned a lot from him.  I got lots of tips about blogging, starting my own podcast and how to make money online.  He has lots of experience and consistently sharing valuable knowledge every week.  Follow him today!

A Podcast I Discovered & You Should Listen To

Since I already mentioned Pat Flynn, how can I not talk about his amazing Podcast with over 10 million downloads.   I listen to it religiously when driving or working out at the gym.  If you really want to get started in blogging and actually learn how to make money from it, listen to his podcast.

Let me know if you want me to share any other data that you feel will be useful for you.

I truly hope this inspires you to start or keep blogging!

September 2014 Blog Traffic Report

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September 2014 Blog Traffic Report

Launching your own personal blog is a piece of cake.  What’s difficult is blogging consistently with interesting and valuable posts that will make readers come back for more and share your content with others.

But there’s one more thing you need: MOTIVATION

Here’s the reality:

When you initially start blogging, you’re excited.  You publish content regularly during your first and second week.  You actively share your content across social media networks.  You ask you friends and family to subscribe to your newsletter and much more.

Does that sound familiar?

That’s what I did with my 3 blog failures. But one thing I did was I never quit blogging.

When I launched passionTribe, my new blog, my goal was to inspire people to leverage the power of the Internet to do what they love.  I want them to discover their passion.  One tactic I recommend most of the time is to start a personal blog.

One thing most bloggers complain about is the fact that they get demotivated because they’re not seeing the results they expected – more traffic and income from their blogging efforts.

So here’s what I decided to do from now on.

Two of my favorite bloggers, Pat Flynn and Dale Partridge, both share their monthly blog earnings with their readers. They’re making some serious money blogging both online and offline.  When I see their results, it really inspires me to keep blogging because if they can achieve such success, so can I.

Every month, I decided to share with you a full breakdown of my traffic reports, what I’ve learned from my online efforts and some tips for those who are trying to achieve success with their online initiatives such as having a personal blog.

Highlight of The Month

I used to blog under my AlaaHassan.com and Tumblr but now, I decided to launch my personal blog under passionTribe.  I am moving over blog posts on a weekly basis to this one.

Something I Learned This Month

Instead of planning too much, I decided to focus on simply writing what’s on my mind.  I didn’t launch the blog with many categories.  This process really helped me focus on writing about any topic without limiting myself to specific ones.  Sometimes people plan so much that they end up not doing anything.  I decided to do the opposite.

I created a category called blog and started adding posts to it.  Each post has its own category but it’s not yet linked in the blog menu.

Traffic Details

Total visitors   194
Total pageviews   463
Pages per visit  2.39

Top posts

Top 3 Traffic Sources

  1. Direct
  2. Facebook
  3. Google Organic

Top 3 Social Network Sources

  1. Facebook
  2. Linkedin
  3. Google+

Tools I’ve Discovered & Love Using

Evernote.  I use it to manage all my notes and bookmarks.  I also use it to centralize my blog management where I keep ideas for upcoming posts and outlines.

Lastpass.  A good friend shared this amazing tool.  It allows me to store passwords for all sorts of websites I use online

Canva. An amazing tool I use every single day for my graphic needs.  Sometimes I wonder what would I do if I didn’t have Canva!  I create both blog and social media graphics using this tool.  It’s easy to use and free (unless you need photos which will cost you $1).

Online Communities or Blogs I’ve Discovered & You Should Follow

For years, I’ve been following Michael Hyatt by reading his blog and listening to his podcast called “This is your life”.  In September, I decided to join his Platform University.  My goal was to learn how to improve my personal brand by focusing more on my platform which includes this blog.  His Platform University allowed me to connect with great people and got access to valuable videos and resources to improve my brand. I think I remain a member for a while until I feel I don’t need it anymore.  I pay around $30/month.

A Podcast I Discovered & You Should Listen To

I discovered Seth Godin’s Startup School podcast perfect for anyone planning on launching a business whether it’s online or offline.  He covers lots of great topics and popular challenges faced by any entrepreneur. It’s only 15 episodes.  I listened to all of them while driving for a couple of days.

Let me know if you want me to share any other data that you feel will be useful for you.

I truly hope this inspires you to start or keep blogging!

6 Things You Need To Do Before Starting Your Personal Blog

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Starting a personal blog

Nowadays, don’t you feel that everyone seems to be blogging? Yet, you feel bad for nothing having started your own blog…right?

Before you do, consider doing the following things just like how I did when I decided to launch my personal blog passionTribe.com.

Trust me, it will save you time!

1. Choose a Blog Topic That Excites You

People believe that creating a blog is difficult.  Honestly, it’s not.  Technology made things much easier.  The challenge is finding a topic to blog about consistentlyselect a blog topic.

Before venturing into this world, you must select a topic you plan on writing about.

How do you come up with a topic? Well, I’m planning on writing about this subject soon but for now, you can consider your interests, experience, passions or skills.  Write about something you actually enjoy doing because you don’t want to end up in a situation where the topic is no longer exciting to write about.

In my first blog, I decided to write about my daily life experiences, almost like a digital journal.  What’s nice about having a journal is the fact that you can write about anything that comes to your mind.  This allowed me to get some ideas out of my brain and be able to plan for my future topics.

For example, you can choose a topic to blog about such “Cats as Pets”.  Let’s assume you plan on blogging about everything related to owning a cat.

2. Do Some Online Research About Your Topic

Since now you know what you’re going to blog about, you need to visit the most popular website on earth: Google.com and search for blogs about the same topic.

Visit each blog to see the look and feel.  While you’re there, browse through their blog posts to learn more about what they’re writing about and the amount of engagement they’re getting from readers such as social shares or blog comments.

The goal here is for you to see if there’s interest about this topic.  If no one is writing about it, then you need to ask yourself why? Could it be because there’s no interest about it (which is a bad thing) or no one has capitalized on this opportunity yet (which is a good thing).

If you simply want to blog about random stuff like a journal, then there’s really no need to search online for anything since your blog is going to be unique about you and your life.

Since we chose the topic of “Cats as pets”, do search on Google for other cat blogs. Here’s are some keywords you can search for:

  • “cat blog”
  • “cat lovers blog”
  • “cat pet owners blog”

3. Analyze The Top 5 Blogs Within Your Topic / Industry

Select 5 of the top blogs you discovered after doing a search on Google by choosing the ones that seem to be the most active.  Here are 4 things you can consider when choosing them without being too technical.

  • How many posts are published weekly?  The more the better.
  • How many comments from readers do they get on their posts?
  • Evaluate their social media presence. For example, see how active they are on Facebook.
  • Find out when was the blog created.  The longer, the better.

cat lovers google search

4. How Will You Benefit From Blogging?

Now that you know what you’re going to blog about and who’s already blogging about this topic, you need to ask yourself how will you benefit from your writing efforts.

  • Are you doing it for fun?
  • Are you trying to promote yourself as an expert?
  • Do you want people to hire you as a speaker?
  • Do you want to promote your book?
  • Are you trying to get customers to hire your services?
  • Is it part of a movement or cause?
  • (Business) Are you trying to get other companies to purchase your products or services?

You really need to know how you’re going to benefit from all of this or else, you will need some sort of motivation to keep you going.  Keep in mind that results from your blogging efforts will take time and you shouldn’t expect them to appear right away unless you already have an established network of your target audience (Facebook fans, email list).

Back to our cat blog, the benefit could be simply to sell your cat supplies, books, videos or promote a local directory for cat related services.  Let’s say you offer cat services for pet owners, you can use your blog to drive customers to your cat business.

5. What Is it About Your Topic That Makes You Passionate

What makes you so unique that people will benefit more from your blog than any other? Being passionate about your topic is key for long-term blogging success.

Ask yourself, why should people read your content?

  • You have years of experience?
  • You already teach/train people about that topic?
  • You have a diploma or certified?
  • You sell products or services within this industry?

For example, people will want to read your blog about owning a cat since you state that you’re a veterinarian and you’ve owned 15 cats so far.  You have the experience in dealing with all the challenges that come with owning a cat.  You have the credibility and experience and that will help you differentiate yourself from other bloggers within your space.

6. Evaluate Your Commitment to Blogging (VERY IMPORTANT)

Finally, you need to ask yourself this important question: Are you will to commit to your blog?

It’s great that you want to have a personal blog but are you willing to put the time in writing posts, promoting your content & engaging with readers?

I spend around 5-8 hours a week on my own blogs.  Everyone is different especially when you consider the type of content we write about and the length of our blog posts.

If you simply want to launch a simple journal style of a personal blog, consider putting it 2-3 hours a week at least.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I’m not a good writer but using my blogging journey as a way for me to improve on it.  Blogging allows me to relax and unload my brain.  I love the fact that I’m able to help others with my content and that really makes me feel good.

I would love to know what topic are you planning on blogging about or already doing so? Comment below.