“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art, and working is art, and good business is the best art.” ~ Andy Warhol
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Years ago, in the world of self employment, I was fortunate one of the most successful local businessmen I know was willing to give me an audience on certain occasions to solicit his sage advice.
He’s one of the wealthiest men in Arkansas, diversely entrepreneurial and a wealth of knowledge.
Out of respect for his time I would call on him only when I needed advice the most.

In passing one morning, he said this:
“The key to making real money is to learn how to make money when you sleep.”
Ever since, I’ve aspired to master the art and science of “making money when you sleep.” It’s surely something to think about.
I’ve never made a dime from a blog post. But my three blog sites do have a future monetary purpose. They’re a platform designed to build a community of followers (more importantly friends) for a book release in the coming months.
And for the record, I just purely enjoy being a part of the blogging community.
But as the release of Light Wins approaches, I’m taking the platform building process more seriously – with a more strategic approach.
And I’m learning more about how to get blog hits when I sleep.

Here are just a few things I’ve learned:
- You must go beyond writing and hitting the “publish” button.
- You must become a student of your blog’s metrics.
- In studying your metrics, you can determine which days, which hours and which parts of the world draw the most attention to your posts.
- I write early in the morning. My posts are usually complete by 5 a.m., but I don’t publish until around 6 a.m. It seems my readers read early in the morning before they go to work.
- Readers also view published posts via social media during their lunch hour, at the end of the work day and during the evening.
- My metrics indicate that Sunday, Monday and Friday draw the most attention. Saturday posts are a crapshoot.
- Promotion of your blog posts via social media is a science where you must draw a fine line. Your goal in blogging is to become a commodity of information to which people look. But beware the danger of over-exposure. Be purposeful in when, and how frequently you promote via social media. It’s easy to post too frequently and get overlooked.
- Aside from word press blog followers, my best success comes from promotion through Facebook and Twitter. I do roll my posts into Linked In, but the results are minimal.
- Twitter promotion is an art. It’s a fast-moving medium and a challenge to get noticed. You must be creative in your short Twitter tease for someone to take notice.
- Use every short link possible in your post. Refer readers back to previous and related posts you’ve written. My goal is to get readers caught up in a web where they’re not just looking at one post, but clicking through several on each visit. It’s measureable, and you can see it working.
- Show respect to your followers, likers and those who comment. If they’ve taken time to read your work, it’s the ultimate compliment, and I do everything I can to return the favor.
- Establish a “predictable” publishing cycle. I expect my daily newspaper to arrive in my driveway every morning around 5 a.m. Your readers may expect the same of you. As a blogger, YOU ARE are a publisher with the potential for a wide-reaching impact. My posts can generally be expected at 6 a.m., noon, and sometimes if I’m bored, around 7 p.m.
- Topically, you can carve out a niche, or go with diversification. Some bloggers have huge success with advice on writing, self-publishing or photography. Others simply chronicle their life on a variety of topics. Both work, and both have their benefits. I try, with moderate success, to do both.
- Be consistent in your categories and tags. Most of my posts are categorized in the topics of writing, books and publishing. And I always tag my own name and the name of my book. If you show up in the same place frequently, others will know better how to find you.
- And follow the advice wordpress gives. Limit the sum of your categories and tags to nine. If you go beyond that, your strategy may not work. I always go with three categories and six tags, and almost always get the placement I desire.
- When you have an idea for a post, write it down and put it in your pocket. It’s easy to forget a great idea.
For me, it’s a cheap thrill to get out of bed and find I’ve had a hundred views over the night. It’s just one of the things that gets my day off to a good start.
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Reblogged this on MyWindow2theWorld and commented:
Advice from a businessman!
Great advice for gaining momentum in platform building. Wasn’t just a few months ago that you scratching your head at all this? Well it looks like you’ve really picked up the ball and are running with it now. Looking forward to seeing your presentation at the retreat this fall.
Great advice on how to get a blog rolling. Can’t wait to see your presentation at the writers retreat in Bartlett this fall.
I took some time. The real challenge is balancing time in platform building vs. book writing. I’ve tried to become a student of both. Brad has helped tremendously on the book writing side. The platform building required a lot of self-learning.
Best blog advice I have seen yet! Making some corrections to mine! Thanks
for the insight.