This guest post is by Sunil of extramoneyblog.com. Many business owners leave or start their businesses thinking they can achieve more freedom only to find themselves toiling away in their businesses and thus having bought or created themselves another job. Blogging is no different for most bloggers. Many bloggers who enter the blogosphere with the intention of making money online and someday freeing themselves up from time commitments such as a 9 to 5 job often end up getting tied up to their blogs and

This guest post is by Amy Harrison of Harrisonamy.com. To the public, not all experts are created equal. What’s more, this division exists in all industries, and in every blogging niche. And it’s not just about working harder, or longer than other people. It’s about knowing how to rise through the ranks of the expert “hierarchy.” To illustrate, consider for a moment the difference between a chef in a restaurant, a head chef in a five-star restaurant, and then Gordon Ramsay.

Yesterday we were talking about how benchmarking your blog and your performance against those of others only goes so far to give ou an idea of “how your blog’s going.” As I said then, looking at others—other people, other blogs—even subconsciously for an indication of where you and your blog sit isn’t usually very helpful. I said then that today I’d give you some examples of areas where I think my blogging’s doing okay—things that have less to do with stats and revenues

This guest post is by Neil Patel of Quick Sprout. We’ve all been taught to create high-quality content to attract links. This argument is usually stated in the context of a blog that basically becomes an authority where you start to build a following around consistent, fresh content—think big sites like Problogger or Boing Boing. This is not the technique I’m talking about.

This guest post is by Sonal Pandey of Tap Easy. Some things don’t get better with time. This was going to be one such case. Here I was, sharing an awesome technique capable of changing lives, but not many were paying attention. My niche had the perfect demographic—open-minded, receptive, and suitably educated, with interests ranging from psychology to health and fitness. And yet… I had over 35 solid posts on the blog. I had a video up on the sidebar demonstrating exactly how to use the

This guest post is by Alexis Grant of The Traveling Writer. During the last six months, I’ve published two ebooks: one that’s selling wonderfully, and another that flopped. Why did one succeed, while the other—at least in sales terms—didn’t? What was the difference? It wasn’t a beautiful cover, nor a pre-launch sale, nor an impressive newsletter list. The differentiator was a factor you have to consider before you even begin writing your ebook.

A couple of weeks ago I ran a census of ProBlogger readers to help us work out how to serve you better in 2012. Thousands of people participated (thanks to everyone!), so I thought I’d share a few of the results that stood out to me. Some of them are based upon comparisons we made to last time we ran a similar survey, around two years ago. Thanks to everyone for participating in this year’s census. The above info, plus your thousands of suggestions, have given me (and the team behind

This guest post is by Josh Sarz of Sagoyism. Do you ever feel like it’s high school all over again? I’m talking about blogging. The whole “turn over a new leaf, do something great, do epic stuff, get famous” sense of it all feels like high school. You know that feeling. It’s similar to when you’re just starting out, wanting to make a name for yourself, and hoping that some day you’ll become famous and get buckets of cash.

“What was ‘the tipping point’ for your blog?” This question is one that I’m regularly asked in interviews, and it is one that is challenging to answer. The assumption behind the question is that there is often some kind of event that pushes a blog into the limelight. The reality is that it’s not always this way. Let me illustrate this by telling the stories of my two main blogs—ProBlogger and Digital Photography School.

This guest post is by Martyn Chamberlin of Two Hour Blogger. “What should I write about?” It seems such a silly question. Of course you know what to write about! In fact, you could argue it’s even impossible to write about the wrong thing. That’s like ordering the wrong iPod! Whoever heard of such a thing? As you know, if you write long and hard enough, someone will listen.