photo credit: Paul Worthington

Everytime when we sit down and blog, the most challenging issues will be what topic shall we blog about to make the best out of it.

Choosing a good topic is like having a good headstart in race. Once you have a good headstart, there will be no stopping and most likely to win the race. Thus having a good topic to start with, it will establish your main niche/branding in your blog and attract targetted readers easily.

I’ve come up with some ideas on how you can choose a topic for your blog posts:

• Get ideas from hot selling magazines
• Think of problems you are facing and write a “how-to” post to help your readers
• Be creative - Your readers not only want to read about your successes but they also want to read about how you did it and the ups & downs in it
• Ask your readers - Setup a poll asking them what they wish to read
• Read up your old posts and derive ideas from them
• Check out other blogs and see what popular posts topics are
• Pictures - Sometimes you can find a nice picture and related a good topic with it
• Don’t post just for the sake of posting - A killer
• Be unique - Don’t fully copy other blogs ideas and go with it, add some twists with your unique style

A blog post with no good topic is as good as not having good content with a good topic.

There are some bloggers out there screaming, “This is how I did it! Just follow these steps, and you’ll get a thousand visitors a day!” But for most bloggers, this is not how it works. It takes dedication, passion, and time. But most of all, it takes content that’s going to get people’s attention enough for them to stick around, bookmark it, and tell a few people about it. Here are some tips to creating quality content worthy of social media marketing.

1. Be interesting

Since there’s an oversaturation of blogs out there today, people are picky, and they won’t Stumble, Digg, Furl, whatever your blog if it’s not interesting. It’s easy to submit your own articles to bookmarking and networking sites, but these websites will only get you traffic if the content you submit goes viral. And in order for this to happen, your content has to be interesting.

To be interesting, you need to find your own blogging voice. This takes time and practice, especially if you haven’t written much in the past. Let your passion for your topic and your sense of humor come across in your posts. Instead of sounding like a textbook, tell a story.  Do your research, but don’t over-research; write from your own perspective. There’s a great article on Copy Blogger about How To Be Interesting, including tips like “be wrong,” “unleash your inner dork,” and “break an important piece of news.”

2. Be useful

If you only write about topics that have been covered in hundred of other blogs, readers won’t find your content very useful. You can use social sites to find hot topics in your niche.

• Read other blogs in your niche and see what questions people are asking
• Keep track of your category in social bookmarking sites and see what gets Dugg, Stumbled, etc. the most
• Use keyword tools like Wordtracker to see what people are searching for
• Read forums in your niche to find out what information people are asking for the most

You can get your best ideas not from other people’s articles, but from the discussion that goes on as a result. If you do write about something that’s been written about a zillion times, make sure you have your own unique spin and refer to your past experiences. People won’t promote your content for you if they’ve already read the exact same thing on 10 other blogs.

3. Be controversial

This one can be tricky, especially if you are afraid of ruining your reputation as a professional blogger, or you’re generally sensitive to criticism. But let me tell you, a controversial article will get a lot of attention because people will just HAVE to put their two cents in if they disagree with you. If you get a lot of comments, people might react to your post by posting about it in their own blogs. This will get you even MORE traffic. And you don’t have to be controversial in the negative sense. If you can, make your readers laugh. Write something hysterically sarcastic and see what the reaction’s like. People tend to respond to sarcasm.

4. Encourage discussion

End each of your posts with a question posed to your readers. This will make it easier for your readers come up with a comment, and these comments can turn into a discussion that can last long after you’ve posted the article. And the more comments your article has, the more likely people will think it’s worthy enough to read.

There are several wordpress plugins you can use to give readers an incentive to comment on your blog. You can see an example of this in Erwin’s “Top Commentators” section over to the right.

Remember, blogging isn’t a race to the finish line. You’re not going to see immediate traffic; success will be a long-term progression. If you want to be able to promote your content on social media sites, be interesting and unique, and don’t be afraid to let your voice show in your blog.

What kinds of blog posts do you tend to bookmark or email to friends? Do you click the ads on these interesting blogs? How do you write your own content to attract readers?

Thanks, Erwin, for having me as a guest blogger!

There are lots of niche markets out there but talking about niche genius, how many can you find?

This post is not about who is smarter or more capable to excel in niche marketing. Many of you can simply use your own researching techniques and come up with niche markets that are pretty hot in demand while many are struggling to find one since day one.

So is finding a hot in demand niche market the most important step to your online business?

Many have seem to be misleaded by the words of experts. Finding a hot in demand niche market doesn’t always makes you money/profits in the long run.

So what is the real truth behind it and what’s it gotta do with being a niche genius?

In my own term, a niche genius is someone who not only discover hot and targetted niche markets, they are very profitable as well. Just like an expert explorer who could find hidden treasures while none of us could.

These “geniuses” really know how to leverage on these found targetted niche markets and multiple their income simply instantly.

If you still can’t get the picture, don’t worry too much as I’ve simply been there and done that myself.

For example, “Forex” and “Myspace” are highly targetted and searched niche markets. Can you tell me which is more profitable?

Although there are lots of myspace users, but most of them are students who aren’t willing to spend any money on myspace itself. But it’s a totally different story for forex searchers, many of them are have their basic income and are willing to spend money on forex to multiple them.

So it isn’t difficult to find a highly targetted and profitable niche market at all. All you have to do is to take an extra step more and make the comparison. *Hint* Take a look at all the famous magazines, if they are not highly in demand and profitable, will those big companies print and sell them like hotcakes?

So why can’t everyone start unleashing the niche genius in yourself today?

Although this is not the only step to being a” niche genius”, but it’s one of the most important step if you want to make real money in a long run.

I’ve included more methods and techniques below, feel free to hit me a comment if you have any methods or techniques you will like to share with everyone, I will be willing to include them in this post.

2 easy methods to avoid niche market researching failures

• Think of any Backend opportunites in them
• Testing and Tracking
• Indepth Researches
• Not pulling out from bad niche markets instead waste more time on them
• Self-motivation and Never give up attitudes even after failuresBe passionate/interested in the niche markets you are in
• Right tools/softwares

If there is any hidden secrets to success that most of us can’t see, it’s actually to fail.

Hope many times did you and me fell before we even really learnt how to walk?

Hope this video could spark some inspiration in whatever you are doing.

Why is choosing the best domain name for your website, blog or even forum is extremely important.

I’m pretty sure when you learn about branding is so powerful. Just look at MacDonalds, Ferrari and Nike, they aren’t related product companies but why are they widely recognized worldwide all the time. It’s all about their brand/name.

Alright, let me cut the crap and get down to choosing the best domain name for yourself.

First and most important step, is that you must come up with relevant keywords to your website’s targetting market.

I compile a list of key steps that you will need in order to find your best domain name:

1. Keep it short & sweet - Although long names seems unique but shorter names are proven to be easier to remember by many. They look pretty neat and nice on logos and signboards too.
2. No difficult words please - Nobody will want their readers/customers to face difficulty in pronouncing their brands/names.
3. Hyphens & numbers sux - You would never want hyphens or numbers in your domain names as it will become a catastrophe pronouncing it. Would you rather have your domain name as “www.yourname.com” or “www.your-name.com” and imagine spelling out 7 or seven.
4. Dot com rules big time - Always register Dot com domains. Mostly people acknowledge Dot com domains as real deal sites that are worth surfing at. That’s one of the reason why domain companies charge Dot com domains compared to Dot info.
5. Thesaurus is your best friend - It’s the best resource book that you can check to come up with catchy and relevant words. It’s also a time-saver for alot of bloggers and copywriters.

There you have it. My small list of how you can apply o choose the best domain name for yourself. If you do have any suggestions or ideas, feel free to write in a comment below and I will update them up here. Thanks!