Have you ever wondered what the absolute ‘Holy Grail’ of marketing is? The one thing that can catapult you to success more so than any other factor?

I am a real student of success and successful marketing….it just fascinates me. I am always looking at successful companies, and especially successful people, and wondering, “How did they pull that off?”, and “What was the biggest factor that contributed to their success?”

More often than not, the same few qualities play a large role in the biggest success stories.

After many years of paying attention to this, I have determined that the factor that plays the biggest role in most amazing success stories is personality and persona. Or, more accurately, creating and maintaining a genuine cult of personality is what contributes the most to a person’s success.

In this article, I will describe the power of creating a cult of personality, the keys to developing one for yourself, and using it to reach higher levels of success and accomplishment.

What is a Cult of Personality, and What Role Does it Play in Marketing?

A cult of personality is when a person has such charisma, such confidence, such intelligence, and so much individuality and powerful communication skills that they begin to form a following of people who are naturally attracted to them and what they represent. This following eventually snowballs and gains momentum until they have grown to have great influence over the large following that they have created.

We have seen this over and over again mainly with very public figures such as politicians (for whom the term was first used to describe), actors, authors, musicians, and businesspeople. Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign was the perfect example of using a cult of personality to create great success; he cultivated his image to the point where millions of people revered him as the answer to all of the country’s problems.

When I look at the types of actors whose films are most popular and who I enjoy watching most, I see a common thread between them all. The same goes for musicians.

The actors and musicians and authors who gain the greatest success are always the people whom the public most wants to be like. As consumers, we buy into the person before we buy into the product. This is the key principle behind the marketing power of creating a cult of personality; that people are always buying into the image and likeability of the person behind the product or service before they buy the product itself.

We can also see this in other fields as well; blogging is no exception. Naomi Dunford is a powerful example of a blogger who has attained great success in blogging and online marketing through creating a cult of personality around her. Naomi’s unique, personal, confident writing style and online persona have allowed her to create a loyal following of readers and fellow bloggers who follow her every post, promote her through linking and positive mentions on their own blogs, and generally hold her in high regard. This cult of personality that she has created has also allowed her to become very successful at her marketing efforts, because she has reached a point where people buy from her not because of what she is selling, but because she is the one selling it.

That is the power of creating a cult of personality.

How We Create a Cult of Personality

I have given a lot of thought to how a person can consciously create a cult of personality, and what qualities give a person the power to become a personality leader. It is a bit difficult to put a finger on, because it is an intangible quality in a way.

People who have developed a cult of personality just seem to have something special. They just seem to have ‘it’. One thing is for sure, it is not something that can be faked or forced.

I believe that a powerful cult of personality is truly characterized by the ‘vibe’ or energy that a person gives off; when you meet a person who posesses a great deal of power and confidence and intelligence, you can just feel it. This is why a cult of personality cannot be faked, because it is something that is perceived on an almost sub-conscious level by others. When someone has ‘it’, you just feel it and know it by the vibe and energy that they give off.

I believe that while a true cult of personality cannot be faked or forced, we can create and develop the power and characteristics of a personality leader by developing certain qualities within ourselves. Once we create within ourselves the same characteristics and power that these personality leaders posess, we will naturally give off the vibe and energy and charisma that will allow us to create a cult of personality ourselves.

In the following section of this post, I will outline the common characteristics that are shared by all personality leaders, and talk about how we can cultivate these qualities within ourselves and create our own cult of personality.

1) Self-Concept- The single greatest factor in our minds that will allow us to develop a powerful personality and magnetic quality about us is our self-concept. A person’s self-concept is the total composite of all of the feelings, ideas, and beliefs that a person has about themselves. All personality leaders have a magnetic quality about them that attracts others because they have extremely powerful self-concepts.

They like themselves. They are confident. They believe that they have what it takes to win. While they still experience all the same insecurities that everyone faces, something inside tells them that they are different, and that they will succeed no matter what.

Having a powerful, strong, positive self-concept is the most important part of developing a cult of personality. Once you have developed a strong self-concept, and you truly believe in yourself, others will automatically sense it. Your social standing will immediately increase, and you will get better at everything that you do because of your belief in yourself.

We can create a powerful self-concept simply by using the age-old techniques of positive affirmation, self-talk, visualization, and focus. I have made great strides in my own self-concept by using about 3-4 positive affirmations/visualizations at a time that I repeat for weeks, until my mind accepts them as fact and I can feel that they have become a part of me. This can take great discipline, but is well worth the effort.

2) Confidence- All personality leaders have a large amount of confidence. Donald Trump once said that he never knew a successful person who didn’t have a healthy ego.

I used to struggle with confidence when I was younger, and I still do from time to time. The real turning point for me with gaining a great deal of confidence was when I realized that I could not do well at something first, and then feel confident only after succeeding. I realized that I had to develop confidence first before I could succeed at anything.

Once I learned that having confidence was the first step in becoming successful at anything, it became easier for me to focus on having a successful mindset. Through affirmations and lots of positive, confident self-talk, as well as taking risks, I developed a strong feeling of confidence that has helped me immensely throughout my life.

The one tip that I would convey about building a great sense of self-esteem and confidence is that when you begin practicing affirmations and positive self-talk and visualizations, you must over-compensate.

Don’t tell yourself that you are cool, tell yourself that you f***in’ rock! Don’t tell yourself that you are good at something, tell yourself that you are the BEST at it. It may feel funny at first, but overcompensating when building your confidence is important, because you must create a powerful emotional state within yourself for real changes to occur.

Having great confidence is essential in developing a cult of personality; without it, noone will believe in you and your abilities. Focus on creating an abundance of confidence right now, because it could be the most important thing you do for yourself in your life.

3) Charisma- I strongly believe that charisma is nothing more than a by-product of confidence. I think that having charisma is really just liking yourself a lot and having confidence, and other people sensing that and feeling the same way about you.

If you want to have charisma, focus on building your confidence and working on your communication and people skills.

4) Self-Respect- This is an extremely important part of having a powerful self-concept and becoming a personality leader.

All powerful leaders and strong-minded, charismatic people have a great deal of respect for themselves. They take themselves seriously, and other people can tell. If you sense that a person respects themselves a lot, you automatically respect them as well.

I have experienced a lot of personal success in different situations and areas just because I take myself pretty seriously, and others can tell, which gives them faith and confidence in me. People treat a person with a lot of self-respect differently; it causes them to look at that person with high regard, almost automatically.

Like most of these qualities that I am talking about here, this is something that is very important to begin to work on within yourself, because people can immediately sense how high your respect level for yourself is, and they will treat you accordingly.

5) Realness/Authenticity- All personality leaders have a very distinct realness about them. It is one of the biggest factors that draws people to them; like these other qualities, people can sense when a person is real and genuine, which immediately causes them to trust that person and open up to them.

Without authenticity, all of the other characteristics I have listed here will be useless, because nobody will believe them. I know that for myself, I will not consider someone a true friend until they have demonstrated the realness of their character.

When people believe you, it gives you power.

6) People Skills- Having good people skills is essential to building a cult of personality. If you do not know how to get along with people, work with them, and get them to like you and respect you, you will never be able to build a cult of personality. We need the support of others to succeed.

Many people are socially inept without realizing it. They do not understand when they are being inconsiderate or rude, or when they have missed the mark in building a new relationship.

When it comes to people, some general rules that I always live by are to ask lots of questions about the other person and let them talk the majority of the time, always give positive reinforcement of what that person is saying, make sure the other person knows that I am listening, and being polite perhaps a little more than is necessary by most standards. I am always amazed at what people will do for me after I say thank you several times for a simple, small kindness. They know that I am grateful to them, and will go out of their way to help me in the future should I need it.

7) Create a Network- This advice is often given, but so few people practice it because it is difficult sometimes to create a network. Still, one can never become a true personality leader without building a network of influencers who can help spread the word about them.

Always try to build relationships with those who are a few steps ahead of you, so that they are in a position to assist you in your climb to success.

Creating a cult of personality is so essential in savvy marketing because once you reach a point where you have developed a strong reputation of trust, intelligence, competence, and confidence with a large audience of people, you can sell them anything. And they will be thrilled to buy it from you.

I always make it a point to look at and examine the most successful, powerful people and greatest success stories and examine what worked for those people, and what didn’t. When I do this, it becomes more and more clear to me what qualities I must work on within myself, and I find that success comes more quickly to me when emulating the actions of these successful personality leaders.

I also make a point to remind myself constantly that people buy into the person behind the product before they will buy the product itself. If we can remember that, we are already half-way there.

What did you think of this article? What impact do you think having a powerful personality has on marketing and life in general? Please share your thoughts with our reader community in the comments section….we’d love to hear from you and continue the conversation!

Photo By NatalieMaynor

Customer service in the world today is far different than it was many years ago.  While we used to count on getting knowledgeable, friendly, personalized service and support, nowadays we know that we are more likely to get a generic response when we need a specific answer, or a blank stare when we want a smile.

The state of customer service has definitely gone downhill in recent years.  I think we can all agree that on a fairly regular basis, we deal with businesspeople and employees who leave much to be desired in their communication skills or social graces.

Still, there is a definite upside to the shortage of good customer service skills in the world today.  It allows those of us who care about treating our clients and customers well, those of us who understand the true importance of good customer service, to differentiate ourselves from the crowd and build a loyal customer base who will stay with us indefinitely.

In this article, I am going to explain why rather than viewing good customer service as a necessary requirement of dealing with our customers and clients, we must begin to view our customer service as an integral part of our marketing plan for our business.

Great Customer Service as a Marketing Tactic

As marketers, we must view our customer service techniques and practices as an important part of our marketing campaign, and an asset that increases the value and worth of our product or services in the marketplace.

It is more important now than ever before to have excellent customer service skills.  Because of the stiff competition and oversaturation in most markets, customer service is one of the few areas that we can easily differentiate ourselves in a positive way from the rest of the crowd.  So few companies practice and focus on giving exceptional customer service that we can literally tap into the growing demand for better customer service by being extraordinary in this area of our businesses.

How do we take our customer service to that next level?  How can we be so good that it becomes noticeable and unique to our customers?  Besides the normal answers to that question such as to be friendlier, learn about the customers personal lives, or be more attentive, here are a few ways that we can really make ourselves stand out in our interactions with customers and clients:

• Anticipate questions, concerns, and desires:  Learn the standard concerns and questions that your client base has, and work to become better at making them feel comfortable with you and your business.  Figure out the best way to give them a greater understanding of what you are doing together, and try to remove natural objections that you know may come up before they even arise.
• Make yourself (or your company) more accessible:  Regardless of all of the communications devices and mediums that we have today, people seem to be less accessible than ever before.  We have grown accustomed to more generic responses and delayed contact from the businesses we communicate with.  Make it a point to make your company more accessible, from more individual attention to customers to quicker response time with emails or phone calls.
• Be the first in your field or market to offer new services: Develop a reputation for offering the newest services and extras to your clients.  Let people know that by working with you, they’ll be on the cutting edge of the industry.
• Examine the way that you speak to people in general:  Often, even if we feel that we have great people skills or communication skills, there are one or more areas that we lack in which would help us immensely.  Focus on singling out these areas of your people skills that need work, not just with your customer service but with people in general.  Continue educating yourself on the finer points of communicating and relating to others.
• Never stop increasing your knowledge and understanding of your industry: Differentiate yourself and your customer service by displaying an uncommon amount of knowledge in your field.
• Be exceptionally nice:  Use a pleasant and upbeat tone at all times, because people pick up on the tone of your voice and your demeanor even more than the actual words you are speaking.  Plus, let’s face it…..who doesn’t like to be treated nicely?  If you are good at treating people well, you will always stand out in their minds.  I was speaking with a customer the other day over the phone who even commented to me, “Wow, you’re really nice, where are you from?”.  She sounded so surprised when I told her New Jersey!

This all comes down to our basic social instincts as humans and how we interact with each other.  People like people who make them feel special and valued.  People like people who are knowledgeable about their business, and who are accessible and friendly.  If you can get your customers and clients to genuinely like you and feel valued by you, you will keep them as customers for a very long time, and you will be free from worrying about the competition.  The competition can never duplicate the relationship you have built with a customer through great customer service, and will never be able to make serious headway against you for that specific reason.

Also, we can never forget that practicing great customer service is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to create word-of-mouth buzz, referrals, and general goodwill in the marketplace for our businesses.  Give someone a great customer service story to tell their friends, and instead of one good customer, you may have just earned yourself five or ten of them. 

Customer service is as important to our marketing plan as our advertising or the quality of our products and services.  If we use it to our advantage, we can effectively differentiate ourselves in the market and create scores of loyal customers. 

Many people have average customer service skills, fewer have good service skills, and very few have excellent customer service skills.  Aim to be in the excellent category, and watch your business flourish.

photo by idg

Motivation is always a difficult thing for most entrepreneurs. I know that I have struggled with my motivation immensely over the course of my career and different entrepreneurial ventures.

As the saying goes, perspective is everything. It can be very difficult for entrepreneurs to stay motivated to put in the long, boring hours of un-exciting tasks when our perspective is not where it should be.

This is where the difference between having a short-term or long-term focus comes into play. Having a long-term perspective is almost always a character trait possessed by successful people, because without a long-term perspective, we are too vulnerable to temptation and procrastination.

Long-term perspective is when you view your success and accomplishments as works in progress that take time and daily action to progress, but you feel certain that if you put in the necessary work, your success in nearly guaranteed. People with long-term perspective are much more willing to sacrifice and forego quick, easy pleasures in favor of larger rewards in the long run.

Short-term perspective is when you focus on what you want right now, and constantly feel as if each day is just one day, that all of your work can be done later, and you want what you want right now. People who have a short-term focus are much more likely to give into temptations and distractions, because they can only see what is right if front of them, making them more willing to appease their desires immediately.

For instance, when we have a short-term perspective, we tend to view work as something that is trivial and can be easily done at a later time. This is an example of the self-talk of a person who has a short-term perspective:

• It’s only one night, I can do it tomorrow.
• As soon as Monday comes around, I’ll get to work. It’s not necessary to do my writing tonight.
• I’ve already slacked off for most of the day, I might as well just hang out tonight and give it a go tomorrow.
• I’ll just give up, I’ve been doing this for two months and haven’t gotten anywhere.

On the other hand, having a long-term perspective causes you to see that every small step and task is accumulating over time. Long-term focus is understanding that anything worthwhile usually takes a long time, and that if you persist, you will succeed. It is knowing that consistency is the key to success. Because you are focused on the long-term results, you are not discouraged by minor setbacks and temptations when you have a long-term perspective.

Here are examples of the self-talk of a person with a long-term perspective:

• Every day counts….I’ve got to be consistent and get this done.
• All in due time. I am confident that this will pay off if I keep it up.
• I don’t have all the time in the world. If I keep putting it off one day at a time, it’ll never get done.
• I can’t quit….all of the most successful people are just average people with above average work ethics. They succeeded because they stuck it out, and so will I.

As I get older and more mature, developing and keeping a long-term perspective has grown easier for me. Still, I struggle with procrastination and lack of motivation on a daily basis, but I try to remind myself that developing a hard work ethic that is unswayed by everyday temptations is similar to building a muscle; you have to exercise your hard work ethic. You have to stay consistent with it, and it will grow easier over time to sit down and do the tasks necessary to succeed.

How ‘long’ is your perspective?  Do you struggle with motivation and procrastination because of a focus on short-term gratification?  If so, developing a long-term perspective about your work and life can be very beneficial for you.  Try to paint a picture in your mind of your ideal life in 5 years, or even 10 years.  Train yourself to focus on that future result, rather than what you want next week.  I find that this really helps me to stay motivated because I can see that there is an immense amount of work ahead of me, and that each day is an opportunity to get closer to my goal.

Still, this technique may not work for you.  You must develop your own techniques and affirmations and figure out what exactly motivates you and causes you to feel that sense of urgency that we need to feel to get things done.  The key to long-term perspective, though, is simply to remain motivated and to not become sidetracked or distracted by short term temptations or setbacks. Then, you will find that working consistently on your goals will come naturally to you.  I have made great advances in my life because of this technique, and I hope that you will too.

I hope this post was helpful to you; I always get a lot of value out of motivational posts, because often we already know what we are supposed to be doing, we just need to be reminded. Do you struggle with procrastination and temptation? If so, how has it affected you? Have you allowed it to overcome you, or have you worked on it? If so, how? I would love to see some great comments about this in the comments section. Thanks for reading and please give me a Stumble or Digg if you enjoyed this article! I appreciate it!

Are you sick of hearing about the economy yet?

I was sick of it about 3 months ago, and I am sure that most of you are sick of hearing about it as well.

It’s not really the actual economy that is bothering me, though.

What is really bothering me about the sagging economy is all of the negativity that it is fostering. I believe that the current state of the economy right now was brought on by negativity (as well as foolish decisions) in the first place. But what I see happening everywhere now is that it has become an obsession to constantly complain and focus on the lagging economy.

I hear people talking about it in everyday conversations. Every time I hear a radio host speak, they throw in a quip about how it cost them 50$ in gas to get to work that day. The television and newspapers are dominated by news of the bad economy, and the people are eating it up. The underlying feeling in the nation at this point in time is one of desperation, lack of abundance, and negativity.

Now while everyone is entitled to be concerned, do we really have to obsess over the economy?

Could all of this negativity be partly to blame for our economic situation?

My Theory About the Economy (And How We Can Change It)

It’s been said that a country is never in a recession until everyone starts talking about it and acting as if they are in a recession. I believe this statement to be very true.

What I believe has happened in this country is that we have unwittingly become the victim of a vicious snowball effect that has carried us into our present situation.

Foolish decisions were made. Greed took over, and rules and regulations were compromised. This led to the whole mortgage crisis, which has affected all of us. One of my good friends even lost his house to foreclosure.

Understandably, more and more people gradually became alarmed and worried about the economy. Still, the vast majority of the people did not experience any direct consequences from the mortgage crisis. What I mean by that is that our overall quality of life did not change, and at that point in time the effects of the lagging economy had not been fully felt yet.

Once a small portion of the population felt the effects of gas prices and a lagging real estate market, they began to spread the word to others of their misfortune. Oftentimes negativity can spread more quickly than positivity, and in this case it spread like wildfire.

More people began to feel negative about the economy as the word spread of the misfortune of a relatively small segment of the population. They spread the word to everyone they knew about how badly the economy was doing. The brewing fear and negativity soon spread to people who originally weren’t concerned in the least bit about the the country’s financial position.

Before long, people who thought that everything was going well soon began to worry about the economy, and they too began to tell everyone they knew about how they felt about things.

Now, the economy is the absolute number one thing on the tip of everyones’ tongues. And what has happened? The economy has gotten worse! What we focus on, we create.

So, what was the result of all of this negativity that was spread throughout the nation?

People who were spending, slowed down their spending. People who had already slowed their spending, stopped it completely. Then, businesses, faced with declining revenue, also slowed spending or were forced to lay off employees. Some even had to shut down. This led to even more lack of money and resources, and before we knew it, we really were in a recession.

Now I am not suggesting that we are in this situation exclusively because of negativity and people complaining about the economy, but I am saying that these factors greatly increased the severity of the situation, and the speed at which it deteriorated.

Like most things in this world, both negative and positive, the worsening of the United States economy can be largely attributed to the spreading of an idea.

Think about this: What if nobody knew about the recession? Would it even exist?

I think that this is an extremely valid question if you really think about it.

How We Can Reach the Tipping Point of Abundance in America

What is a tipping point? If you’re not familiar with it, the term was coined by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestseller The Tipping Point. Gladwell hypothesized that an idea, method of doing something, etc. begins with a few members of a community and spreads slowly to others. It then exponentially spreads until a point is reached, called critical mass or the tipping point, after which time the entire community just seems to naturally adopt the idea, and it becomes universally accepted.

This is precisely what happened with the downturn of the economy, and we can use the same principle to reverse the present circumstances.

In order to turn the situation around, we must spread positivity and abundant thinking about the economy until we reach the tipping point of abundance, where the nation genuinely believes in, talks about, and will experience, a strong economy once again.

What will happen if people adopt an abundant, positive mindset about the economy? People will begin to talk about the economy and markets positively, spreading the idea of a strong, powerful financial state for America. Consumer confidence will rise, and people will begin spending again. Businesses will make money and begin hiring. Housing prices will rise, and the stock market will rise as well. Eventually, the idea of America once again having a strong economy will spread, solidify, and become a reality.

How Can You Help?

If we all do our part, we can turn around the negative consciousness of America that is present right now. There are several simple, easy ways to do this:

• Only spread positivity about the economy. Refuse to participate in negative conversation or complaining about America’s economy and money in general.
• Believe in prosperity and abundance for yourself and others, and the nation as a whole. Refuse to focus on any lack that you may see before you. Know that you will always have enough of what you need, and that America will as well.
• Continue to take action to achieve your goals, especially monetary goals. If you want to start a business, do not be deterred. Recognize that there are always opportunities for those who look for them.
• Encourage others to be positive about the economy, as well as their own financial situation.
• Don’t worry! This too shall pass.

Now Spread the Word!

I hope that you enjoyed this article and gained a new perspective on the nation and life in general. If you really believe in what I wrote about here, then please, help me spread the word! Tell people about this article, and practice some of the advice that I gave here. I truly believe that together we can all pull out of this and experience the abundance and greatness that America deserves before we know it.

Did you agree with this article? Do you disagree? What are your thoughts on America’s financial circumstances? Have any ideas on what we can do to change things? Please share with our reader community in the comments section!

If you enjoyed this article, please help me distribute it by giving it a Stumble, Digg, or whatever site you use. I’d really appreciate it!

While I am not a huge Obama fan, I can appreciate his feat of going from an obscure, first-term Senator to a favorite to win the presidency of the United States in such a short time. This, of course, not mentioning the fact that he is the first African-American candidate to be taken seriously in the history of the American presidential race.

As it is with many stories of great achievement, much of Barack Obama’s success has to do with extremely savvy marketing. In fact, I believe that Obama is one of the greatest self-marketers that we have seen in recent times.

The marketing of his campaign is truly incredible, and it is the reason why he is the leading presidential candidate right now; he simply has marketed himself and his campaign better than anyone else in this election so far, which is a compliment considering there were at one time about a dozen or more candidates vying for the presidency in 2008.

In this article, I will outline 5 of the main marketing principles that Senator Obama has perfected that have led to his current success in this presidential race, and break down his character traits that can help you to achieve similar success when replicated.

1) Determine the single greatest desire of your target market, and then center your marketing approach around that desire. Identify yourself with that desire. In this election, we have many different urgent issues at stake. There is the lagging economy, the war in Iraq, and the disastrous housing market, among other things. Overall, the American people are unhappy. What do people want when they are unhappy in general? Change.

If you are unhappy, you want your situation to change, period. Change is the simplified answer to the nations’ problems, and Obama and his campaign have taken the ingenious step to capitalize on the publics’ desire for change by making the Senator the face of American change. ‘Change you can believe in’ and ‘Obama for Change’ are incredibly smart campaign slogans, and it is no wonder that the candidate who is using them is the candidate that is ahead in the polls.

By identifying himself and making himself synonymous with the American publics’ main desire, Obama has marketed himself to success.

2) Keep it simple! Although he is sometimes criticized for the generality of his stance on certain issues, and for not getting into the specifics of some of his policies, keeping your message simple is a very effective way to win the hearts of your target market.

Time and again we have seen a simple approach to explaining an idea connect much more effectively with an audience than a complicated, detailed approach. Obama understands this, and has used it in his campaign. He knows that by keeping his message simple and direct ( ‘Change’ ), he will appeal to a much broader spectrum of voters. Oftentimes, people do not want to know or do not understand the details of a complicated message, and are turned off when they do not understand that message.

By keeping your message simple and direct, you will connect with a larger group of people.

3) Speak well and communicate clearly and firmly. Obama ia a great orator, has a firm, confident way of speaking, and is adept at conveying his belief in what he is saying. This is a great self-marketing quality, and is a large contributor to the Senator’s popularity and political success. All of the greatest leaders, both negative and positive, have been powerful, eloquent speakers.

If you want to be more successful in marketing yourself, it is imperative that you hone your speaking skills.

4) Be personable. Like all great self-marketers, Obama is very personable. He has the ability to connect with the people he is peaking with, knows how to make a quick joke, listens intently, and is generally an agreeable, likeable person. Since much of life ( especially politics ) is a popularity contest, being likeable and genuinely nice to others is a valuable asset in marketing yourself. Like many other powerful leaders, Obama has perfected this character trait.

5) Present yourself with dignity, confidence, and self-respect. One of the key principles in successful self-marketing is that people view you the way that you view yourself. How you view yourself is something that people can sense immediately when they meet or see you; it is a sort of energy that you emit to others. By respecting and valuing yourself, you will cause others to value you as well. Do not be cocky, but make every effort to exude a calm confidence and sense of self-assurance when you are around others. This cannot be faked, either; people will sense your true feelings about yourself intuitively. This character trait is especially important to posess when you are trying to advance to a higher position in your work, relationships, or life in general.

It will be extremely hard for you to have great success without exuding confidence and competence. Obama has perfected this character trait in himself, and it has served him extremely well, for without it he would not be considered worthy of such a lofty position as President of the United States.

These self-marketing principles can be applied effectively to any area of your business or life. Obama has utilized them all the way to the U.S. Senate, and perhaps the White House. Keep these principles in mind with all of your marketing and self-marketing efforts, and watch your success increase greatly.

What did you think of this article? Are there any other self-marketing principles that you think Obama has used successfully? Do you disagree with anything I’ve said? Please share your comments with us, we’d all love to hear them!

If you enjoyed this article, please help me to distribute it by giving it a Stumble, Digg, or whatever service you use. I’d really appreciate it!

P.S. This is not a show of support for Obama, but simply a critique of good marketing, so please do not leave any politically charged comments. They will be deleted. Thanks!

A quick but interesting question:

The answer, of course, is Google Adwords. If you are familiar at all with the internet and internet marketing, you probably know that Adwords, otherwise known as Pay-Per-Click advertising, are the small, no-frills text ads that show up on the right side of the page when you conduct a Google search. These little ads are truly amazing in that they are the first and only method of advertising that actually allows businesses to reach completely targeted consumers who are actively looking to purchase a product. Even better, the advertisers only pay for their ad when a prospect visits their website.

Is it any wonder they are so damn effective? 

I have been using Google Adwords for years, starting in about 2004 when I first got involved in internet marketing. I tried my hand at some affiliate marketing using PPC on Google and other sites such as Miva and Yahoo. I did not have much success, but I did make some sales and it was enough to peak my interest. I used and studied PPC off and on, with varying degrees of success.

Now that I have been consulting on PPC advertising and running campaigns for offline businesses for awhile and have had time to master the key components of a great PPC campaign, I have identified certain techniques and strategies that can be used to instantly increase the success of the ads that I am promoting.

In this article, I will outline the one method that literally helped me to increase the Click-Through-Ratio (CTR) of my ads in Google Adwords by over 170% overnight, and how you can easily do it too!

The Longer the Tail, the Higher the Clicks…

As some of you may know, the way that I initially got into internet marketing and niche marketing for offline businesses is that I began using the knowledge that I was picking up during my own studies on internet marketing to help promote and market my family business’ website.

This has been great experience for me because the business is extremely niche…..we sell masquerade masks. Not Halloween masks or plastic masks, but very specifically we sell hand-made masquerade style masks, with feathers and jewels and lace and other materials. We are one of the only companies in the world who does this.

Because of the extremely specialized market that we sell to, I have learned a great deal about niche marketing and the special aspects of marketing that come into play when you are selling a unique, unusual product that is hard to find and in short supply.

Google Adwords is perfect for a business like ours because good masquerade masks are not easy to find. And what do people do when they are looking for a product that is not easy to find? They do a Google search, of course!

When I initially set up the Adwords account for our business, I had less experience with PPC and did not do the greatest job of getting the campaign started. I made many beginner errors, and then made the even worse mistake of not following up with the campaign and letting it languish, rather than keeping up with it and optimizing it accordingly. We still made money, just not as much as we could have been making.

Some time later, I checked up on our PPC account with Google. Because I had learned a great deal more about PPC advertising since the time I initally set up the campaign, I immediately recognized several mistakes that I had made, especially one in particular that I realized was costing us thousands of dollars per year in wasted ad dollars.

What was the one big mistake that I fixed which led to a literally %170 increase in CTR overnight, not to mention the phone ringing off the hook immediately?

The mistake was simple, although it may not be apparent to someone who does not have experience in internet marketing: our keyword terms that we were advertising for were too general.

When compiling the list of keyword terms that we would advertise for in Adwords, my father and I took a very cavalier approach. We made a common mistake that many business owners who are not savvy with search marketing make, which was to advertise for any term that is associated with our product, wrongly thinking that through our blanket approach we would find many customers who were looking for our product.

Because we sold masquerade masks, we chose lots of terms that had to with masks. The problem was, we had terms that included all types of masks.

Once I went through and line-by-line checked on the performance of each of our terms, as well as the relevancy to our product and the conversion rate that each of these terms was likely to yield, I deleted probably a dozen search terms that were bringin us almost no sales, and yet were costing us thousands of dollars per year in advertising fees.

I then did some simple keyword research, and added about a dozen or so new terms that were much more specific, much more precisely targeted to people who were searching for our product, and much less competitive than the terms that we had previously been bidding on.

Here are some of the terms that we were advertising for before I made the changes:

• masks
• face masks
• animal masks
• Halloween masks
• party masks
• masks for men
• masks for women

And here are the terms that I replaced them with:

• masquerade ball
• masquerade ball masks
• feather masks
• masquerade masks on sticks
• handmade masquerade masks
• wedding masks
• masquerade wedding masks
• quinceanera masks
• prom masks
• masquerade prom
• masquerade sweet 16

What was the result of deleting the old, general terms and replacing them with new, specific terms? A few big changes happened once I made this important change:

1. Our Click-Through Ratio, which is the number of clicks your ad recieves relative to the number of times the ad is shown, immediately jumped from .9% to 2.5%, an astounding 170% increase! While this number does not neccessarily lead to more conversions, what it does show is that we were reaching a group of buyers which was much more targeted and interested in our product. Our ad was connecting better with the people who were seeing it, which definitely means that those people are much more likely to buy once they got to our site.
2. We immediately stopped wasting $100 or more per week on clicks from people who were not truly looking for our product and who were not buying. Probably only 1 in 20 people who are looking for masks are looking for masquerade masks. Because we were bidding on keywords like ‘face masks’ and ‘masks for men’, we were reaching an audience of people who were looking for Halloween masks, scary masks, and other types of masks, but NOT masquerade masks. Whenever one of these people thought that our ad looked good and decided to give it a click, we spent 25 cents on a person who simply visited our site, realized we didn’t have what they were looking for, and clicked away. Eliminating these general terms immediately saved us thousands of dollars per year in wasted advertising fees.
3. Our cost-per-conversion went way down. Therefore, profits went way up. Because we were reaching more targeted visitors who were really interested in our product, it took far less clicks for us to make a sale. This, of course, is beautiful for the bottomline.
4. Our keywords were less general, less competitive, and therefore cheaper!
5. The phone started ringing off the hook! We began getting literally double the volume that we had been doing before I made the changes, and spending the same amount of money on advertising. Also, the quality of our customers went up as well due to the keywords that I targeted which focused on people who were planning masquerade mask events, rather than those looking for one or two masks. We began receiving orders for hundreds and thousands of dollars instead of the $30 orders we normally got.

Bottomline, once I made these simple but effective changes to our Adwords campaign, the money started rolling in!

If you are planning on using Google Adwords or any PPC program to advertise your business on the internet, it is imperative that you do the keyword research and market research that is necessary to optimize your campaign for success. Never fall into the trap of thinking that using general terms will bring in a high-volume of targeted customers; targeting more specific keywords and phrases will always bring you more money for less clicks. Don’t wait to try this out…if you have a PPC campaign right now, immediately tighten up your keyword terms and watch ad expenses go down, and profits go up!

What have been some of your experiences with PPC? Has it worked for your business? Do you have any good tips or stories that you can provide to the reader community here? Please share with us in the comments section!

If you are interested in making more money right now with your PPC campaign, you can take a look at my consulting services here. Please contact me and let me know if I can help.

 In our current environment, everyone is looking to get ahead, and everyone is trying to push their own personal brand up to the next level.

Yet many of us (myself included until recently) are letting our most precious and powerful self-marketing tool slip under our noses.  We are not taking advantage of one of the most crucial vehicles for self-promotion that we have, and simultaneously putting ourselves at risk to be taken advantage of in the future.

So, have you figured out what I’m talking about yet?

The internet is growing exponentially year after year.  Very soon, everyone in all the major, developed countries will be online. 

Therefore, does it not make sense that for you, as a person, your greatest self-marketing tool is your own personal domain name? 

I’m not talking about just any domain name, I am talking about yourname.com.  Do you realize how important it is to own?

If you do, great.  I hope that you are action-oriented enough to have bought it already.  If you do not realize how important owning your own personal domain name is, then this article will show you exactly why you are taking a major risk with your future if you do not buy it immediately.

Playing with Fire

It had never occurred to me until a few months ago that I should buy www.conradhees.com.  It was something that I, just like many others, simply did not think about.  But as soon as I realized why it was imperative that I bought it, I logged on and snapped it up immediately.

I am lucky it was still available.  Will you be so lucky?

There are many reasons, both good and bad, about why you must buy your name as a domain right now.  Some of them are:

GOOD REASONS TO BUY YOUR PERSONAL DOMAIN NAME:

- It is a GREAT self-marketing tool.  Your name is your biggest brand.  It is the only name that you are stuck with FOR LIFE.  Don’t you want to control your personal brand name’s biggest online counterpart?

- You can shape the world’s perception of you.  You can use it to put up a blog, a website, or even just a short biography of yourself.  Think of it as an online resume’ that the entire world will have instant access to.  Don’t you want to control the things that everyone will know about you? 

Putting up a personal website will allow you to shape the world’s perception of you by allowing you to display all of your most positive, impressive attributes.  This can be a huge advantage for anyone.

- Soon, the number one tool people will use to find out about you will be Googling your name.  Prospective employers, business partners, friends, and even enemies: all of these people will be using Google at one time or another to find out information about you.  Don’t you want the number one search result ( yourname.com) to give them positive information?

‘BAD’ REASONS TO BUY YOUR PERSONAL DOMAIN NAME:

- If you don’t, someone else will.  Have you tried to buy a domain name recently?  ALL of the good names are taken, as well as most of the bad ones, too.  How long do you think it will be until people start to buy up other peoples’ personal domain names?  My bet is that it is already happening.

- If someone does buy yourname.com, how do you feel about buying it from them?   Having to buy your own name from someone else?  Scary thought, isn’t it?  Don’t wait until it happens to you.

- Or worse, what if someone keeps it and uses it for something stupid, vile, or negative?  Then, when people Google you, they will really get a good impression, won’t they!?!

-How many other people do you think have your full name?  Chances are, there are dozens of people who have the same name as you right now, but there is only one domain name available, with a limited number of extensions.  Don’t you want to be the one to own yours?

All of these points are extremely valid, and I could probably list several more.  The overwhelming point is: what are you waiting for?

Overcoming Short-Sightedness

Even after reading all of the points I just made about why you should buy your own name as a domain, I know that many of you may be saying to yourself, “It’s not necessary, I’ll never use it.” 

My argument for you in that respect is that thinking that you will not use it now is a very short-sighted perspective.  You have no idea what you might do in the future, and needing your own name for a domain is a very real possibility.  Do you really want to risk one of the negative consequences listed above happening to you, just because you don’t want to pay $7 for a domain name?

You have many years ahead of you, and many things are possible in the future.  Buying your own domain name right now could be the most significant investment that you could ever make for yourself, and for your future.

Never trust your judgment about what you may need in the future.  The truth is, you simply don’t know.  Why take chances?

Get Out That To-Do List……

After writing this, I am fully aware that I may come off as if I am selling domain names on commission for one of the big companies.  Maybe I should sell this article as a sales letter, eh?

Seriously, though, the only reason why I am pushing this so hard is because I feel that many people do not understand the severity of the situation.  I would not want any of my readers to have to go through the pain of having to pay another person their hard earned money for their own domain name, simply because they were unaware of how important owning theirs really was.

So please, for your own sake, don’t wait.  Put getting your own domain name up at the top of your to-do list.  I promise that at some point down the line, you’ll be glad you did.

I will leave you with this quote, because it sums up my message perfectly:

“Do it now, because sooner or later, you’ll either be saying, “I wish I had” or “I’m glad I did.”

-Unknown

What do you think about getting your own name as a domain?  If you have a comment or story, please add it in the comments section! We’d love to hear from you!    

The other day, as I was pondering the mechanics of a really good blog, a question arose in my head that was so fascinating that I could not seem to shake it. The question was:

Is there a formula to figure out exactly what your readers want you to write?

Wouldn’t that be absolutely great? If you could figure out exactly what your readers wanted you to write, you could have hordes of raving fans coming back over and over again, devouring your latest articles and subscribing like crazy, couldn’t you?

Well, I have good news and bad news for you.

After deliberating on the question for quite some time, I determined the answer:

No.

Not quite what you were expecting from such an ambitious title, was it?

Well, I apologize if I mislead you. There is good news, though. Fortunately, while there is no exact formula for figuring out exactly what your readers want you to write about, there are several different factors that we can examine and use to formulate an educated guess about exactly what type of content your typical reader would like to read, as well as what type of article format (how-to, list, case study, etc.) they would like you to put it in. A pretty damn good educated guess, too, I might add.

This article is will outline and explain my tips for using certain factors to determine how to give your readers exactly what they want, time after time.

Tell Me What You Really Think

Although at times we may feel as though it is a guessing game trying to figure out what our readers want us to write, in actuality they are letting us know through indirect means all the time.

By looking at certain actions that our readers take, it becomes pretty evident what types of articles, information, and article formats go over well with our audience.

Figuring out what these actions are and paying attention to them over time can allow us to consistently develop more content that elicits a positive reaction. These actions that I am referring to are simple and obvious; still, like so many other things at life, unless we are paying attention to them and using the information to our benefit, we may not notice them, or may let them blend in among all the other parts of our sites that beg for our attention.

The following are the main indicators on our blogs of what type of content has resonated with readers:

Comments: I believe that comments on our blogs are one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful indicator of what type of article and content has truly connected with our readers. This is especially true since active and lively commenting on a blog has much more influential social proofing evidence than any other factor in my opinion, including subscriber count.

Comment count is the most obvious way to tell if an article really struck a chord with your audience. Here are a few good tips on how to use your comments to figure out which topics your readers would like you to write about:

- Pay attention to your average comment count for each article that you write. Get a feel for what you can expect to see in terms of a reaction from your readers.

- Then, take notice of what type of article and what topics receive an above average comment count, which ones underperform, and which ones are about average. This is self-explanatory; write more about well-commented upon topics (remark-able), less about topics that receive little response, and try to find ways that you could spice up your articles with average comment counts (perhaps by using lessons that you learned from your most commented upon articles?).

- What are the comments actually saying? Was the response to the topic, format, or premise of the article positive overall? Were the comments passionate, powerful, and create a discussion among readers? Or were they run-of-the-mill “hey nice post” comments? Take into account the overall response from your readers and use that feedback to determine whether the article was a success or not. Then decide if you will write more posts like it, or phase the topic out of your writing regimen.

- Did the post elicit any controversy? Controversial articles bring lots of comments and links, and where there are comments and links, there are readers. If you aren’t the timid type, consider trying out some more controversial posts and gauging your audience’s reaction. Then, you can determine whether controversy is something you want to incorporate into your writing on a regular basis.

- What type of article formats (how-to, list, case study, newsy, opinionated) create the greatest number of comments on your blog, and what is the general feedback from your readers for each format? By looking at what format performs the best comment wise, you can determine what formats to use more frequently, and which to eliminate altogether.

By paying close attention to our comments and what they are telling us about the reaction our articles are receiving, we can use that information to write more frequently about topics our readers want to read about, in formats they want to read them in.

Sounds like a good formula for keeping people coming back, doesn’t it?

Links and Trackbacks: Seeing which articles get you the most new links and trackbacks on other blogs and websites is also a great way to tell if your article has connected with your audience. A link is the ultimate pat on the back from your readers and bloggers; in essence, they are vouching for your content, putting their own reputations on the line by recommending your article to their own readers.

As a blogger, you should keep track of which of your articles receive the most links. Then, make note of what the topic of the article was, and what format it was in, and keep it in mind to incorporate more and more similar posts into your blogging routine.

Pageviews: This one is obvious as well. Your pageviews are the number of times that people have viewed a particular post on your blog. Regularly checking the number of pageviews that each article receives will give you a pretty good idea about which posts have really struck a nerve with your audience.

Exit Pages: This term is used to describe the number of times that people leave your website from a particular page. If you see an unusually large number of visitors leaving your site from one specific post, take the hint: you’re putting them to sleep. Immediately make note of the format and topic, and refrain from making the same mistake in the future.

New Subscribers: New subscribers are another great way to gauge the potency of a particular type of blog post. Make note of the average number of new subscribers gained from a new post. Then, take note of which posts underperform, and which ones knock it out of the park.

Also, look at the format of your big winners and losers. Do your list posts really give you a huge subscriber boost? Do your case studies receive a lukewarm response? Keep tabs on what works and what doesn’t; maximize the good, eliminate the bad.

Reader E-mails: When readers e-mail you to ask for questions or feedback, what topics consistently come up? What does it seem that your readers most want to know? What do readers like to talk about in relation to their own blogs?

Looking for a recurring theme in e-mails from readers is definitely a sure-fire way to get a great idea about what your audience wants to read about. If many people are asking about one thing in their e-mails, you can bet that there are many, many more readers out there that are thinking the same thing.

If you seem to be getting questions about one topic over and over again, it’s probably a great idea to batch all of the e-mails, and respond to them all at once telling them that you will reference the questions in a post. Then, write a comprehensive article addressing the most commonly asked questions regarding the topic. This is a great way to increase productivity and fill a need for your readers, all while writing a great post on topic that you can bet most of your audience is interested in!

Hold Their Attention Permanently

Blogging, like so many other things in life, is simply a matter of looking at what works, what doesn’t, analyzing the information you have at hand, and then maximizing the good and eliminating the bad.

Although figuring out exactly what your readers want you to write may sound ambitious, I believe that it can be done with reasonable accuracy by analyzing the former points on a regular basis and making an intelligent, educated guess each time you think of your next post.

Although I think that this is a great guide, I am sure that I left some things out. Help me to add to the value of this post by including your own tips in the comment section. We’d all love to hear your advice!

This was the third post in my Blog Marketing Series. You can read my first post on Why You’re Nobody Until You Have a Blog here, and my second post on The 7 Things Visitors Look For When Deciding Whether Or Not To Subscribe here. Stay tuned for my next post coming up on Sunday, January 6th…Are You Missing Out on Your Most Powerful Self-Marketing Opportunity Ever?

Have you ever wondered exactly what thought process a new visitor goes through when deciding whether or not to subscribe to a blog?

As I clicked around the blogosphere recently, looking for a few new sites to add to my feedreader, I noticed a mental pattern showing up that was happening in my mind effortlessly each time I arrived at a new site. 

I noticed that as I looked at a new blog, there were several questions that I would ask myself automatically as I pondered whether to subscribe or not.  As I became aware of this series of questions, it occurred to me that every other reader was likely asking themselves the same exact things when deciding if they were willing to subscribe to a new blog.

Then, it suddenly came to me: if I can identify exactly what questions a new reader asks themselves when deciding to subscribe, and then give them the ‘answer’ that they want from me, I will be able to convert a much higher percentage of new visitors into subscribers.  Then, I naturally wanted to help my readers do the same, so I decided to write a post about it.

The purpose of this post is to help you understand exactly what a new visitor is asking themselves when deciding if they should subscribe to your blog, and how to answer those questions in a way that will help them decide in your favor.

The Burning Question

As bloggers and marketers, almost nothing can be more important to us than figuring out exactly how to get new visitors to commit to a relationship with our blogs.

Since it is free to subscribe to a blog feed, it should be relatively easy to get new subscribers, right?

Wrong.

The truth is that it is not free to subscribe to a new blog feed.  In fact, it is far from it.

The reality is that each time we subscribe to a new feed, we are making an investment of our time and attention.  And as smart and productive people, we expect a return on our investment.

In the new Attention Age, we are so flooded with information, that we must be more and more discerning about what content we choose to invest our time and attention in. 

Therefore, the main question that precedes all others in a potential subscriber’s mind is:  IS THIS SITE WORTH MY TIME?

New Visitors Want to Subscribe

I believe that it is important to realize that all new visitors want to subscribe.  They are just waiting to find a site that answers all of their questions perfectly, so that they can benefit further from the blog’s value and subscribe to the feed.  What else would they be doing, searching for sites that they don’t want to subscribe to?

Once you understand that a new reader already has their finger on the trigger, waiting to subscribe to your blog, then it is much easier to see exactly what it will take to get them to do just that.

The following are the six remaining questions (after ‘Is this site worth my time?’) that a new visitor asks themselves when deciding whether or not to subscribe, and how to answer the questions in a favorable manner to help them click on that little orange button.

1.  Is the site easy to look at and use?

This is usually the first question that a new visitor asks themselves when they arrive at your site.  Humans are very visual beings, and place enormous importance on aesthetics.  When a new visitor arrives, within about 5 seconds, they decide whether they think that your site is pretty; that is, nice to look at.  Then, they decide if it is easy to use.  Are all of the important features of the site easy to find and identify?  Is it easy to get to the ‘About’ page?  Do you have ugly Adsense ads in obnoxious places, such as the very top of the latest post?  Is the feed button even above the fold?  These are just a few of the questions that a new reader will ask themselves while they are evaluating your site’s design.

As a blog owner, your job is to make your site as easy to navigate as possible, and to encourage actions that you want your readers to take.  First impressions are everything, and a bad blog layout or design will often undermine every single positive aspect of your blog.  Although I am not in love with my design, I do know that it is satisfactory for the moment because I try to help the reader do things that they want to do as easily as possible.

For example, I chose a one column theme because it is simple and easy to use for a new visitor; they do not have to wonder where to click.  I made sure to have an ‘About’ text box at the top of the sidebar, because I know that one of the first questions a reader will ask themselves when they visit is “What does this site have to offer me, and who is the author?”.  Rather than make them find the ‘About’ page, I give them that information immediately.  Also, the ‘subscribe’ graphic is very easy to identify.  No guessing games at all.

Also, although many beginning bloggers do not have the resources to get a custom theme (myself included), try your best to get a theme and design that does not look too ‘beginnery’.  Many visitors will leave a site immediately if it looks as though you just slapped it together with a theme that literally tens of thousands of other bloggers are using.  Also, try to get a logo or great header picture (I know, I’m working on it ) to add a sense of professionalism to your blog.

If you want a new visitor to stay on your site for more than ten seconds, make sure that your design and layout is right.  Otherwise, they will not even stick around to ask any more questions, let alone subscribe.

How to answer this question:  Make sure that your design is simple and uncrowded.  Use white space intelligently, and eliminate everything that does not serve a purpose.  Make sure to have ‘visual anchors’ in places where you would like your visitors to look and click.  Make it easy to find the RSS button and subscribe, as well as other pages, such as the ‘About’ page, that you know your readers will want to locate.  Prominently display your best content.  Finally, make sure that your site does not have a ‘beginnery’ feel.  This is a HUGE turnoff.

For a great resource on how to effectively design your site, watch this fascinating video from Stompernet.

2.  Is the content CONSISTENTLY great, on-topic, unique, and unmissable?

Directly following the visitor’s assessment of your blog design and usability, the very next question they are going to ask themselves is about the value of your content.

Is your content value-packed and informative?  Does it fill a need that they have, or answer a question they want the answer to?  Is it unique, or rehashed?  Most of all, is it unmissable?

In order to make a visitor go straight to the subscriber button, they must feel that your content can help them in such a way that if they miss it, it will have a direct negative impact on their situation.  Skellie is a great example of a blogger who provides such great content, that the first time that I went to her site, I had to subscribe.  I knew that if I missed some of her articles, I would miss out on valuable information that I may not have gotten otherwise.

Another part of this question is if the content is in an easily-consumed format.  A new reader wants to make sure that they can understand you.  The best way to do this is to use many subtitles, bullet point lists, and highlighting to make sure that you get your point across.

Great titles are the surest way to make certain that your reader can see the value of your content.  Since they will generally make a final decision about your site in only a few minutes, and cannot read everything, make sure that they are compelled to stick around by your magnetic headlines.

Another part of this question about content that the reader is asking themselves is whether or not your articles are focused and on-topic consistently.  It has been proven time and again that a scattered approach to content will turn off potential subscribers.  They want to know that you will give them something that they are interested in all of the time, not just in half of your posts.

Self-Made Chick is a great example of a blog that creates consistently on-topic and relevant content.  I know that when Christine writes a new post, it will be about something directly related and applicable to entrepreneurship, and that it will be worth my time and attention to read it.

Humans crave consistency; it is in our nature.  Show your readers that you will give them what they want, time and again, and they will return, post after post.

How to answer this question:  Make a point of creating the best content possible.  Try to be unique, or at least have a unique approach.  Make your articles easy to digest, and use compelling headlines.  Stay on-topic and focused on your blog’s main premise.  Be as consistent as possible.

3.  What is the subscriber count and average comment count?

After receiving positive answers to the questions of design and content, usually a new visitor will look for ‘social proof’ that this is indeed what they think it is, which is a very good blog.  We generally associate a good blog with popularity, and we naturally begin to look for signs to validate this assumption.

Subscriber count and comment count are the two forms of social proof that a new visitor will look for when deciding whether or not to subscribe to a new blog.  A good blog may be new, and not have many of either of these two forms of social proof.  Many readers know this, and if your content is good they may not care, but be careful not to display any signs of negative social proof.  If you have a low subscriber count, DO NOT display your number.  Instead, let your content do the talking as far as the value of your blog.

Another sidenote to this question is if the blog author is actively engaged in the commenting on the blog.  Make sure to show your readers that you care that they read and participate by actively engaging with them in the comment section.  You will win many fans (and subscribers) by doing this.

How to answer this question:  Actively participate in the comments section of your blog.  Double your comment count by responding to each one.  Only show your subscriber count if your number is considerably high. 

4.  How often does the author post?

By now, your new visitor is getting close to subscribing.  You have given them everything they want up to now.  The next thing that they will check for is how often you post.  I hate to subscribe to a blog if I see that the author only posts once in awhile.  I want to know that the blog is worth the space in my feedreader, and will give me a consistent flow of content.

This question is actually something that a visitor will likely ask themselves very shortly after looking at your blog, but I put it further down because it is less important than the first few questions.  This is usually a question that a reader will only ask themselves if your content, subscriber count, etc. are suspect.

Now that I have full-fledged launched my blog, I plan on posting every two to three days consistently, no exceptions.  Still, I read many great blogs whose authors only post every one to two weeks, and they do quite well. 

The key is to be somewhat consistent with your posting frequency.  People will adjust to your schedule.

How to answer this question:  Figure out a good posting regimen and stick to it.  Post consistently and your readers will adapt.  Still, especially in the beginning, post at least every week or so.