Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Project Update: Randomness, Babies, Stuff.

February 15, 2010 | Personal

It is the calm before the storm. Well, I should say, before the storm intensifies. :)

My wife’s due date was Saturday. We’ve been prepared all weekend to head into the hospital, but nothing yet. So, this baby could come at any time. The bag is packed. This next week is likely going to prove… interesting.

Once the baby comes, my time will be split between family and business much more so than usual. I want to make sure we get everything situated, because I’ve got two trips coming up in early March. Busy times. Busy times.

Experimenting With Lightboxes

Some of you may have noticed that I have implemented a Lightbox opt-in form to the email list on this blog. This is being powered by Aweber.

I have used lightboxes in the past, then removed them out of hesitancy to anger my audience. But, I decided to put it up again. The truth is that nobody complained last time. Plus, it is a proven fact that they perform much better than opt-in forms placed on a blog sidebar. They don’t perform nearly as well as a squeeze page, but they still work.

My Outreach Program ;-)

One of the things I intend to do a lot more of this year is guest posting and interviews.

In 2009, I was so busy creating Blog Masters Club and doing other bizdev things that I wasn’t paying enough attention to expanding my reach outward.

Last week, I did an interview with Deborah Shane, which you can listen to. I also did an interview with Louis over at ProfitsMasterPlan.com, which you can check out.

I also recorded an interview with Robb Sutton, which you guys will no doubt see shortly.

I’ve got some guest posts on my to-do list. One for James over at TheInfoPreneur, and I’ve also told Grant over at Blog For Profit that I’ll do one. And, even though I haven’t told them yet, I have some ideas for posts for ProBlogger, CopyBlogger, etc.

On top of this, I do plan to do more live streaming on Ustream.TV. I’m hesitant to commit to any kind of a schedule on it, but we’ll see how that evolves. :) But, I always enjoy talking with you guys in real-time.

Goes Both Ways

While I am making more of a point to do more guest posting, the offer extends outward, too. If you would like to submit a guest post to this blog, by all means do so. Check out these guidelines. I can’t promise I’ll publish it, but I’ll be happy to check it out.

Design Changes

Obviously, this blog got a minor face-lift last week. It sports the new logo plus a rotating photo at the top.

Other changes:

  • My mini-bio was moved up to the top of the sidebar, holding true to my own words that people need to be able to immediately see what you’re all about in the first few seconds of arriving on your blog.
  • The Blueprint report is now featured prominently in the header. Obviously this is a list builder and brand builder for me.
  • I enhanced the opt-in box underneath the blog posts, and got rid of the banner for 3DayMoney.com which was there because it was under-performing anyway.

Coming Up

This week is probably going to end with a new baby and the accompanying poop supply. ;) But, we’ll see. Babies aren’t always that great at sending up a flare when they intend to come out.

In the meantime, I’ve got some posts for you guys to chomp on. And I’m going to be working to get the ball rolling on some new projects I intend to execute, which you no doubt will hear more about when the time is right. :)

Hope you enjoyed my weekly update.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. Project Update: Kids, Poop, A Dash of Blogging
  2. Project Update: Prep Work, Being Real
  3. Weekly Project Update: The Coming Wave, and Crushing It
  4. Project Update: The Next Phase
  5. Project Update: Team Building, Sales Page 2.0
Six Figure Blogger Blueprint

Get your copy of the Six Figure Blogger Blueprint.

You'll Discover...

  • 3 vital questions to pick the right niche.
  • The layout for funneling traffic into your blog.
  • How this blog generates thousands of dollars monthly - without a single banner ad.

Your information will not be shared with anybody - ever.

  • Terry Breadon
    Hey David.....congrats on the new baby.....lil Nathan.....pics?
  • Looking forward to the guest post David,

    Big big things ahead for you brother I kind of envy you but glad I'm not in your position too. Hope everything goes well, rock it man
  • Hey David, thanks again for the mention about our interview. I really enjoyed it and we got to talk about stuff that we hope is fun, informative and useful. Wishing you all the best on the babe arrival. Not to worry, we all have "multi-task" lives, so we will work it all out together!
    Keep up the great work and we are waiting along with you!
  • Hey brother, love the new site design. As I mentioned I'm doing guest posting as well. I'll run an idea or two by you for DR and see if it's a good fit. My first guest post over at Goodlifezen was a big hit. Not sure why I didn't start guest posting sooner. ;-) Guest posting is a blast. Definitely increasing my reach in 2010 as well.

    Good luck with the little one this week man! Congratulations on expanding the Risley empire! lol
  • Good luck with the baby! My wife had to be induced all 3 times. I am going to have to check out the lightbox thing when I get some more products to sell.
    Can't wait to read more but get that family taken care of, I'm sure you know there is nothing more important.
    Justin
  • Good luck with all things baby! You might try driving your wife around in a less than smooth-riding car. We did that on a Sunday and by early, early Monday morning I was in heavy labor.

    Thanks for talking about your recent update. I'd been wondering why on a couple of things.

    Hope you and your wife have a wonderful week.
  • I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of those popups like that. However, if it converts well and actually helps you to bring more traffic back to the site by having them on your email list, then maybe it's a good business model. I guess you just have to weigh the pros and the cons and go after whatever you think is best. Be sure to let us know how it turns out for you and maybe I'll consider trying it out.
  • First things first,
    I wish you and the family all the best this week and going forward. This must be a time of great anticipation. Hang in there, bro.

    I've always been hesitant to use the lightboxes because I don't care for them so much myself. But here's the deal, I'm already signed up and it's not for me anyway. :-) Statistics show that they do perform well, and I am going to fire one up later today. I will use the minimalist approach and have it show only once. @MikeCJ had a discussion about this last week.

    John Paul has a great point, it would be nice if Aweber had these as a backend option.
    Have a great week, David.
  • carsonsl
    Hey David, we're all waiting in anticipation with you for your new gift.

    Here's some advice my wife's doctor said to her upon our 7th false labor visit to the hospital. He said, "Don't worry Mrs. Carson, nobody's pregnant forever." His name, Dr Love.

    Yeah, Chris was not feeling the "love" at that point. Good news is that our son, Joshua arrived on our next visit.

    Standing by,
    Scott
  • Damn, 7th visit? We did one false visit with my first. So far, nothing on #2. We're thinking that my wife knows what the real thing feels like this time. :-) Her body is definitely getting ready for it. We can tell. But, actual labor is unmistakable.
  • You were right! Looks like the baby is staying put until this week.

    Congrats on the new addition. Exciting times for sure.
  • I just removed my Lightbox.. It did well.. but trying to see how well I do without it. Wish AWeber had a lightbox on exit.

    I think asking someone to join your newsletter AFTER they see your blog would work better then asking before.
  • Yeah, I have mine set to show up after 30 seconds. Then, it only shows up once - forever, per user. I might play around with it some more. I think there is a way to make it so that it doesn't show up until one scrolls to the comments, but I would need to bring the lightbox "in house" and not use the Aweber form. Aweber's built-in forms aren't super flexible.

    And, yeah, an exit lightbox would be awesome, too.
  • I also use MaxBlogPress Unblockable Popup Which let's you do anything.

    I just havnt tried coding my AWeber form to it yet.

    But other then that, it works great... especially if you are looking for a pop on leave.
blog comments powered by Disqus