Mark Manson
Medellin, AT
Male, 28
I am a professional blogger, internet entrepreneur, and world traveler. I've been to over 40 countries and am currently working on my second book about long-term travel and how to work/live abroad. On my blog I write about self development and creating a unique lifestyle for yourself. Feel free to ask me anything.
Great content markets itself. Especially for a blogger. I think what most bloggers don't understand is that you're not just offering information or a point of view, but you're offering an experience in the minds of your readers. So yes, great content should come first. It should also come second, third, fourth and fifth. I actually used to focus a lot more on marketing that I do now. What I discovered is that the quality of my marketing had little effect on my sales or traffic. People who liked me liked me regardless of how I marketed myself. I'd say these days I spend 75% on content 25% on marketing. That seems to work well for me.
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The biggest challenge was figuring out something I could produce that a lot of people wanted. My first 2-3 products barely sold much at all, certainly not enough to live off of. It took a number of tries, studying marketing and branding, and understanding my audience a lot better until I was able to nail something that made me a solid income. I don't think I necessarily got in my own way. I worked my ass off through 2008 and 2009. I literally had no life other than my business for those two years. If there's one thing that I think I screwed up on internally is that I didn't give myself enough credit as a writer. At the time I was thoroughly convinced that people bought from me because of my marketing and offers, not because they had built a connection and loyalty to me as a teacher and writer. It took me a long time to figure out that my writing was the driving force behind my business and not all of the bells and whistles I spent so much time focusing on. Could I have avoided that had I been a bit more confident in myself at the time? I suppose. But this stuff is all a learning experience regardless.
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I have a few interns that are helping me at the moment, mostly with marketing and behind-the-scenes stuff. I've outsourced things here and there over the past year as well. But for the most part, I was a one-man show from 2007 to 2011.
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As usual, content is king. People don't share articles that suck. But there are some things you can do. 1. The New York Times actually recently did a little study on their own content and how much it got shared and they found that the more polarizing of an emotional response the article brings, the more likely it is to be shared. It's like the old Howard Stern thing, people who loved him listened to him for 3 hours a day. People who hated him listened to him for 4 hours a day. The point is to get an emotional reaction and a STRONG one at that. 2. Know the basics of copywriting, this is the biggest thing I've picked up from bloggers like Tim Ferriss the last year: the title of the article is so important as a marketing tool. For instance, check out the difference between the two following titles: "Implementation Intention and Overcoming Bad Habits" or "3 Steps to Remove Procrastination from Your Life Permanently" Both are accurate article titles. One is about the psychological concept of implementation intention and how it can be utilized to overcome procrastination and bad habits. The other is the benefit marketed directly in the article title. Guess which one will get shared more? 3. The article needs to be widely applicable. One of the most popular articles on my site is called "Butchering the Alpha Male". It's an article written for a very specific subset of men and a response to a certain subset of men's dating advice. Within that small niche, the article became widely popular and was shared a lot. The thing is, because it's focus was so narrow and was only relevant to such a specific group of people, it never caught fire and spread beyond that.
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Hotel Front Desk Agent
Have you ever had a suicide occur in one of your rooms?
Yoga Instructor
Why don’t more men do yoga?
Veterinarian
How do you break the news to a kid when his pet dies?
Yes, absolutely. It forces you into new and uncomfortable situations, often handicaps your communication (creating a so-called "altitude effect") and of course, gets you talking and meeting new people. I think it's one of the most useful things you can do to improve your social skills and social confidence in general.
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About myself, I like to think no, there's nothing that's off limits. But there are things about family members and people who have been close to me that I wouldn't reveal (without their permission, of course).
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It depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. Most Spanish and French speaking countries it's fairly important. But if you're going to Thailand or Israel for example, then you don't really need to know anything. Knowing the local language absolutely helps your experience and the longer you stay there, the more advantageous it is. But if you're only going to pass through a place for a couple weeks, then it doesn't really matter.
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