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.
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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Best ways to get the word out about your blog: 1. Guest posts on other blogs. I recommend emailing other bloggers with an article ALREADY written. Make sure it's good. You basically want to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes. Aim for bloggers who are in your league. A big blog that gets 10k hits a day likely gets asked for guest posts daily and is only going to be interested in promoting someone who has a platform to promote them back. Look for blogs of people who are similar but slightly larger than you. So if you get 20 hits a day, look for someone who gets maybe 50 or 100 hits. If you get 100 hits, look for someone who gets 400 hits. Work your way up. 2. Forums. Either pop your blog in your signature and post a lot of good, quality posts. Or find HIGHLY RELEVANT threads and drop a link to your site in your reply. It is very, very, very, very important to make sure you're adding real value when you post on forums, lest you be considered a spammer. The moment people think you're a spammer, no one will take you or your site seriously. 3. Blog comments. See above, although these are a bit easier and people are a lot more lenient about you linking. But again, make sure your comment is great. 4. Interview people. Interview other bloggers and then hope they link to your interview. Same rule applies about finding bloggers of similar but slightly larger size. I get interviewed multiple times a week, and I simply can't be bothered to link my readers to every place I'm interviewed, especially if it was by a tiny site. Don't worry about social media until you've gotten a bit of a following. Until then, it's just a waste of time.
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I rarely do research for a specific post, but I do a lot of ongoing research in subjects I'm interested in. I read A LOT, and most of what I read is non-fiction. I try to keep up with all of the popular psychology books that are being published and as I read I make little notes on my computer of certain ideas, studies or anecdotes I'd like to use in a post. I also have a bookmark folder for articles and studies I come across on the internet that I could see myself using in a post. I basically build up a reservoir of research and credible material to fall back on when I need it to make my point. I just put up a post today about what I call "the prime belief." It relates a lot to William James, one of my favorite philosophers and someone whom I've read quite a bit of and about over the years. So when I decided to write the post, it was a matter of digging through my old books and verifying a few basic facts online before writing it. Citing stuff definitely does build a lot of credibility and I'm trying to get better about it. People take you more seriously and it helps keep me grounded and talking about what works not just some hair-brained idea I came up with on a Saturday night. It's particularly important for my industry too, because there's actually a scary lack of scientific research backing up a lot of self help. So I'd like to be the guy who actually does go through the trouble to cite a lot of research backing up my models and theories.
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This question is so misinformed and ignorant that I'm not even going to justify it with an answer. Taxi Driver is one of the best movies made in the last 50 years. Anyone who disagrees is a communist and/or a terrorist.
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Lifeguard
Did you ever have to perform CPR or mouth-to-mouth on a swimmer?
Employment Lawyer
Can a man sue if he's denied a job at Hooters?
Auto Mechanic
Are mechanics more likely to take advantage of female customers than males?
Lack of internet. Unfortunately in most countries (including the US), landing reliable internet is a crapshoot depending on which hotel or hostel you stay in. In developing countries sometimes you even run into internet problems in apartments and houses. As someone who not only makes a living on the internet, but also needs the internet to keep in touch with my family, friends, plan future travel, pay bills, etc., this drives me crazy to no end. Luckily, wherever you go in the world, there's almost always a Starbucks two blocks away.
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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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