David Risley Interview - Confessions of Professional Blogger. Make Money Blogging, Marketing, Blog Tips and Social Media

Today, I'm very pleased to have David Risley here with us.

David is a professional blogger and Internet entrepreneur making a healthy six figures yearly.

Hi David, thanks a lot for agreeing to this interview.

Could you describe what you do and how you earn your living?

In short, I'm a blogger. But, to be more accurate about it, I am a blog marketer. I use blogs as a way to build an audience and build up attention, then monetize using products which I've created, along with a little advertising.

What are the challenges you encountered in setting up your business? How did you overcome them?

I learned back in the early days, and like all people, I had to learn some of the technical stuff. Back then, it was all still evolving. Netscape was the most common browser, for crying out loud! But, I learned HTML and some of the other skills by simply buckling down and doing it. I wanted to accomplish a particular thing, then I just learned what I needed to know to pull it off.

Fast forward a few years and the challenge was to get over the next hurdle in terms of income and provide a level of security for a growing family. The birth of my daughter served as that motivation. I started studying the techniques of online marketing. I've found that combining some of that with blogging and social media is what has really worked best for me.

How did you uniquely position and differentiate your business from the rest?

My first blog was PCMech.com, which covers computers and technology. Back in the early days, it was called "PC Mechanic". Now, the most popular thing to do (and still is in the tech market) is to try to get a bunch of free review hardware and do reviews. Obviously, if I did the same thing they did, I'd never stand out. Plus, you don't pay your bills with video cards and motherboards. ;-)

So, I went for what I thought was the underserved sub-niche of tech - the so-called "newbie" market. The people who want to use their computers, but are not versed in all the geek-speak. So, I separated myself out by explaining, in plain English, how to do things with a computer. Things like build it, upgrade it, fix it, etc.

What’s your advice on choosing in-demand niche and creating business (content/products/services) that sells?

Start with your passions or hobbies, then evaluate them to determine if they'll make good markets.

Sometimes, a hobby can be turned into a great business. Other times, you might have to "massage" the concept to make it more marketable. But, the most common mistake I see many bloggers make is creating a blog, THEN trying to figure out how to monetize it. In reality, do the reverse. Don't start it unless you've looked into the market and have at least some idea of how you're going to develop the business around the blog.

Agree, the right market comes first, so what are your secrets of attracting new prospects and builds a relationship with them over time?

Well, since I am a pro blogger, the way I attract new prospects is to provide quality content on the blog(s). In addition to that, I get out into other people's digital homes by way of guest posts, interviews like this one, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, you name it. The secret (if you even want to call it that) is just to provide good stuff which answers questions your market has, and do it a lot. And make sure everything you do out there has some way of directing new people back to your home - your website.

I understand you have 2 training programs, would you like to tell us more about them?

Sure, but I'll be brief. 3 Day Money is a quick, 14-video course designed to be taken in 3 days. The aim of the course is to provide a primer to internet business for somebody just starting out.

Next, I have Blog Masters Club. This is a large and thorough course which gives a total breakdown of how to turn a blog into a real business. It is a 16-module course with over 30 hours of training videos within.

Blog Masters Club is not currently open to signups, but people can go to Blog Masters Club and sign up for the free Six Figure Blogger Blueprint. That will put them on the mailing list and they'll, of course, be notified when the Club reopens.

Thank you very much for the interview, do you have any advice for budding Entrepreneurs on a tight budget?

Yeah, start a blog. Get out there, be yourself, be transparent. But, old-school promotional tactics like the Yellow Pages don't work much anymore. Competing with the lowest price doesn't work. You've gotta get with the program these days, and that means embracing the Internet and social media. And the good thing, it can all be done either for free or for only a small sum.

Lastly, if you want to follow me more, check out my blog at www.DavidRisley.com.