BloggingBlueprint: Your Free Guide to Blogging Success
Glen / 
101 Comments / 
June 15th, 2009 / 
Subscribe via RSS
Note from Glen: This is not a typical PluginID post so if you have no interest in how I managed to grow this blog or how you could start one of your own, feel free to skip this entry. To everyone else, I have a nice treat in store for you today.
For the last few weeks I have been working hard on a blogging eBook which, I’m very happy to announce, is now available to download. This isn’t your typical blogging guide, it includes solid advice but also has quite a few personal stories amidst its 69 pages of free content.
To top it all off, I don’t even want your email in order to send you a copy. In fact, for those of you who can’t wait to give it a look, you can click here to get your free copy right now (opens as a PDF).
Click Here To Download Your Free Copy (Opens as PDF)
The Idea Behind the Project
I get a lot of emails from my friends and readers about blogging. People want to know which plugins I recommend, how I grew this site so quickly or how much money I make and that kind of thing. I do my best to respond to every email I get, but answering questions on a topic that I don’t even write about is quite time consuming. Therefore, I decided it would be a good idea to put all my answers in one place.
I wouldn’t say that PluginID has experienced some insane growth, but the site doesn’t turn one year old until the end of next month and I’m quite pleased with the current situation. I decided to put together this eBook for two types of people. If you already blog, then there are tips to increase your traffic through quality content, through search, and through social media. If you’ve never built a blog but are interested in starting one, you’ll also learn everything you need to know.
Quite simply, this eBook has been put together to fill a need I thought was sorely desired on the web.
The Three Sections
The eBook is split into three parts, each one is quite different to the next and they all offer great value. They are:
Part One: My Story – As the name suggests, this section of the eBook gives you my background into blogging. I like to think it isn’t all boring and soppy and actually includes some great lessons. More specifically, it covers:
- The story of how my blogging adventures started
- How I made over $20,000 in 4 months from one blog
- Why I quit college and how it paid off for me
- How blogging enabled me to land my dream job
Part Two: Your Story – This section takes the attention away from me and puts it right on you. If you already run a blog and want to know how to increase traffic, this section is perfect. Perhaps most importantly though, if you have never run a blog and want the exact steps to know how, you’ll find everything here (with lots of screenshots).
I really haven’t held back in this section. I want everyone who has had an interest in starting a blog or already run one to be able to follow this guide and turn your desire for a successful blog into reality.
Part Three: My Secrets – As you will see I’ve written, it was important for me to ensure that this wasn’t just another blogging eBook. While I don’t think there are any out there with this kind of information completely free, I still wanted to be that signal which cuts through all the noise.
Including in this section is:
- How I rank on the first page of Google for ‘Personal Development’
- Why my site will keep growing, even when I stop blogging
- How I focus my energy more effectively on increasing subscribers
If you like the sound of the eBook, then click the link below to get your free copy.
Click Here To Download Your Free Copy (Opens as PDF)
Already Blog? Here’s Another Freebie
If you already run a blog (or start one very soon thanks to this guide) then I have another bonus available, completely free. All you have to do is download a copy of the eBook and post a review about it on your own blog. The only requirement is that you must link back to this post so your readers can pick up a copy if they wish.
In return, I will include a backlink to your site from my other blog which has a Google PR of 4 and over 2,000 feed subscribers. Not a bad deal, eh? Depending on how many people do this, you may be one of only a few links and receive quite a nice influx of traffic. To qualify, simply write your blog post and then email me the link when it is live.
Special Thanks
I have put a ton of work into ensuring this guide would offer real, practical value, but I knew it wouldn’t be perfect. Therefore, I enlisted the help of some beta testers who received an early copy in return for giving me some advice on how I could improve the offering.
On that note, I want to say thanks to Haider, Victoria, Carla, Ivan, Tony, Armen, Dan, Al and Carla M.
Thanks also go out to all 3,150 of you or so who I wanted to write this eBook for. I really hope that you all enjoy it. I would love to hear what you think of the guide in the comments!
If you enjoyed this post, I would appreciate if you share it on Twitter, Facebook or Delicious!
If you guys notice and spelling / grammar errors feel free to let me know! It’s easy to miss them when you write a document which is this big.
I really hope that you all enjoy it as I have put in countless hours on this. As always, if you have any questions, then just leave a comment
On page 3, in para. 3, ‘blogging’ is spelled ‘blgging’.
Good intro, though a bit rushed in tone. Probably an artifact of your age but it might be better received if it was more ‘relaxed’. OTOH, many of your potential readers are not in my demographic (late 50’s / content provider).
Hi Glen,
It is really nice to see bloggers like you giving so much value to the blogosphere. To be honest, you could have easily sold this ebook for $17 (min). There are people doing it (I don’t blame them). But it’s nice to see you giving a lot away for free (the other ebook on making friends) expecting nothing in return.
No doubt you’ll have a lot more success in blogging.
Thanks Ram, I definitely could have given this away for a fee but I decided not to. The first reason is that my aim right now is to really just put out as much value as possible and make it accessible for as many people as possible.
The second reason is that right now, I just really don’t need the money. I’ve released paid eBooks in the past that make me a few thousand dollars, but things are going well now so I don’t need to worry about eBook income.
Thanks for the comment and kind words!
I really look forward to reading this. I’m currently working on my own site & blog and would’ve really appreciated something like this when I started. I’m sure I’ll get a lot out of it regardless.
I’ll post a comment-review when I’m finished reading, thanks Glen.
Tristan.
Great stuff Tristan. I agree, it would have been useful for me to have something like this when I started a few years ago. Thanks for the comment!
I look forward to your review
Downloaded the ebook, added to my week-end reading list. Thanks for offering it for free.
I am a personal development blogger myself. Of course, I have a full time job, and blogging is more of a hobby, which I’d like to turn into something more..
I hope to actually use your secrets
Shamelle
Hey Shamelle, I can definitely relate to that.
Being able to leave my job in January was awesome. It’s great having time to work on projects you’re passionate about.
Let me know how it goes!
Cheers,
Glen
Hi Glen,
What an excellent gift to find on a Monday morning. I’m just taking a look at it now and I’m very pleased. Can’t wait to read it. Thanks!
Awesome David, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Wooooooooooooooh:)
You are THE MAN!!!!
Thanks a mill,starting reading today!:)
Hey Diggy, glad you didn’t forget! Awesome, I’m sure you’ll take a lot out of it
I love it, Glen! I love the free sharing of information, the fact that you have the pleasure of saying, “I really don’t need any more money right now,” and the way you’ve laid out the lessons in this book. I know what I’ll be doing for the rest of today. And, in light of your very kind offer for backlinks… I may just have to post a review about it on my site!
Now, since you asked for grammar checks, I have a motherly duty to point a couple out:
1. I decided to put TOGETHER this eBook TOGETHER for two types of people.
2. Perhaps most importantly though, if you have never RUN a blog and want the exact steps to know how…
GREAT JOB!!!!
I get so confused about ran / run, thanks for that. I’ve fixed the first one as well.
I look forward to that review
People won’t stop talking about the book.
Thanks for this! I’ll study it over the next few nights. I am clueless and trying to change that. I appreciate this and the other things you put out there for those of us who have no idea what we’re doing
-James
Hey James, sounds like you’re the perfect person to pick up a copy!
Awesome, and you’re welcome
Gr8. Just downloaded. Am writing a book too. Quite similar, will make sure you get a copy. You are a true friend
Hey Jaky, thanks man!
I don’t know what else to say Glen. You are my inspiration. Thank you so much.
Hey Raymond,
Thanks a lot for your comment, you’re welcome!
What a great idea! Thank you so much for this free e-book. I can’t wait to read it and hopefully share it with my readers on my site.
Hey Dani, I’m sure this will give you some tips on how to improve your blog, and your traffic.
Thanks for stopping by, as always!
Incredible Glen. Found your site about a week or so ago and have been diving in your archives since. I am very surprised of the amount of value delivered here, it has definitely become one of my favourite sites and feeds. First the friends and inet marketing ebooks and now this. Really appreciate all your work here!
Thank you!
PS: I found it a bit difficult to navigate through all your old posts, since I haven’t found an Archive section, and had to go through all pages individually or via categories. Perhaps it would be a nice addition to improve usability?
Hey Javier,
First of all, thanks for the suggestion, I’ll see what I can do. I did install a plugin so that 10 posts show on the category pages rather than 5 like the homepage.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Glen,
This is awesome. I’m going to read the book today and write a review with a link to your post before the end of the day. I look forward to going through this given that I’m someone who started my blog only a month ago.
And you are doing this for free cuz????
Thanks! Will get back to you on that review.
Because I’m a legend / idiot.
Haha, seriously though, just sharing the love. I wanted to provide some insane value, which, coincidentally, is one of my ’secrets’ at the end of the eBook.
Grabbed the book.
Thanks Glen!
I just want to second what Javier said… I’d like to see some Archives! I meant to ask you about that, but I always forget.
I will see if I can figure out the PHP for my ideal solution
Hey Glen.
This is really great stuff, thanks a lot. I can see you have put so much effort into this and for you to give it away for free is amazing.
It is great to see you helping people out like this, and I know I for one really appreciate it.
Great stuff!
Definitely, it took a heck of a lot of time. Really glad to see your back though dude, it has been a while!
Ah yes, it has been a while. I have ran into a lot of financial issues recently that prevented me from getting access to the internet.
So this comes at a great time and I will put everything you have said in the ebook into practice and work hard to try and get my blog up and running, I have a lot more time on my hands for blogging now, especially as the Summer Break approaches, and with a bit of luck, if I can start making some form of income and ensure I don’t lose internet access this time haha.
But yep, great stuff, and I will get working on a review first thing tomorrow, as I think it definitely deserves one
Question for you (and I’m asking it here in case anyone else wonders the same thing when they read it): Page 46, What Not To Do.
If I understand it correctly, you said that google page rank goes down when you sell text links on your site. Does that also apply if the text links are to content-relevant sites? The example you gave was a personal development blog selling links for a pharmacy site. What if the links are to psychology stuff?
Thanks!
If you’re caught selling links, your PR will probably go down. It doesn’t matter if they are relevant or not. Note that this doesn’t apply if you’re buying links (long story to explain that one).
If you are doing this and want to ’stay safe’ then at least make sure the links don’t have a heading above them like “sponsored sites” or anything of that nature.
Remember, these guys are probably buying links from a few sites other than yours so it will be easy for SE’s to detect a pattern.
But, are you talking about the links like the ones Urban Monk has on his sidebar? (Sorry to drag you into this, Albert.) Or do you mean links that are hidden in the text?
If someone pays to advertise their site in your sidebar, how is that a bad thing? Why would I be “caught” selling links? Is it not allowed?
Make sure you read a section near the end on how I rank for the term, Personal Development. Basically Google and other Search Engine’s use a link based algorithm to determine which sites should rank.
Therefore, people purchase links to try to ‘manipulate’ the rankings in their favour. Of course, Google don’t want people to be able to do this unless they deserve to rank highly.
You could add a ‘nofollow’ attribute to the links which would eliminate any chances of you being penalised. Nofollow basically tells the search engines “don’t give this site any of my juice.” However, I’m 99% sure the link buyers wouldn’t be interested anymore if that were the case.
Oh, and it was actually either Albert or Henrik from PositivityBlog (love both of you guys, no hate) that asked the question which prompted me to write about it. One of them had their PR go down quite a lot and were confused.
…but Albert still uses them, so they can’t be TOO harmful, can they? : )
Thanks for this ebook, Glen. We appreciate the information I read it and find it helpful to see what we are doing right, and what we can stand to do better.
Your story is quite inspiring! What a great thing that you’ve turned this all into a very fun AND profitable career.
Hey Alison,
I guess you’ll have to make your own mind up about that one. Just because someone uses something, doesn’t mean it works
Anyways, anybody is feel free to do as they wish, I’m just keeping people in the loop so they don’t wonder why things go downhill, if / when they do.
You’re welcome, thanks for the kind words and comment!
Thanks so much! I can’t wait to read it through and learn more to launch my young blog off the ground.
Awesome Sean. Your theme looks great, by the way.
excellent. i’ll have to check the book out.
thanks!
Hey Suki!
I just have to say, the name of your site is friggin awesome.
This is awesome Glen! I’m really excited about reading the book. I just downloaded it in fact; will put it in my to-read list for this week. Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge with us!
Awesome Glen! I am so excited to read this… once again your timing in release is syncing perfectly with the information that I’m looking for! Thanks
The eBook and your Blog is a good read. You can add +1 in subscription statistics
All the best from Vienna
Haha awesome, thanks Tom!
Glen,
If your looking for a good archives plugin I recommend
SRG Clean Archives, it works wonders. I look forward to reading the e-book I know it will be valuable
Earlier today I downloaded your Blogging Blueprint and started reading away. What an incredible and generous gift you’ve given to so many of us Glen. Such an impact! I look forward to reading and implementing your suggestions. I know it will take me some time to correct the mistakes/errors on my site, but once everything is up, I fully plan on doing a review. Thanks so much for sharing! You have given me hope!
Your welcome Denise, thanks a lot for your comment. I hope that it helps you out!
Awesome dude!
This is insane value man. Keep it up!
Hi Glen! I am utterly amazed at how far you’ve come in such a short span of time. And at a very young age! Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge. I found your eBook to be very informative.
Great stuff!
Hey Audrey, thanks a lot for the kind words, I really appreciate that!
The blueprint! whooo-aahhh. tyler would be so proud
looks sexy as ffff.
downloading at the mo. will read it and give you a proper comment when i’m through.
respect for getting it done. really like the design. ultra slick from paging through it.
well done bro,
here’s to owning the universe
ali
Haha, how did I know you would say that?
Not everything is about Tyler Ally
Thanks man, I hope you learn a lot
Thanks man! I appreciate giving away your effort like this with not even needing to sign up. It makes me give more of a value to what you have. Is that backwards? Anyway, thanks again. I look forward to reading it.
Hey Sherryayn,
Not really backwards, that makes sense to me. It’s similar to something having a price rather than giving it away. People expect the paid item to have more value.
Thanks for your comment
Wow Glen, thanks for the free gift! You must be following the lead by the internet marketing gurus.
I’m going to come up with my free ebook too. Meanwhile, I’ll read your Blogging Blueprint. I’ve got lots to learn from you. Thanks!
Thanks for the eBook! I’ve emailed it to my Kindle instead of printing it out and it’s great so far!
Hiya, that’s a pretty nice theme you got there. Anyways, I just dropped by to let you know that I started a contest on my blog with prizes worth $1600+. I thought you might be interested and thought of letting you know. Keep up the good work and see you around!
Great book-again. I am going to have to demand to see your birth certificate! How old do you claim to be?
20/05/1989
Thank you, it helped me setting up my new blog!
THANK YOU. I am grateful for this inside look.
Hi Glen,
Great stuff – I’ve looked it over, and picked up some great ideas to consider – thanks much for putting this together!
Awesome eBook! …and I was actually one of the 10% who got to the very last page. lol
Glenn, I have read your ebook “How to Make Money Online” and again, you wrote another great ebook.
Thanks for your hard work to compile this ebook. Very very worthwhile.
Hi Glenn
More great content from you. I just downloaded it earlier this evening and just finished it. It is a fab guide and I am going to recommend to clients as well as you make everything so simple. I also like the personal bits…….as we are sometimes our stories..well at least the good ones anyway. It reminded me of being 12 and wanting to be a DJ. At the time it was not the profession for “girls” Anne Nightingale was the only role model.
It is great now that all these years later I am able to do what I want and love what I do.
I like your blog and it is a great inspiration.
Let me know when you are offering personal coaching as I will be one of the first to sign up!
Your strategy of giving will serve you well it is a great universal law that works for all of us if we only implement it.
Take Care
Denisex
Well done Glen. Good read your book is.
Hey Glen,
Is there a way to get (or buy) this ebook so that it is able to be printed? I learn better with hard copies that I can highlight or write on… and just noticed that the pdf is secured, and I can’t print it.
Thanks
Hey Karen,
Is the email you use for this comment (paladins) the email you use? If so, I can send you a different version
Yep, that’s my main email. That would be awesome!!
I have sent it now, let me know if it doesn’t arrive (will probably take a minute or 2 from the time of this comment)
Oh my God, how come I did not notice this post of yours. Anyhow, I’m happy that I noticed at least today. Thanks for the eBook. You’re awesome!
I downloaded the free ebook,thank you so much for this effort,I use to improve my blogging abilities on IT subjects…thank you so much
I read your book and I am so impressed, you go beyond what else I have read about blogging.
Thank you very much for sharing.
BTW I found this url from a post at Twitter (and RT)
Thanks so much for this ebook, I think I will read it several times before really getting all that you stuff inside. Thanks for sharing.
thank you so much for this effort
Thank’s great post
your ideas have been very usefull for me and my blog thanks for sharing!
awesome
Thank’s great post. This is very interesting
great post… ty for this blog
This is a very, very good ebook. Full of practical tips and common sense, keep it up Glen
I went through the book looking to gain a few added tips. I came away with more than what I was looking for. In the areas of transparency and added value to beginner bloggers and marketers, you are a great resource. Thanks for putting your time and work in.