This is a guest post by Keith Wilcox

Okay, I admit it.  Some of the details can be a little challenging.  I still have to look up a bunch of HTML that I’m sure other bloggers know by heart.  I don’t know exactly how Google PR works, and I’ll be damned if Alexa rankings make any sense to me.  What I do know is that none of that would matter to me if I had never written my first article 6 months ago.  Even tentative steps are steps.  Blogging really is nothing more than having something to say and saying it.  Indeed, there are some basic rules to follow, none of which are complicated.  First, have a theme.  Second, be consistent.  Third, don’t give up.  That, in a nut shell, are the rules by which people, whether they be athletes, politicians or actors, become successful.  When you execute on those three principals then you can start worrying about the details.  Excuses don’t pay the bills, and good intentions are good for shit.  The only thing that matters is taking one step forward – then another.

The Theme:

My blog is all about being a homeschooling Stay at home Dad (SAHD).  Every article I write has some connection to parenting, fatherhood, children or education.  Of course, themed blogs are not necessary if all you’re doing is updating friends and families on your daily routine.  However, for the purpose of becoming a web presence, a theme is vital.  You must find a niche and become an expert.  Butterflies, massage therapy, speaker technology, fertilizer – just pick something and go with it.

Consistency:

One sure fired way to fail is to be flaky.  Nobody likes a quitter, and nobody likes to be kept waiting.  Readers will read your content if you have something interesting to say, but they won’t keep coming back without fresh news and insights.  There are certain blogs I read every day.  There are others that I read once a week.  I know when to come back because I know the update pattern to expect.  People who aren’t consistent get forgotten.

When the Going gets Tough:

My blog spent 2 months at 20 visitors a day.  It spent another two at about 100.  Then it suddenly shot up to 1200 visits a day for a month.  Now it’s back down to between 300 and 400.  By successful blogger standards my traffic numbers are somewhat pathetic.  But, the trend says I’m going in the right direction.  Sure I had a month over 1000 visitors per day.  Then I bombed.  I could spend my time fretting about that dip, or I could focus on the fact that I started at 20 and I’m still trending up.  I’m a long way from where I want to be, but I’m not giving up just because I bombed this month.  That’s the story of life.  Quitters never prosper.

The Details:

You’re not technically minded?  Neither am I.  I have a double major in History and Spanish.  What do I know about computers and the world of online advertising?  Well, I didn’t know anything before I started, that’s for sure.  Now I know a little, and thats the most I can say.  But, look at my blog.  I’ve asked a ton of questions to people who are experts at this stuff.  They’ve helped me, and I’ve learned.  Did I know who Shawn Collins was before I Started?  Nope.  And, I’ll bet he doesn’t know who the heck I am.  I read his blog though and listen to what he’s saying, and I’ve learned some things.  Dennis here has  been an invaluable resource for SEO advice.  You don’t have to be technical, you just have to be curious.

So, you want to be a blogger, but you haven’t started yet.  You’re probably more qualified than me; but, I’ve done something and you haven’t.  I might never be comfortable with my expertise or I might be worried about what people will say.  I might even be concerned that I’ll get badmouthed and threatened because of the things I say.  You can’t live your life in fear.  One step at a time, that’s all I’m asking.

Do a search for “hooked on phonics” and you’ll see 869,000 results on Google.  If you’re an affiliate pushing this program, you know how much it costs per click on paid search, plus what the payouts are if you promote via Commission Junction or Amazon.com (if you’re not in certain states)– generally 15% or around $20 a sale.  As an affiliate, you’re not allowed to bid on the term “hooked on phonics”, “hooked on fonics”, “hooked on phonix” or related terms– they’re branded terms reserved for the advertiser. So the most popular search is off limits to you if you are just a PPC affiliate.

Incidentally, I think it’s hilarious that so many people who want to learn how to read are misspelling the brand like crazy.  It’s like those people who bought time management books, but never had the time to get around to reading them.

Now consider my friend Keith Wilcox who bought Hooked on Phonics for his kids.  He’s been blogging for 3 weeks now– never blogged before– and his site is now Google PR2 and is starting to rank for commercial terms. The site gets only a few hundred hits a day– but not bad for a site only a month old and with less than 50 posts.

The key point here is that he’s blogging about what he likes and knows a lot about– how to home school kids.  You can see his video, where his 5 year old is reading at the 2nd grade level and is a month away from starting 3rd grade.  The post has 923 words and doesn’t use any formulas for keyword density, page title stuffing, hidden divs, cloaking, or any SEO tricks to get traffic.  Rather, he’s just writing passionately about homeschooling his two children.  I’ll bet you could come up with some ways that he could get more traffic and make more money here.  I’ll list a couple:

• Title his youtube video: “hooked on phonics: teaching my kids“ instead of “reading 06292009″.  Also add a description that says something like “Actual lesson with Hooked on Phonics. My 5 year old is reading at the second grade level. I am proud to home school my two boys.”  YouTube is the 4th largest search engine on the planet, based on a recent Google seminar we attended, but there are only 320 videos competing on “hooked on phonics”.
• Link to the Hooked on Phonics site with your affiliate code: No tracking code, no commission earned.  Name a product you like– odds are there’s an affiliate program for it.
• Mix up the keywords: Jam in too many reading related terms and it won’t sound natural.  Use Google Suggest and Wonder Wheel to see what the popular terms are.

All this to show that a person who is not an affiliate by any stretch can get traffic from just writing good content and getting a couple good links here and there.

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Update: He now has a top Daddy Bloggers list, with 115 sites carefully chosen and reviewed.  Already, he is building links from sites that are topically relevant and already trusted by Google.