Summary

“Blogging is not dead, blogging is just changing.”

Neil Patel is the co-founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics. He helps companies like Amazon, NBC, GM, HP and Viacom grow their revenue. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 online marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies in the world.

Neil has an ambition to help generate more traffic and get more eyeballs to anyone’s website which is why I reached out to him. There is so much clutter out there in the digital world so finding ways to cut through in order to get your message, services and products noticed, is critical.

The focus of the questions revolves really around how I, as a blogger, may help get more reach, and in this process I hope the lessons can be transferable to whatever interests you pursue. At the end of the day if you are looking for ways to make your passion, your life, you will need to find a way to monetise it and this will require the ability to create an audience.

Neil has certainly made his riches and continues to do so by providing great value to others. His message however that you certainly don’t need to be rich to be happy, you simply must love what you do. I think in this episode, while at times it seems a little of track, you will certainly find some gold.

Enjoy! Peace, passion and purpose.

“Whatever makes you happy! If you’re happy you’re successful.”

Key Take Outs

·      Direct your energy. Put your energy into what you enjoy and what you’re passionate about and don’t waste it on anything else. In this you will be much more sustainable in what you do and less like to quit.

·      Provide value and educate. This is the quickest way to create loyal followers and when you have loyal followers you can then find ways to provide them with solutions that they will be willing to pay you for.

·      Focus on strengths. Become aware and understand your weaknesses and find ways to cover them by either finding partners to work with or outsourcing. This will allow you to focus on your strengths. If you’re just starting out you may ask for help from those around you to get feedback on how to improve your weaknesses.

·      Create quality connections. Whether starting a blog or offering other value through services or products try create quality connections. You can do this by reaching out to others that may have similar interests or offerings that you both may share and benefit.

·      Be consistent. People want consistent content. If you give them a taste but then suddenly cannot keep up to their demand you may just loose them as a follower. Most people give up too soon, as it takes time to build an audience so they loose hope, keep it consistent and they will come.

·      Make it epic. The quality of content is hugely important in this day and age. There is information overload out there therefore if you really want to cut through and hold loyal followers the quality of the content must be epic.

· Experiment with trying many things. This is a sure fire way to allow you to discover what you really enjoy doing and what your passionate about. If your not particularly enjoying it just quit and move on but remember in your mission to follow what you love doing, you may not always enjoy everything.

What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?

I would tell myself to focus on one thing. He tried too many things at once and this was perhaps not the best strategy.

His interpretation of success

Whatever makes you happy! If you’re happy you’re successful.

Quick round questions

Favourite Food

Taco’s

Favourite Leisure Activitiy

Playing and watching basketball.

Favourite book(s)

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin

The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

Quote

“If you keep avoiding making the mistakes you’ve made in the past you’re much more likely to succeed.

What does living life with passion and purpose mean?

Just enjoy what your doing.

How to find Neil and other links

You can find Neil at Quicksprout or at his personal webpage Neil Patel.

Here is a link to Buzzsumo so you can test word trends to select the best for your site.

Here are some examples of formulas for very catchy headlines.

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