Blog Yourself Rich: The Rule of Three

While blogging comes down to consistency there are many things that you can do to cut down on the time it takes to grow your blog. One of these if following the rule of three. The rule of three will be explained in greater detail below but first let’s talk a bit about blogging and in particular growing your blog. Blogging ultimately comes down to putting in the work day in and day out but the total amount of time it takes to break through the goals that you want can vary greatly.

One man can simply post new things three times a day and will eventually hit success, granted that his content provides some sort of value to his readers. While another can do everything right and cut down on the time it takes to become profitable, even profitable enough to live off your blog by half. Much like a guy working out in a gym can cut down on the time it takes to get the body that he wants by properly programming his workouts. Yet without consistency none of this matters. One of the key ways in which to grow your blog as well as bring up old and useful content in through being smart with your linking. There should never be a blog post that doesn’t link somewhere outside of it and following the rule of three will ensure that you are always utilizing links to their fullest. So without further ado here is the rule of three.

Rule #1 – At Least One Inbound Link

This means that somewhere in your paragraphs in your article you link back to an older article of yours that is relevant. It could be one in the same category or simply one that further expands on the topic that is being discussed in the article. For example say you are talking about networking and blogging and reference how building relationships is so important. Back in your blog archives you have an entire article about how to build relationships and in your current article you don’t have the space to devote any more to the topic but you know that it is an important topic. So you across the words “building a relationship” you would link back to your article on how to build relationships. This way when someone reads it and is intrigued by the concept they can further their learning by clicking on the hyperlink.

This is another way of providing more value to your readers. You have piqued their interest and if you have relevant information it would be wrong not to give it to them. Not to mention this keeps old content from disappearing into the deep recesses of your archives only to be found by search engine traffic. Linking back to old material functions to keep your blog connected like going into a room that connects with others rooms. So if a reader reads what you have to say and enjoys it they are already directed to the next place to go. Don’t let any of your posts be a dead end. If you can find anywhere to place a hyperlink (which is highly unlikely but just in case) at the end of your article put for more information in this vein of thought check out (X) and insert your previous article in that same category. Not as good as placing the hyperlinks in words but still one hundred times better than nothing. Remember no dead ends.

Rule #2 – One Product Link

If you want to make a living blogging you have to have products that you sell. Products that are relevant and provide value to your readers. It doesn’t matter what exactly the product is, so long as you have one (preferably more) that your readers can benefit from. The product could be an e-book, a real book, a actual physical product, a coaching session, a webinar, a program, a class, or whatever so long as it provides value to your readers and is relevant. With these products in addition to having them listed in the pages of your blog either along the top or the side so all can see you also want to link to them in your articles.

However what you don’t want to do is link to them simply for the sake of linking to them. You not trying to “push” your product onto your readers, that is bad salesmanship and a turn off for your customers. The days of the pushy salesman are over. Customers are too well informed now to fall for the snake oil salesman stuff and those who make money through such methods don’t have a long shelf life before they go under. No, you want to provide a product that is relevant and you will benefit the customer.

For example say you wrote a book on the mind and you wrote an article about affirmations which is one way of programming your mind. At the end of the article you mention the product (your book) that has many different ways to program your mind and so you place a hyperlink to it. For example at the end of the article you put “If you enjoyed this post you should check out (my book) which has many more ways to program you mind (or whatever you book contains that your readers would find useful and benefit from). You can also include it like you include links to your old articles. The point is only include it when it is going to be beneficial and useful to your readers. When you readers click on the link they should be happy or excited that they found the product not rolling their eyes at the sales attempt. If you can’t find words to put the hyperlink in do it at the bottom of the article and tell the reader why they would benefit from it.

Rule #3 – One Outbound Link

Networking is an essential part of growing a successful blog. Networking with other like minded bloggers is one of the most effective ways to grow your blog as well as find content that will be useful to your readers. Whenever you read an article on another site and you find tremendous benefit from it that generally means that you readers will too and because you readers will benefit from it, it would make sense to share it with them. Have a number of links from other bloggers on standby to pepper into your own articles when relevant. Say you writing an article about how to build a blog and have recently (or not recently) read one that helped expand on the topic. Link to it.

This serves a couple of purposes. First and foremost it provides your readers with value, which is the entire point of blogging. It gives them information that will help them reach their goals, regardless of what those goals may be. It gives them value and is beneficial for them. Don’t link to an article simply to link to one if it isn’t relevant and doesn’t provide value to your readers. Don’t link for the sake of networking alone. Providing value to your readers comes before networking. Which brings me to my second point. This also servers the function of networking. Which while a secondary function to providing value to readers is still an important one. Reaching out to other bloggers and promoting their good works does two things. One it fosters a good relationship between you and that blogger which is key to any business and two it promotes quality work which is always needed. So be sure to include at least one outbound link in your articles.

Summary

Now I’ll admit I don’t always follow the rule of three, even though I should. Sometimes I’m in a hurry and need to write something and other times I simply forget. The point is the more that you do this the better off that you will be. This will increase the effectiveness of your posts and help you to increase the value of each post to your readers. Which should always be your goal. Follow the rule of three and watch each post slowly but surely increase the readership and potential profit of your blog and above all else provide value.

Click here to read the rest of the blog yourself rich series.

If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.

-Charles Sledge