From: Kathy Hendershot-Hurd Date: Blog Marketing Expert Author of the book : Beyond the Niche Port St. Lucie,FL

Dear Blog Owner,

When you launched your blog, you probably had high hopes for it.  In the beginning, you were thrilled to discover how EASY it was to blog.  You dove right in and started blogging.  It was easy AND it was fun.

However, it probably didn't take you long to discover there's more to blogging than meets the eye. While blogging is easy, creating a successful blog is HARD.

If you're frustrated with your blog, you're in good company.

         Do you know what  is the biggest lie on the internet when it comes to blogging?  

If you've been searching for the secret to blogging success, you've heard this lie over and over again.  

THE BIGGEST LIE ABOUT CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BLOG IS THIS: ALL YOU NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL BLOG IS LOTS OF TOP QUALITY ORIGINAL CONTENT.

Like most lies, there is an element of truth in this statement.  Top quality original content is as essential to your blog as oxygen is to survival.

Just as oxygen is essential to but not enough to sustain life, quality original content is essential but not enough to sustain your blog.

To survive you need more than just oxygen.  You need water - you need food- you need shelter - and those are only the basics.  If you want to thrive, you'll want to add a lot more to that list.

Your blog needs more than top quality original content to survive as well.  Your blog  needs a LOT more than just top quality original content if you want it to thrive.

Creating original quality content is a HUGE job.  It's time consuming process.  That's why there are a LOT of people who are trying to sell you shortcuts to this essential step.  If you didn't know before, I'll let you know now: There is no "fast, easy and CHEAP" way to create great original content for your blog.  If you want the fast and easy way of getting content, hire a writer.   You don't need a "I'm practicing to write well English" kind of writer, you need a GOOD writer who writes WELL.   This is definitely an option for getting content for your blog and is covered in the course (Day 35).  

That's why it breaks my heart to see people who are writing GREAT original content yet not getting any visitors to their blog.  I know the time and energy they're putting into their blog, but they're not seeing any fruit from their labor!

When you launched your blog, it was probably because you got caught up in the "buzz" about blogging.

• You've probably heard about how EASY blogging can be. (It is!)
• You've probably heard about how having a blog can build your reputation in your field. (It can!)
• You've probably heard about how some blogs seem to have magic Search Engine Attraction powers which catapults articles posted to blogs straight to the top of the search engine results.
  (If you've ever struggled trying to get a traditional web site to the top of the search listings... well, then I can understand why it would seem that a blog appears to have some kind of wonderful magic which makes it mysteriously rise to the top of the search engine results.)
• You've probably heard about how some people make a 6 figure income from blogging. (Yes, you can!)
• You've probably heard about how major corporations are launching blogs to communicate with their customers and increase sales. (They are!)

What you probably didn't hear is that while blogging is easy, creating a successful blog is HARD.

It's true, a blog allows you to get your words onto the web easily.  A blog is a GREAT communication tool.  However, if you've been blogging for more than a few weeks, you've discovered there's a lot more to "blogging" than than just creating a few posts and waiting for the traffic to find you!

You can spend years reading blogs and chasing down information on just how to get started.  Achieving blogging success isn't a matter of having enough time or money or dedication to blogging. It's a matter of putting together essential pieces into a cohesive blogging system that includes every essential element.

I didn't know how bad the situation was out there until I got an email from the Vice President of North American Operations for a Fortune 1000 company. He wrote to ask me how to go about creating a "vibrant and alive blog presence". 

If the VP of Communications for a multi-million dollar company is having trouble nailing this down....how easy can it be?

There is no shortage of "free advice" on the internet regarding blogging. However, there is a key step in creating your blog's content that is ESSENTIAL to your success.

There are "secrets" to blogging success. Turns out that every successful blogger does this, yet most aren't even aware that they're doing it.

That means, if you ask a successful blogger WHY they're successful, they may just shrug their shoulders because they really don't know.

Worse yet, they may tell you what they THINK is their secret to success, but when you try to do the same, it doesn't work for you.

For a lucky few, these "secrets" come naturally. Fortunately, for the rest of us, these "secrets" can be learned!
 

Tucked away in the 8 Week Power Blog Launch e-book is the only place you'll find one of the secrets to success on the internet. Like most hidden treasures, you may not recognize how valuable it is as you're working through the 8 week program.

Have you ever watched "Antiques Road Show"? I love to watch that show. Each episode features a mix of some people who think they have a treasure who find out it's junk while others who think they have junk discover it's priceless treasure.

I'll never forget one episode where a family discovered they "ruined" an antique chest of drawers by refinishing it. Had they left it "ugly", it would have been worth over $50,000. However, by polishing it up, the value of the piece dropped to $5,000.

There was yet another show where a man brought in a misshapen piece of wood given to him by his grandfather. The expert declared that it was an ancient peace pipe used by Native Americans in the northwest.  The piece was literally priceless.

When the expert asked the owner how certain marks came to be on the piece, the gentleman sheepishly admitted that he had used the artifact as a make shift hammer to hang a picture recently. Once it's value was recognized, it is certain that the artifact would never again be used to drive nails into drywall.

Some of the lessons in the 8 week course (Days 3 and 4 come to mind) remind me of the Antiques Road Show stories. I'm tempted to "pretty" them up and try to make some of these steps more complex. I'm afraid if I don't, you'll treat it like the 2nd gentleman did with his priceless artifact handed down from his grandfather - and use it like a hammer instead of treating it with the respect it deserves.

Here's the kicker: The harder it is for you to get through the first 10 lessons, the more important they are for you.  The harder the first 10 days are for you, the more you need to perform these exercises to get the result you want from your blog.

Are these exercises "time consuming"?  Absolutely not.  

Will you break a sweat doing them?  Absolutely not.

Are they "difficult"?  For some people the first 10 days of this program are excruciatingly difficult.  But the difficulty lies not because the action steps are "hard" or "time consuming" but rather because these action steps require that  you to create a foundation - a structure- for your blog.

Let's face it - some people HATE structure and for those people, the first 10 Action Steps will be difficult but not impossible to complete.

Laying the proper foundation for your blog is essential to blogging success.

But let me put it this way, if these steps came naturally to you, you wouldn't be here and you wouldn't need this program.

Can anyone do the action steps prescribed in this course?  Yes - without a doubt anyone who is able to navigate the internet to get to this page CAN complete these essential action steps.

On the other hand, you might be surprised how EASY the first 10 days will be for you.   I've had a couple of clients who thought the first 10 Lessons were a BREEZE! Their attitude was "Well -DUH!  Of COURSE I knew THAT!

In those cases, the "magic" of the course was delivered later on - in the blog promotion techniques taught in the later days of the E-course.  Once the people who "got" the beginning lessons began performing the later Action Steps - that's when things really exploded with their blogs.