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I'm sharing my notes from a fantastic speaker I heard at TBEX, Shelley from Mexico Solo Travel, about affiliate marketing.

Shelly's workshop was direct, to the point, and PACKED with great information that really challenged some of my assumptions about keywords and affiliates.

And with the revenue she's generated in only a few short years, man... she's one to listen to!

Here are three actionable steps I took from her workshop, some dos and don'ts, and a call to YOU to rethink your affiliate strategy, as well.

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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It's my first "real" podcast episode --- not just an audio conversion from YouTube.

And we're going "semi-daily"! (Is that a thing? haha.) I'll be releasing episodes 5x a week, with a "combined" podcast on the weekends that allow you to catch up on everything in one single episode.

In this episode I start a multi-part series on the amazing things I learned from a recent blogging conference... and how fitting that I start with WHY I am transitioning into daily podcasting.

TL;DR it comes down to some incredible stats I learned from fellow blogger and podcaster Gary Arndt.

You can find him at Everything Everywhere Daily, with a sensational daily podcast that my kids are already consuming ravenously (but it's not just for kids... adults are the target market.)

I hope you'll consider doing what Gary did and really THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX about what we see bloggers doing over and over and over again. 

Gary took a risk and saw a sensational return for his efforts. I am so grateful for what he taught me at the conference... I hope he'll come on the podcast someday soon and share even more.

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** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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We’ve talked “topic cluster”… “pillar posts”…. And “support posts”… all valuable SEO strategies that build on top of each other to improve your ranking and reinforce your architecture and topical authority.

This week we introduce the final ingredient in that effort – hub pages.

(If you want to SEE a hub page example, check out the YT video here: https://youtu.be/3XgAEH2sjjo )

Many people think their category pages perform this task, so they ignore hub pages. DON’T MAKE THAT MISTAKE!

I’ll tell you exactly why category pages don’t translate, and what to do about it.

Additionally, I give you 5 tips to get you started on your hub page journey.

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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Brandy Gleason, owner of https://gleasonfamilyadventure.com/ joins us this week to discuss her mind-blowing Facebook Group, Ohio Road Trip https://www.facebook.com/groups/2642861779333257 

This group is nearly 900,000 members at the time of this recording… and it’s likely to surpass 1MM by the time we publish the video.

Here are some of the questions we ask Brandy….

👉 Why did you start this group?

👉 How long did it take to grow?

👉 Groups vs Pages and what difference it makes in community

👉 How much to post, what to post about

👉 Setting boundaries with members (and for yourself) 

👉 Monetizing your group (and why she doesn’t share affiliates very often!)

👉 Using an editorial calendar

👉 Managing spam and self-promotions

If you’re thinking about starting a Facebook Group (or you have never considered it, but you want to grow your audience engagement and loyalty) then this episode is a MUST!

Get my BLOG POST UPDATE CHECKLIST or my 52 NEWSLETTER CONNECTION PROMPTS for free at my website: https://leslipeterson.com/ 

(PS… the newsletter connection prompts could double as prompts for your Facebook Group!)

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===== FOLLOW ME =====

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** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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Last week we talked about silo structures, which consist of pillar posts and support posts. This week I talk to you a little more about Support posts.

Support posts are critical elements to reinforcing your authority on Google (and with your readers!) 

These are the posts that “dive deep” on the information you casually mention in your pillar content.

If you’re a new blogger – starting with a topic cluster plan, and then developing pillar and support posts for those topics, is how you win the game and gain traction quickly.

If you’re an established blogger with hundreds (thousands?) of posts already, I implore you to do a site audit and understand where the gaps are in your silo structures… they you’ve got a content plan for the next few months.

If you already have a topic cluster approach in place – GOOD FOR YOU! Woot! I also explain how I doubled down on a particular cluster to move up FIVE places on Google within just a few days!

I also explain HOW I create my support posts.

Hint: Keyword Research is still critical.

My tools of choice include SEMrush and/or RankIQ. Here are links for these tools.

https://www.semrush.com/lp/sem/en/?ref=2017039287&utm_campaign=aio_campaign&utm_source=berush&utm_medium=promo&utm_term=23 

https://www.rankiq.com/?fpr=leslipeterson


Want my blog post update checklist for FREE?? Sign up here: https://leslipeterson.com/

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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Building silos of content on your site is an effective and easy way to build authority and expertise with your readers and with Google.

The problem is that most bloggers don't go deep enough on the content they write. You need authority in your niche, but also on every topic you write about within that niche.

In this video I give you an example of "going deep" on a hyperlocal travel site - but the concept applies to every niche out there.

Auditing your silos is just ONE part of the blog post update strategy. If you want my blog post update checklist for FREE, just click here to request it: https://leslipeterson.com/

Semrush is the must-have tool for every blogger and it's what I mention  in this video: https://www.semrush.com/lp/sem/en/?ref=2017039287&utm_campaign=aio_campaign&utm_source=berush&utm_medium=promo&utm_term=23

RankIQ is an alternative: https://www.rankiq.com/?fpr=leslipeterson

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


===== FOLLOW ME =====

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Podcast: https://podcast.leslipeterson.com/

** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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I'm thrilled to share this interview with Claudia Laroye of https://claudiatravels.com/ , who recently published her first book...

You can find A Gelato A Day here: https://amzn.to/3NbzlxY

We talk with Claudia about her new book... and the process of pitching to publishers, curating the content for her anthology, and the possibility of doing it again.

We also talk about how Claudia began as a "hobby" blogger in the family travel space... how that morphed into freelance writing... and how the landscape for both of those has changed over time.

Join me as we look at Claudia's new book... but also gleen a little blogging business insight from one of my favorite writers!

What to expect:

1:06 How did this come together (pitching a business case to the publisher)
3:36 Getting a travel book contract in 2020 and the COVID implications
6:51 One of my favorite things about the book
8:17 Picking which stories to include
9:54 “Pitching” a book as an approach for writers and bloggers
13:23 Thoughts on anthologies
14:42 Book promotion
15:55 Would you write another book? “Do it again?”
17:36 Claudia’s early blogging years, which began as a passion project… 
20:15 Blogging and freelance writing – benefit or curse?
21:59 More about blogging and freelancing
24:35 And from a financial point of view
26:07 Entering the freelance space
31:16 Wrap up with lessons learned over the years

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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Backlinks are the cheerleaders of your blog posts... defining for Google the pieces of content that are worthy of sharing.

Is that always fair? Maybe... maybe not. 

But today, they are an important part of the ranking model.

In this video I cover why they are valuable... and I offer a few ways to get them including my favorite (which is always scary, but oh so easy!)

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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Podcast: https://podcast.leslipeterson.com/

** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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Internal Links are often built into your blog posts as an after-thought... but they should be front and center in your mind as you build your content.

In this week's video I talk about why internal linking is so valuable, and I share a few best practices to get you going.

https://leslipeterson.com/ for the FREE blog post update checklist discussed in this video 

(If you love this but want even MORE info about updates... a step-by-step process you can consistently repeat... my Content Update System course will launch again in Fall!) 

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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Podcast: https://podcast.leslipeterson.com/

** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!

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Deborah Niemann -Boehle from https://thriftyhomesteader.com/ joins me this week to talk about how her blogging business has transformed since 2006.

Deborah talks with me about how a book deal was the catalyst to changing her mindset... but neither her book deal nor her blog is her primary revenue source.

With a podcast (https://thriftyhomesteader.com/category/podcast/), books, a teach gig at UMass, courses, speaking engagements and more.... there is a lot to learn from her transition.

Be sire to stay to the end where Deborah shares 2-3 things she wish she did differently from the beginning.

Grab ALL the freebies I mention on the podcast PLUS so much more. All FREE! Grab it all here.


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Podcast: https://podcast.leslipeterson.com/

** Sometimes I link to additional resources, and they may or may not include affiliate links. I'll never link you to anything I don't use myself!