For the past week or two I’ve seen quite a few bloggers creating landing pages for their blogs.  Most of these are geared towards Twitter, but you can create them for any social media website you wish.

Over the holiday season I took some time to create my own Twitter landing page, and I am currently working on a landing page for my other social media profiles.

What Is A Social Media Landing Page?

Landing pages were originally created with the thought of creating conversion sales on specific products or affiliate programs.  It’s alot like meeting the car salesman when you enter a car lot.  You don’t go straight to looking at the cars without being first greeted by a salesman.

This landing page is meant to sell something and social media landing pages are no different.

The thing we are trying to sell though isn’t some affiliate product, it’s our blog.

Why Create A Social Media Landing Page?

Social media sites, like Twitter, don’t really give you alot of room to write your bio, and most people want to know more about you before they blindly engage in some sort of friendship.  And with the big number of predators online today, it’s no wonder people take more precaution than they once did.

This landing page is a way for you to really show a person who you are and what you’re about.

Most of the time, the url you try to send everyone to is your homepage, but your homepage could get really confusing to some when all they wanted to know was more about who you are, not about the latest book or affiliate program that has surfaced.

This is your chance to convince people that you’re an important person and you have something equally as important to say.

The Elements of a Social Media Landing Page

You can be as shallow or in-depth as you want when creating your social media landing page.  There is no set rules or requirements.  However, if you’re unsure what types of things to include in your landing page, here is a good starting place:

1. Short Introduction - Create a short introduction welcoming the visitor to your page.  Give them a summary about yourself, then a link to your blog’s normal about page so they can find out more about you should they choose.

2. Talk About Your Blog - Give the visitor some information detailing what your blog is about as well as about 4 or 5 of your best articles.  This is a great way to let them see your writing style and to help them determine if they’re interested in what you have to say.

3. Expand Upon Your Social Media Account - The visitor obviously came to your landing page from a particular social media website, so it makes sense that you should tell them what special services or information you share on your social media profile.

For instance, if you let your readers take a glimpse into the “behind the scences” of your blog, or give them opportunities to guest post through your social media account, then let them know that.  Give them a reason to connect with you through these outlets.

4. Give Them More Info - If you have anything else you’d like to share, like the fact that you’re an author, or are the creator of a great website, or the ceo of a major corporation, then list it.  People love to feel like they’re personal friends with celebrities or “big wigs”, so the more you can show them just how great you are, the better your chances of them connecting with you.

5. Offer A Way To Subscribe - Now that you’ve got their attention and have given your visitors some great information about you and your blog, give them some actions to take.  Sometimes the best way to get someone to do something you want is to ask.  They can’t read your mind, and when faced with nothing else to do, will often move on to other things.

Give your visitor a way to subscribe to your blog or to connect with you on other social media platforms.  And don’t make it small.  Put it in their faces.  Make sure they know it’s there and won’t miss it.  You’ll be surprised at how many visitors will do the things you ask of them.

Have you created a social media landing page?  If so, how has it impacted your blog?

If you missed my latest post, click here to learn how I make $40-$50 per month with my SMS Blog Feed and only 3 subscribers.

I was talking with Darren Rowse of ProBlogger on Ustream a couple of days ago and he let slip his secret to coming up with creative post ideas when he is experiencing “blogger’s block“.

The Secret

Darren shared that he subscribes to over 700 different feeds.  Most of us could never imagine subscribing to any more than 50 or 60 feeds, let alone 700.

I subscribe to only 27 feeds and that can get out of hand if I don’t check it for a day or two.  Especially for the blogs that update at least twice a day.

Darren says many of these blogs are within the same niche as him and he uses their posts to help generate ideas for his own posts.  But how he does it without feeling overwhelmed is the greatest secret of all.

Managing the Unmanageable

For any of you that haven’t played around much with the features of Google Reader, you probably don’t know that there is an option to create folders.  If you do know, then you’re already a step closer to understanding how Darren manages those 700 + blog feeds.

Under the manage subscriptions link in your Reader there is a “Folders and Tags” option that allows you to create your own folders.  Doing this and moving specific blog feeds into those folders is how you manage the unmanageable.

Put all the posts you subscribe to specifically to generate ideas, into one folder, then all of the blog feeds you simply enjoy reading in another folder.

Now anytime you need some inspiration for a blog post, just scan quickly through your ideas folder and find something that interests you.

Managing your feeds in this way will keep you from feeling so overwhelmed when trying to read the blog posts you enjoy.

Do you use this method to generate blog post ideas?

There are literally 2-3 new blogs being created every second. Everywhere you turn you are hearing about a blog, whether it’s a personal blog, a group blog, or a business blog.

So why, if there are so many blogs on the internet, do we only hear about a small group of them being very succesful?

Because most bloggers who are interested in being successful or making a ton of money with their blogs, aren’t doing it right.

An Answer Out of Context

Many of those blogger’s who are successful are giving everyone the same answer when asked what is the best topic to blog about.  I even catch myself doing it over and over again, without thinking.

The answer is correct, but it’s not a full explanation of what we really mean.

Like the many religious views that are taken out of context, rather than seeing the big picture, just as many bloggers are taking the “blog about your passion” answer out of context.

Do I think it’s on purpose?  Absolutely not.  It’s a mere ignorance of the real meaning.  And I think those of us who are successful at blogging should start explaining ourselves in better detail when we answer a question of such importance.

The Problem of Demand

The best thing I can say to you before choosing a blog topic, is to forget about your passion!  I know, you’re probably thinking I’ve gone and lost my mind, but just hear me out.

There are other steps you need to take before choosing what you’re passionate about, and demand is the first.

Is there a demand?

Just like in any business, if what you supply isn’t what the consumers demand, you will not succeed.

Blogging isn’t any different.  So when choosing a topic make sure there is a demand for the information you’re giving.  The topic doesn’t have to have the highest demand.  There are millions of internet users on the web each day and even a demand from a small percentage of them can yield great results.

Is the demand shrinking or growing?

If the demand for a specific topic is on it’s way out, then you probably shouldn’t choose that particular topic either.

The best way to go around this stumbling block is to blog about something that is timeless.  If you are blogging to make money or be successful, then you probably plan on blogging for many years.  If you choose a fad topic that will be gone by next summer, then your long term plan will fail.

If you’re interested in blogging about fads, then create a blog about fads as a big picture.  Don’t focus on one specific fad, but on all fads, as they come and go.

Much like the stock market, if you can predict the next big thing that everyone will be searching for, then you will be a winner.

The Problem of Over-Saturation

I often find that new bloggers like to choose a topic that covers something a large majority of bloggers already cover.  They’re thinking is that if “what’s his name” is making money on that topic, then I can too.

That is the wrong way of thinking when you’re choosing a topic, and more often than not the chosen topic was one that was already over-saturated.

Over-saturation of the market for a particular topic actually means there is less demand.  Not physically, as in lower numbers, but mentally, as in “I’m not looking somewhere else when I can find it here”.

Think about where you go when you’re interested in buying a specific book online.  You’re first thought was probably Amazon.  Would it make sense to start an online book store when there is already a huge contender in the market?

When looking for something online that is in the niche of a particularly famous blogger, or a group of bloggers that have already super-saturated the market, most internet users no longer use Google to search for that particular topic.  They know the website address and will type it instead.

If you’re stubborn and you still want to blog about an over-saturated topic, then try to find something not covered within that topic and blog about it.  This is called creating a “sub-niche”.  Many bloggers have become successful in an over-saturated market by focusing on a specific point that no one was covering.

The Problem of Monetization

In a nutshell, the problem of monetization simply means, if you cannot monetize your particular topic and your end goals are to make money, then you should probably choose another topic.

So before you begin your blog, choose two or three topics you’re interested in, do your research and find any and all ways to monetize that topic, compare the two or three topics, then decide which ones offer the better payouts and monetization sources.

How To Choose Your Topic

Now that I’ve utterly confused you about the topic you should choose for your blog, it’s time to take your first steps:

1. Generate a massive list of topics that have a high demand.  I’d try to list at least 100 or more of them.
2. Mark out all topics that are over-saturated, unless you can narrow it down to a specific area that isn’t being covered.
3. Research the various methods of monetization each topic remaining has, and cross out the ones that offer little to no monetization.
4. Of the remaining topics, find two or three you’re really passionate about and write them on piece of paper to stash away somewhere.
5. Choose one of those topics and begin your blog.

The other topics you chose that you were passionate about are your backup topics should you realize later that you may not have been as interested as you thought.

Remember not everyone can be successful blogging, but taking the right approach and using the right steps, anyone can increase their chances for success.

How did you choose your blog topic?

I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays!  Be safe and have fun.

If you’re tired of hanging out with the in-laws and are looking for something to read, then check out some of these great posts that you may have missed out on.

• 8 Daily Tasks To Increase Blog Traffic
• Establishing A Sense Of Security On Your Blog
• 8 Ways To Make Your Blog Sticky
• How To Survive Blog Events & Conferences
• The Roadmap To Becoming A Successful Blogger
• Build Your Blogs Credibility Brick By Brick
• Twitter Zen - Finding The Deeper Meaning Of Twitter

What are your thoughts on these posts?