I’ll be busy the whole of today so thought I’d create today’s post in the morning rather than later when I might not have the time. Today is the last day to enter the site flipping contest – there are already around 40 people up and I don’t want to take on too many. After that’s done, I’ll create a post with rules, draw groups etc.
Anyways, yesterday I celebrated reaching 1,000 subscribers – it’s likely this figure will fluctuate slightly above, slightly below over the next few weeks but on the whole it’s been an upward trend. The domain was registered on October 14th, 2007; since then I’ve written over three hundred posts, made hundreds of friends and quite a decent amount of money too.
Enough of the fluff – here’s how I got to 1,000 subscribers, and I hope that this post helps you guys out.
Content. This blog started out a little vile to say the least… I used to swear a lot online at the beginning, although this has lessened (unless I come across someone really annoying). Of late though, which is the last few months, I started trying to put out good, useful content that would help people in all aspects of internet marketing – there wasn’t really a place that I thought people could go to, as I found blogs completely useless while I was learning to do, so I wanted to become that blog – the one people would recommend to friends that had helped them positively.
If you want to run a blog, good content is key. What is good is subjective, as people see different things as good, however what you want is content that appeals to your niche, that isn’t too long or too short and to be as honest as you possibly can.
Contests. No matter how small or how large your blog, you’ll always be able to get contests sponsored if you approach advertisers well. In the beginning, I had to contact people myself… but these days all I have to do is put up a post and people will be willing to sponsor something – as well as the emails offering various sponsored items.
Forum Marketing. When I started promoting this blog, it was getting 3,000 or more uniques monthly through forum marketing alone. Choose a large forum, stick up a catchy signature link and post stuff that adds value. This works for any niche, btw.
Aweber. It’s easier to get people to opt in to an Aweber list than Feedburner – however, for me everyone that opts into the former gets the latter. Offer an incentive for people to subscribe (in my case, I offered an eBook); whenever people sign up to my list they get a list of posts every ten days. If they like the posts, they can subscribe through Feedburner for daily updates.
Why Subscribe. I added a page that talked about why people should subscribe to the feed, and it’s getting a decent amount of visitors (that I’m assuming convert) monthly. Presell visitors to your blog – remember, you’re trying to ’sell’ them on subscribing to your blog and offering reasons is a great way to do so.
Testimonials. People always want to check these out on a site – it’s always good to see what others are saying. I’ve a testimonial page that offers people a backlink in exchange for a couple sentences about the site, and it benefits everyone.
Creative marketing. Two, maybe two and a half months ago this blog had something like 400 subscribers (just before the beginning of Blogging Idol – I honestly can’t remember the date that started) – now it is 1,000. Around 250 – 300 of that is because of the Aweber integration, but other than that I’ve done some creative marketing – the password protected post (which I’ll talk in depth about) added another 200 odd subscribers over the course of that week. I do little to no active promotion of this blog nowadays, that is promoting it on other sites.
Guest posts. Unique, interesting guest posts win. Put out something that gets people to think on another blog and they will visit your site. I don’t do guest posts these days, although I’m thinking of submitting a few just to shake things up… we’ll see.
Comments. Comment on other blogs like you would write guest posts – I comment not for exposure, but because I like the blogger or the post. Comment enough when you start out and people will comment back.
Competition. I had a competition with five bloggers a while ago, which I won – seeing who could increase their RSS the most in a month. I also am currently running a site flip competition, which will start soon – people subscribe because they want to be updated on that kind of stuff, as it’s interesting (think how many people were interested in the Top Affiliate Challenge, even though it was shit).
Controversy. I’ve never been scared of ‘outing’ people that annoy the hell out of me or are doing stuff I don’t agree with, no matter how big – as with the above, people love a lil drama.
Interaction. I’m a guy you guys can ask questions, as long as I’m not busy, tired, drunk / stoned and you’re not annoying. I’ve helped quite a few over the last few months that have come directly from the blog, and I’d hope most of that help has been useful. Although I haven’t really replied to many emails of late, as I’ve been busy going out and stuff, I do try and follow up with whatever I can.
Anyways, hope these tips helped – I’ve gotta run, so laters 
August 29th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Great post, Jason. Congrats on hitting the 1,000 and that was a really well put together summary of things we should all be looking at. Will be keeping a close eye on the site flipping comp.
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Good stuff man… You are welcome to guest post on my blog
I am going to announce my contest soon. An iPod Touch for 1st place, iPod Nano for 2nd place and $50 Amazon Gift Card for 3rd place.
I hope I can pull in enough traffic and contest participation to make it worth it though.
Any advice?
CreatingRevenueOnline.com’s last blog post..TUK’s Blog Flipping Contest
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Hey Jason,
Firstly congrats on a great success of your blog. Just a quick question about the Site Slip Contest, Do we have to make the Blog ( Site ) Fully from Scratch? Or could we even buy a blog from somewhere over DP with a good design?And add more and most value to it so it could be sold for more? Let me know, I may be interested and will email you.
Thanks
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Ohh yeah, I am talking about the Blog Flip Contest
Forgot to add that. BTW what will be the prize for the winner? Decided something?
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Congrats on breaking the 1k mark!
I’ve been offline most of this week and missed most of the “site flipping contest” posts (other than a quick visit here and there). Probably a good thing, since I am too
lazybusy to participate. Damn day job!Anyway off to read the past posts and comments now!
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August 29th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Yesssss…..
Exactly what I was looking for
Awesome post, this will help me grow my blog heaps
Ryan @ Smarter Wealth’s last blog post..Taking a Break
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August 29th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Just wondering jason,
you said you don’t make much money on this blog. How much do you make from this blog?
Ryan @ Smarter Wealth’s last blog post..Taking a Break
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August 29th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Good subscribe -landing page works really well. I am using one on BHW.
BlackhatWay’s last blog post..Win $50.00 Or Other Wonderful Prizes By Only Commenting!
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August 29th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Congrats Jason!
1k in a year… thanks to all your blog’s contents dude!!!!!
Desmond – DesmondBlog.com’s last blog post..Why Microsoft Made a Huge Mistake by Kicking Piracy Out
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August 29th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Congrats on breaking the 1k mark.
I like your techniques you used to gain more subscribers. Very creative none the less. Thanks for the summary of what you did.
Bruno Auger’s last blog post..Do’s and Don’ts of Customer Support
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August 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Great Jason.Congratz for it.
Harish’s last blog post..The Site Flip Project At The University Kid
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August 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I’ll can say that your content was mainly responsible for getting you over 1000 subscribers. Keep it up!
Ganesh’s last blog post..Site Flip Project at TUK
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August 29th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I like these ways, seems pretty simple to me though truly it is not. I do remember in July you were at about 400, I am really surprised how much this blog has grown since then. I have to try sometime, though I do have to make the blog a little more appealing with better content.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Good VS. Bad Contests
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August 29th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I would like to start a competition what sites would you reccomend to go to, to get some prizes?
Ryan Lineker’s last blog post..Update Services (Ping)
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
You have a great blog here, so I am not surprised to see you get to the 1000 reader mark!
Home Business Mom Tara’s last blog post..New Look Blog Contest
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Congratulations Jason! I’m also on my way to getting 1,000 subscribers, and these tips you have will surely help me get there.
Sly from Slyvisions dot Com’s last blog post..Create a New SlyVisions Slogan, Win An Easy $7
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Yes…this is valuable info ..and something I can surely incorporate into my blog…I really like the testimonial idea Thanks much…
MsTrisBeats’s last blog post..What is Entrecard?
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August 29th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
This is downright inspirational man! I’ve got 10 readers after 6 months, kind of depressing. But Adsense is bringing in about $30 a month…so that is something.
-Peace
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August 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Oh ya, congrats on your success. Very cool
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August 29th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Good stuff TUK, I love your blog man…you know that! You give out practical ways for people to succeed, and you just give it out! Not theories either, proven methods! Your journey is great and the outline is useful for anyone, no matter how many subs they have!
keep it up man, keep bringin it to these sum bees
Normal Joe’s last blog post..Blog Flipping Gone Wild Contest
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August 30th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Congratulations Jason
Riyanne’s last blog post..Make money online without owning a blog
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August 30th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Thats an awesome number in such a less time, you rock…
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August 30th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Congrats, Jason! Getting 1000 subscribers in a year is not an easy feat and your success has inspired me to do better. This proves a point that those who knows…Show and those who don’t…Teach.
Yan
Yan Shall Blog’s last blog post..15 SEO Tips for Beginners
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August 30th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Jason,
What do you charge for personal counseling? I’m interested.
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August 30th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Hey Jason,
Congratulations on your milestone! I guess, the tip on ‘Why subscribe?’ or ‘What is RSS?’ is something I need to take home and work on.
Congrats once again!
Cheers,
Ajith
Ajith Edassery’s last blog post..Tips for picking the right theme for your blog
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September 1st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
[...] How I Got 1,000 Subscribers In Less Than A Year – TheUniversityKid [...]
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Congrats on your success. Just got to know your blog not long ago and you have some great content sources.
Wei Liang’s last blog post..Will High PR Give You Higher Traffic ?
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September 4th, 2008 at 12:58 am
This is a great list, and it’s encouraging to see how far you’ve come as quickly as you did. Do you do this full time or do you have a real job (or school or whatever)?
Ecommerce Blog’s last blog post..Quick Tip: Easy Domain Switching for Miva Merchant Stores
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September 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Congrats bro, I see you hit 988 again
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September 7th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I was wondering why your feedburner count fell below 1000? I still don’t understand how that works.
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September 9th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
All of that and of top, great deal of luck. But luck goes along with brave.
Aleks’s last blog post..Site: Couch surfing
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September 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Congrats bro but you dropped back to 998 again? thats sad
SEO Tricks’s last blog post..Namecheap September 2008 Coupon
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September 11th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Feedburner subscription counts fluctuate based not only on email subscriptions but also on hits coming from RSS aggregators and readers. So it’s not at all surprising to see TUK’s numbers moving around a bit. 1000 readers is still a great milestone.
Ecommerce Blog’s last blog post..Quick Tip: Easy Domain Switching for Miva Merchant Stores
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September 11th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I wonder why your RSS subscribers keeps changing..
SEO Tips’s last blog post..Namecheap September 2008 Coupon
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January 10th, 2009 at 9:57 am
hi
p63j0ugqy4kpfadp
good luck
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June 17th, 2010 at 5:15 am
Good work Jason keep the articles coming.
Phil´s last blog ..BulkOfficeSupply
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June 29th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Nice points but contests don’t seem to work on new blogs.Almost never until the blog has decent amount of traffic.I’d replace contests with commenting on blogs & building relationships with other bloggers.
Harshit Singhal´s last blog ..Spain to face Portugal in Knockout stageTime for Torres to shine
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