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#1 Run a contest – I’ve run blog contests (currently not available) on this site before, and all I can say is that it gives great attention and new traffic to your blog.#2 Review books/products/films – Reviews deliver a lot of value to your followers, and people are constantly looking for honest opinions, not the fake ones that the web is full of.#3 Make comprehensive guide/tutorial – If you’re a professional in a field or know some topics extra well, feel free to help the ones who have less skills and experience than you do. Tutorials and guides provide a lot of value, which can help drive traffic and convert followers. As an experienced blogger, I teach others how to start and maintain a blog.#4 Interview someone – Know any celebrities or people who have great stories behind their work/life/career? Interviews are extremely popular in two cases: a) you deliver an interview with a famous person who rarely speaks in public or b) your shares rally insanely useful and practical tips and content.#5 Post a cool infographic – Infographics help to visualize complicated data, and they’re hugely popular these days. As always, when something becomes mainstream, the overall quality is poor. So, if you’re not a designer, hire one to get a viral infographic that stands out from the crowd.#6 Criticize a website/blog or a person – The web and blogs are great for discussion, opinions and criticizing. Nevertheless, if you are brave enough to say some crispy words about someone, make sure your text has strong arguments and is based on real facts. Random ranting is pointless.#7 Make a post full of GIFs – GIFs are the symbol of online entertainment and humor. There are thousands of GIFs and generators that help to produce new ones. See example: Linkbuilding in GIFs#8 Create a photo post – Share your favorite photos from your niche or personal photos from your latest traveling adventure. Keep in mind that if you’re not the author, you should always give credit to the original photographer by providing a link.#9 Tell a personal secret– We all have our dreams as well as secrets. Sharing them publicly gives very engaging content to the followers. As much as people love rumors, they love to know the dirty little secrets of other people.#10 Write inspirational/motivational post with famous quotes – People need little kicks to get going and get things done. Big things start from small ones, and motivational posts can do miracles. Here’s one of the best quotes from Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else´s life.” Here are some tips for using quotes in your posts.#11 Share recent travel experiences – Travel blogs and posts are popular, and there are people who earn a living solely from writing about their adventures. Sharing inspiration and tips from your adventures is very useful to your audience, whether you’re in the travel industry or not. In case you haven’t traveled for a while, publish the best or worst experiences you’ve had in certain countries/airline companies/etc.#12 Host a giveaway – Have you ever thought why products like GoPro become more and more popular with each day? They do giveaway campaigns regularly. People love free stuff, and taking advantage of that helps you reach new audiences.#13 Write down a conspiracy theory – Have you heard about all the number theories behind important events and people? Now it’s time to start a new one; let your imagination free, or simply share you opinions about the known ones.#14 Show log files of intense conversations – Who doesn’t like to read log-files that are somewhat offensive?#15 Write a short story – No previous experience with writing fiction? Publish your short story (about 200 – 500 words), and ask your followers for feedback.#16 Sing a song – Great artists and singers are not born overnight. First, they’ll have to discover their talent. Find your new hobby or passion in music.#17 Create a list of something – People are lazy. They don’t want to waste time on searching and gathering information. That’s the reason why lists are popular. Create a TOP10, or better yet, a TOP100 list. Lists of movies, books, influential people, or any other topic can easily generate buzz.#18 Write down all the thoughts you had in mind today – This is pretty mindf*#?, but if you are bored, then you can try this method as well.#19 Share your goals/dreams publicly – Write down all your goals for the current year or dreams where you want to be in 5 years time. It gives nice pressure and motivation to achieve the goals, and it will excite your loyal followers.#20 Make a link carnival and ask others to join – All sorts of link carnivals and linky parties are becoming very popular.#21 Announce that you’ve turned the comments into “do-follow” so you can get more comments – You will probably get 50% more comments in that way. However, the downside of this technique is that you might receive a lot of “spam” blog comments as well. CommentLuv is a great plugin to start with.#22 Build your to-do list – There are many to-do list apps and services, but try to publish your tasks on your blog. Other people will have the opportunity to learn from you. How you build your tasks, how broad or narrow they are, etc. can all be helpful to your audience.#23 Write a post in response to some recent post/news – In other words, become an opinion blogger or analyst. When you manage to write high-level content on hot topics, your blog can be featured on major newspapers and websites.#24 Make a full case study about something – We covered tutorials already, but case studies reveal what you’ve done, how you’ve done it, and what the results are. This is extremely interesting for many folks, especially for me.#25 Share your favorite blogs/bloggers in one post – It’s a bit similar to “Make a list” idea, but sharing the blogs and bloggers you follow is never a bad idea. Give the resources to your readers; believe me, they are grateful and won’t stop following you.#26 Invite your readers to submit guest posts – Are you struggling with new posts or have to leave for some time? Ask people to write guest posts. It’s a win-win situation; you get the content, and they can build up their name or brand.#27 Publish the best comments that your blog has received throughout the history – Are you using a vote system on your comments or just know the posts where some comments have raised very fruitful discussions? Share them in a separate post.#28 Share your blogs income + traffic numbers– Prove that a blog in your niche can have reasonable traffic numbers and maybe even be profitable. Bring Google Analytics data to daylight and it’s very nice if you provided some analysis in important points, for example a major change in traffic numbers etc. Pat Flynnhas done that , why don’t you?#29 Tell a joke – That’s pretty straight forward. Humor never gets old, and great jokes are really entertaining.#30 Bust a myth – There are thousands of well-known things that actually are not true. In other words, they’re called myths. Take some time and do some research to disprove some of them. If your follower love it, feel free to become a MythBuster.#31 Produce or publish your art – Online galleries and portfolios look cool and can be the first step to the world for artists. So publish your paintings, comics, graphical design masterpieces, and other creations as well.#32 Publish a post about your success and epic failures – Being successful means making mistakes (or in other words: failing). But failing is not all bad. It’s a learning experience that allows you to be better the next time. So, that’s the reason why you should talk publicly about your success and failures, to let others learn from it.#33 Ask your readers to tweet, like, and share the posts they like – Spreading the word about your blog or posts is important, but sometimes people need a little extra kick to do that, so write a post for that.#34 Start a poll – That’s simple. Want to know what other people prefer or think about a certain topic? Start a poll to get quick overview.#35 Write a post about things you regret doing/not doing – When you surf around Quora or Yahoo Answers, you’ll find many very popular topics and posts about the things people regret doing and not doing. Try to write down your own list.#36 Pose a rhetorical question in your blog post – This blog post idea is similar to posting random quotes just to produce some content, but it can really spark a discussion, even if the question is rhetorical.#37 Post a picture that speaks more than thousand words- Sometimes you can and SHOULD post images that tell us a story. It does not only grab attention and increase your visitors average time spent on the blog, but it’s also extremely interesting.Check this .#38 Publish some little or unknown facts – The Internet and different encyclopedias are full of facts, some of them really random. For example “Did you know that the pink/red/white color of flamingos comes from the food they eat?” You can gather those facts in your own post to generate buzz.#39 Publish an In Memorian post – It’s polite to commemorate the people who pass away.#40 Bring out the most important dates in history – Pick a country/war/invention/company, and write down the important dates of it. People love to get general but detailed overviews.#41 Tell about your latest event experiences – Visited a concert or a festival lately? Write a review about it.#42 Publish your CV online – Show your previous experience and the things you are good at. You might get a job offer for doing that.#43 Post an obvious lie – You can turn things upside down when you tell an obvious lie inside your blog post. People might get mad at you, but that doesn’t matter.#44 Write where you’d like to travel – … and encourage others to do the same in your comments. This kind of conversations usually turns out pretty big.#45 Blog about marketing secrets – Tell your readers about your top secret strategies, techniques, and tactics you use to get more followers and traffic.#46 Write about the most important lessons you’ve learned in your life – What is more kind than helping others and analyzing yourself at the same time?#47 Tell your readers what they should do to succeed – Create a blog post that explains your readers what they should do in order to become successful as you are.#48 Do a video post about your day– Let your readers see about your daily life. For me, it’s extremely interesting, but you also need to have some courage to do that. In either way, it’s up to you.#49 Show off your personal stuff; car(s), house, accessories – This is something that creates many different opinions among your readers. Don’t be scared to show your stuff. It can also turn out as a motivational blog post from someone who doesn’t own those kind of things. People love those kind of things.#50 Build a list – Build a list of your readers. You can use Aweber or Mailchimp for that; in that way you can inform your readers about the new posts you’ve made.#51 Create a blog post about your bad habits – Smoking, alcohol, drugs. Tell them something shocking!#52 Offer free help in your industry to get new contacts – Free help gives you great reputation and people will start sharing your blog more often as well as suggesting to their friends. It helps to grow into a branded expert.#53 Research and analyze a topic in your industry – Well written and analyzed posts get great attention. Invest time and grow your followers by that. Many professional bloggers write one post for more than 12 working hours, they invest a lot of time to produce perfect posts.#54 Answer to every single comment personally – Make your readers feel special and honored. It takes only a couple of minutes to answer them personally but you can get new friends, co-authors or even business partners.#55 Write a longer “About Me” post – Classical About Me posts are a couple of lines but introduce yourself more and write a longer one. People like to know what’s the background of the content they’re reading but they usually don’t have time to check LinkedIn accounts or just Google the name.#56 Create a post that utilizes a bar chart or pie chart - Infographics is one of the hottest keywords in the web industry. Visualizing data makes it easier to read, gather interesting data and build charts!#57 Write down your monthly personal budget and expenses - You can document what ever costs you like. Take your website and show how many dollars you’ve spent on it and also show the income/revenue side of it. Additionally, you can use the same model on your family budget.#58 Participate in reciprocal guest blogging – Talk to your followers and look for people who’d like to write you a guest post and you’ll write one by yourself.#59 Post linkbait - Don’t know what linkbait is? Have a look at here: 10 extraordinary linkbait examples#60 Make a post about your most popular posts - Gather the data behind the most popular posts (traffic, shares and comments) and write them down in a single post.#61 Publish a “What If” post –Use your imagination and write a post about what if you’re going to move to another country or travel the world or win billion dollars. People love to dream and believe that these things will happen to them.#62 Publish online courses/e-books – If you’re an expert in your field, invest time in writing and publishing courses and e-books. Create quality content, and people will be ready to buy it for nice amount of money. When money is not an important aspect, publish the content for free.#64 Turn on Gravatar images on your blog comment - Make it as a real conversation by turning on Gravatar images (just like my blog has).#65 Build your portfolio – A portfolio is a great way to showcase experience. It’s a wide-spread myth that only artists and photographers can use it. Build a portfolio of projects you’ve run, the applications you’ve coded, and so on.#66 Write in your own everyday language/writing style – Forget the well-known rules, and use the expressions you use every day. It’s a great way to make your posts more enjoyable and stand out.#61 Share food recipes – Don’t know what to write about? Share the recipes of your favorite meals and desserts.#68 Publish a post about cons and pros about something – Things are never black & white, and there is nothing perfect in this world. There’s always some cons about something.#69 Show others how to secure their blogs – This is something that is useful and interesting at the same time. I recently posted an infographic about “What if Your WordPress Gets Hacked.”#70 Hold a conference or a webinar through blog post –Have a “group” meeting at next Saturday 9 PM. I’m more than sure that if you hold a live event through your blog then there will be people watching it.#71 Ask for general feedback on your blog – Sometimes you can improve your blog by the way your readers want. Minor tweaks here and there can add value that can bring you more traffic and returning visitors.#72 Curate or summarize someone else’s work - Write short summaries to bring out the most important aspects or points in other published writings. This helps save a lot of time for the readers who are only looking for the most important information.#73 Publish a list of your most successful Tweets/social media posts (based on re-tweets & likes) – Have you had any success with massive re-tweeting, liking, or sharing? Share the tweets and posts with others.#74 Compile a list of common mistakes in your niche - Many people don’t know the basics and make common mistakes. Write tutorials to help them prevent these misunderstandings.#75 Publish a manifesto - See a sample here.#76 Make a post about future plans - Dreaming of being a world-class analyst or an entrepreneur in five years time? Looking to start studies at a university? Write the plans down; it’s interesting to read them later on, and it gives new ideas to other people as well.#77 Write down an extremely long blog comments – In that way you can show your readers that you actually care about their comments & opinions.#78 Thank your audience for following you – Show that you respect them.#79 Write about why you actually started blogging - Simply tell your followers how it all started…#80 Abandon your blog for a week and make others think “what happened to you” - It’s pretty risky, but if you are famous blogger – this will get you a lot of buzz.#81 Write the list of things and activities you want to do before death – Ever seen the books in the bookstore called “1001 places to visit/foods to eat/artists to listen before you die?” Build your own list, and inspire others to do that as well.#82 Show others how to do something extremely FAST - Everybody likes to do something quickly. As you know, time is the most valuable thing in our lives. For example, David Risley teach you how to blog fast.#83 Write a satirical blog post - Satire never gets old, but don’t be too harsh. These posts can easily go viral, but be sure you’re prepared for backlash.#84 Write a series of blog posts – To make your readers constantly engaged with your blog, then I suggest you to start a blog post series. Here’s a good example of blog post series: How to Make a WordPress Plugin #1.#85 Publish a questions and answers blog post - Make a “Questions Monday.” Promise to answer all the questions your audience has.#86 Post a quote - People adore quotes that make them think and spread motivation, so use them wisely.#87 Launch a free e-book about your best blog posts– Gather the most viewed and commented posts together and convert them into an e-book that can be published on Amazon or other online bookstores.#88 Run PPC campaign through Facebook to your blog posts – It costs a little, but this option means a lot of new traffic and followers.#89 Update/invest in customized blog post design - Great blogs and posts need great design to keep the readers coming back. Hire professionals; never try to do “something” in PhotoShop unless you’re not a designer.#90 Make 404 page that is a game – That’s a fun way to get people staying on your page. See the tutorial HERE.#91 Make a handwritten post and publish it by taking a photo - Hand-written texts look amazing and shows your creativity as well as character.#92 Make an ultimate resource post - Operating in fishing niche? Publish a list of most useful resources for that.#93 Invite experts to comment your posts - Busy people work the most, but they’re quite often ready to help if you offer them value from your side. If you ask them, do it kindly, and state clearly why they should do it and what they get for doing it.#94 Publish a post as an audio file (mp3) - Write your post and record it as an audio file. It allows the readers to follow the blog on the go; all they need is an mp3 player or a smartphone.#95 Make list of useful & interesting people to follow in your niche - This is another “TOP” category post idea. List the useful people who provide great insights; these posts become viral quickly.#96 List nostalgic post about different blogs in your niche, and show readers how they’ve changed from 2000 by using web.archive - Web design and trends have changed a lot. It creates great WOW effect for people to see how ugly the websites used to be back in the Dot.com bubble times.#97 Link to new or interesting patents in your niche that amazes people - Ever heard that Apple patented the two-finger movements on smartphones and tablets? Here’s your chance to shine.#98 Ask some billionaire to write a post for you - As these people are often too busy to respond, they enjoy fame and publicity. This is definitely worth a try, even when you fail.#99 Rant about something that REALLY disturbs you - Ranting on the Internet is sometimes pointless, but well-argumented posts may get a lot of attention.#100 Create a list of online tools you find useful- There are literally dozens of tools that can make life a lot easier, create a list of the ones you use or would like to use.#101 Dare your readers to do something - And then ask them to report back on how it went. Or, have them dare you to do something, and then post a video of you doing it.———–Update: Since I got lot of great feedback from the post, I decided to add another 35 blog post ideas to the list.#102 Host a voting contest – Ask your readers to nominate the best blogs in your niche. This can turn into several posts since you can take those nominations and write a “Top 100 Blogs in the Industry” post. Notify the winning blogs so that they’ll send some of their followers your way.#103 Curate content in your niche – Did you read some interesting articles this week? Link to the best ones in your blog post as a resource for your readers.#104 Wish yourself happy birthday – Are you entering the second year of your blog? Wish it a happy birthday, and then show readers how far you’ve come.#105 Make a list of interesting stats in your niche – Want to blow your reader’s minds? Create a useful resource of stats in your niche.#106 Repost a long email response to a reader’s question – Do you often get personal readers’ questions only to respond in a long email? Share that response with your other followers. (Just be sure you’re keeping any emails, names, etc. confidential.)#107 Write a FAQs post – What questions do you get asked constantly, either about yourself or your industry? Create a FAQs post answering all these questions. Repost this as a page on your website so that it’s easy to find for newcomers.#108 Write an ultimate list – Choose a topic and write an ultimate list of ideas so that it’s the first go-to resource for your readers.#109 Create an A-Z post – For example, write an A to Z post on travel tips or an A to Z post on the best WordPress plugins.#110 Develop a profile on an influential figure - Is there someone in your niche you admire? Write a profile on them detailing who they are, what they do, why you love them, and where your readers can learn more.#111 Shoutout to your mentors and fans – Write a post naming specific people who have influenced your blogging journey. Be sure to let them know when the post is public to help drive their followers to your site.#112 Showcase a reader – Do you have a strong relationship with some of your loyal readers? Ask one of them if you can interview him or her and post his or her responses on your blog.#113 List the best apps in your niche – Are you in the finance industry? List and review the top 50 mobile accounting apps. The more apps you list, the better.#114 Write a makeover post – Did you just get a haircut? Maybe you remodeled your kitchen. Show your readers the before and after photos.#115 Run a month of giveaways – Each day, post a new blog post (or have a guest author), and then include a quick gift for one winner at the end of each post. Be sure they have to earn it, such as by leaving a blog comment to be eligible. Add in a few “surprise” gifts so they don’t always know what’s coming.#116 Hold a guest post pitching contest – Do you accept guest authors on your blog? Hold a pitching contest where readers can pitch their idea in the comment section and give each other feedback before you decide which pitch will turn into a published blog post on your site.#117 Develop a quiz – Use a quiz-building application like Online Quiz Creator, and make your next post into a game for your readers.#118 Create a glossary – Do people get confused about terminology in your industry? Write a post detailing the definition to commonly confused words in your niche.#119 Write an open letter – Do you have someone you’ve always wanted to say something to, whether it’s your child or a celebrity? Finally say those things, and then post it on your blog for the world to see.#120 Share a worksheet – What’s the number one thing your readers want to know about themselves and your niche? Create a worksheet that will help them answer that question. For instance, if you’re in the finance industry, you might develop a “Get out of Debt” worksheet that will help readers better plan their finances.#121 Share coupon codes – Do a bit of research and find out which online stores in your niche are offering discounts or coupon codes right now, and then share that information with your readers.#122 Create a list of free eBooks – People love free stuff, so help generate some buzz by creating a long list of helpful and free eBooks in your niche.#123 Predict the future – Tell you readers where you industry is going in the next five years, or talk about where you think a celeb will be in a year or two.#124 Compile a list of jokes – People love to be entertained. Make them laugh with a list of jokes related to your industry.#125 Draw a comic – Show your personality by drawing and uploading your own comic. Try to make it clever and funny to drive more traffic.#126 Write a poem – This is a great option for lifestyle bloggers, but if you can provide enough entertainment value, your poem can become wildly effective in any niche.#127 Tell your readers who to follow on Twitter – This type of posts provides a lot of value to readers, and you just might get the attention of some influential people in your industry.#128 Make a list detailing influential people’s response to a single question – Connect with a dozen or so popular individuals in your niche, and ask them all the same question, such as, “What’s your go-to marketing tactic that you believe is the most successful?” Compile their answers in a blog post, but be sure to ask their permission and to give them credit for the answer.#129 Highlight the key takeaways from a recent conference – Are you planning to attend a conference in your niche? Be sure you’re taking notes so that you can report back to your followers the most important points covered.#130 Make a list of hacks – People love it when they discover something that will make life easier. Write a list of hacks that will make your readers say, “Why didn’t I ever think of that?”#131 Write about your plans for the holidays – No matter what holiday is approaching, share with your readers what you’ll be doing. This gives them a heads-up if you’ll be gone, but it also sparks conversation. Be sure you ask them to share their plans as well.#132 Record a Skype call – Get in touch with a well-known person in your niche and talk with them via Skype. Record the conversation and post it for your viewers to see later. You can also host live calls via Google Hangouts.#133 Put on a skit – People absolutely love short entertaining videos. Video tape a quick skit, whether you want to send a political message, educate your viewers, or just produce a spoof that will make them laugh.#134 Host a free live workshop – Who would pass up something free, especially if you have something valuable to offer? Share some of your training and consulting material with your readers via a live online workshop.#135 Write a blog post about 135 blog post ideas (or more) in your niche – List down 135 blog topics in your niche; a lot of people find it useful :).From : 101 Blog Post Ideas That Will Make Your Blog "HOT"

It’s actually a tie between three. They were all equally horrendous. (So this is gonna be a long answer, cuz I just can’t not give the full deal on each XD I will try and make it as concise as possible, though.)The first was my English 101 professor. I forget his name, and even if I remembered I’d change it for anonymity purposes, so let’s just call him Prof. Jim.Now, at first glance, by appearances alone, Prof. Jim looked like he could be a really cool, chill dude. In his 50s, long silver ponytail, black horn rimmed glasses, and fairly handsome Caucasian man.He was anything but cool.He was an absolute bore, and a self absorbed one at that. This man put Ben Stein’s monotone to shame. Every class was just 2 hours of him droning on (and the class started at 8am, to boot, so it was a bit of a challenge to stay awake), not acknowledging the students in any way whatsoever (and this was a fairly small school, average class size in the Gen. Ed’s was 20–30 kids). Most of the semester was spent covering the Greek tragedy classics-you know, Sophocles, Euripides, etc. For each play, we had to write a one page analysis. By the third, I’d noticed that even if specifics were different, each play was basically an object lesson in ‘revenge is bad, don’t do this stuff, and don’t just do whatever you want willy nilly cuz it causes shit tons of problems (lookin’ at you, Zeus, you horny mofo), and don’t be a dick and punish others for YOUR indiscretions and the shit it caused.’ By the third analysis, my write ups were literally ‘This is the same as the last play. I have nothing new to say. Refer to my last full analysis and change events and characters where appropriate.’ And yet the prof. insisted each play was a highly unique work. He would also give weekly quizzes, but ask things that weren’t in the plays or in his lectures. He was also arrogant to the point where HIS class was the ONLY important one, hang everyone else teaching on campus. He never said anything, but every class, quitting time would come, and he’d still be droning on. At first we’d notify him ‘hey, class is over’ and his response would be ‘just let me finish this bit’. And he’d go on for another 15 minutes. It got to the point where some students were losing marks in other classes for being late, and we started telling him this. He said oh, okay, I’ll be better….except he wasn’t. By the middle of the term it got to the point where most of us just up and left when 9:50am hit so they could get to their 10am classes on time, not giving a fuck about any protests the prof made. I even started sleeping blatantly through his classes, since it was hard enough to stay awake anyway, and he wasn’t really TEACHING us anything other than the insanely complicated family tree of the gods, which I was already familiar with. Not a single student had respect for this guy. Somehow I still managed to get a B+.The second professor was in my major’s department-Theatre. To boot, he was the dean of the entire Music, Theatre, and Dance dept. So you think he’d be up to snuff, right? LOLno.Again, at first glance, by appearance, you’d think he was a super cool guy: young looking, snazzy dresser, very handsome guy of African descent.This guy ticked me off the second I got to college, and kept with it the 4 years I was in school. He was assigned as my advisor, initially (till I wised up and picked one more in line with my specific major-the tech and construction side of theatre). He stiffed me on advisory meetings 3 weeks in a row, with no warning, when each case wasn’t an emergency, and he’d known about it ahead of time. The twat just couldn’t keep track of his own schedule. His secretary felt SO BAD for me XD Then, with him having a background in acting and directing, and being the head of the department, he was the be all end all authority for those of us working tech as work study, and he had a habit of asking for huge last minute changes, that we couldn’t refuse, because he’s the head of the dept. AND the director for a lot of the shows. I finally had him as a professor for 2 classes, one in junior year, one senior. Junior year was a directing class, and I ended up getting a C through no fault of my own. Each class, he’d break us up into groups, one director and 3–4 actors per group, and give us a scene. He never picked me as a director, and his reasoning, in part, for my final grade, was I’d never directed a group. Um…wut? YOU picked the roles, dipshit! One day he came to class so high he kept forgetting one of the kids in class was in a wheelchair, and kept trying to send his group to an area of the building to rehearse their scene in a non-handicap accessible area, and we had to keep reminding him they couldn’t go there. The final project was the same as every day in class, except we had to pick the scene and get our own actors. Well, at this time, the big final play for the school was being set up, so all the kids were acting/working on that, so actors were in short supply, and I only had one friend a state over outside of school who was available. The prof said he’d find actors for those who couldn’t themselves…I was the only one he failed to do so for. We agreed that I wouldn’t need to present my scene for the final, but still had to do all the written parts (make a promo poster, give him a copy of the scene, some other small things) and that I still had to show to watch everyone else’s. Fair enough….except he gave me a D on the final because I didn’t present. WUUUUUUUUT DA FUQ? Next year I had him for Senior Seminar, which was supposed to be the class preparing/helping seniors find jobs in the field. Instead, it was a second literature/movie appreciation class, which we’d all already had to take as part of our theatre generic education. What’s worse, this guy was obsessed with Tyler Perry/Madea (who I wasn’t fond of before, and quickly came to absolutely despise thanks to this class). He insisted these works were huge achievements, profound and deep and worthy of incredible levels of analysis…um, no. He tolerated absolutely NO joking during the movies, either. Like wtf, it’s a comedy and we’re millenials, we’re gonna fucking joke, especially over such a terrible movie(s). By the end of the semester I was being an outright little shit, my analysis worksheets were just ‘this can’t be analyzed, it’s crap, there is no meaning other than humor’s sake, and it’s shitty humor to boot. Don’t force your obsession on your students, man.’ Every student felt the same, but was afraid of speaking up. I actually got told I was excused from attendance halfway through the semester, didn’t have to do the work, and he’d pass me because I couldn’t graduate if I didn’t, and he didn’t want to hold me back (more like he didn’t wanna deal with me when I’d have to take the class again, cuz he’s the only one who taught it, being the Dean.) GG, professor, gg.The last was a Gender Studies professor I had senior year. Based on the title and course description, and having recently realized/started identifying as transgender/transfeminine, I was SUPER excited for this class, cuz I thought it’d be an open discussion setup and I could now give personal experiences that were incredibly relevant.What the class ACTUALLY was, was just defining terms and learning the basics of the history of struggles for the intersexed-which is necessary, but damn, man, not the whole semester. To make it worse, the way he ran the class was, he’d assign a chapter, then in class would literally swap between paraphrasing and reading the chapter verbatim back to us, alongside a powerpoint that paraphrased the reading, and then would assign another chapter for homework alongside reviewing a printout of the powerpoint. Now, this guy had a very strict attendance policy-one freebie/excused absence, after that, no matter what, didn’t matter if you’d been in the ICU cuz of a car crash, each absence meant one full letter grade docked off your final mark. Halfway through the semester, the professor himself started missing a lot of classes, with no warning and no substitute. We’d show up and just sit there for 20 minutes and finally leave. This was a class at 9am, and during this time I’d started having my depression and other disorders really start acting up, and it was affecting my sleep schedule, to the point where I wouldn’t go to bed until 6 or 7 am, and school was a 30 min drive to boot. So with him not showing, I started to say ‘fuckit’ and not show myself. My grade started slipping, because he was marking me for absences. I’m like ‘HAHAHAHAHA nuh uh, you can’t miss 75% of your own classes with no warning and then dock people for not showing.’ Now, he had a good reason for not showing-he’d just been diagnosed with cancer and was starting chemo (though he didn’t tell us this until well into the semester; for most of the term we just thought he was an aloof, hypocritical idjit.) But when I approached him (very respectfully I might add) to call him on this BS, he basically told me (equally politely) to fuck off. I had to go to the Dean of Student Affairs and the school’s psych counseling department to get them to send him a letter telling him he better damn well pass me, because I’m not an idiot (at least a 3.4, if not higher, GPA my entire time in college) and don’t need a thrice redundant teaching method, AND he had no right to dock me when I had a legit excuse (my mental health) for not showing, when he himself didn’t show for an equally valid reason. In other words, they told him to stop being a fucking hypocrite and pass me so I could graduate. So he agreed I didn’t have to attend any classes, but had to take the final and he’d grade me on that alone (which he kept his word on, and graded me fairly, unlike the previously mentioned theatre professor.) I was still very disappointed the class wasn’t the engaging discussion I thought it would be.So, that’s it, the three equally bad professors I encountered during my college years. Hope you enjoyed! ^_^

It’s no secret that the market for online courses is big – and it’s getting bigger.Research firm GM Insights valued online learning at $165 billion in 2015. By 2023 it could exceed $240 billion.This is my complete guide to creating and selling an online course… even if you don’t have an idea for one yet.It’s long. It’s in-depth. Here’s what I’ll cover…First, I’ll cover how to find a course idea and make sure it’s profitable (even if you’re not an “expert” at anything).Then, I’ll help you create your course content (even if you’re not a writer or have never been in front of a camera).Finally, I’ll show you how to promote and sell your course (even if you know nothing about marketing or sales).I break down the whole process into 9 STEPS:Commit to Creating a CourseChoose a Profitable IdeaTest Your IdeaCreate a Course OutlineCreate Your Course ContentGet Your Course OnlineSet a Price for Your CourseGet Students for Your CourseLaunch Your CourseI also included further resources for different steps, like a course idea worksheet in Step 2.So, let’s jump right in. The first step is simple…STEP 1: Commit to creating a courseDo you want to create an online course?You already know the answer.Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this, right?Right.So, commit to it – today.Look…Online courses are here. And they’re here to stay. $240 billion by 2023… The question is, who’s pocketing all that money?A big chunk is going to the course creators.But how much can you really make with an online course?Take Graham Cochran, who teaches music production and pulls in up to $75K a month.Or Purna Duggirala, who even back in 2014 made a cool million in a year. How? Teaching Excel.And yes, I run a seven-figure business selling courses, too.But it’s not just about the big success stories. It’s about the small wins, too…For example, you could easily create a course, and earn an extra $500 or $1000 a month. What would that mean to you?But let’s be real.It’s going to take some work. Because there’s no such thing as 100% “passive” income. However, online courses come prrretty close:You see, you only have to create the course once……but you get paid over and over again. With each and every student.Often, you can sell the same course for years. One of my training programs I created in 2014 and I’m still selling it today (after an overhaul in 2016).But…“What if I’ve never created an online course before?”Well, that’s what this guide is for. And look at this:What my first online course looked likeThis was my first course… The videos were low quality. They were grainy. And I apparently couldn’t even afford a haircut.But what if…“I’m not an expert! Who’s gonna buy my course?”Don’t worry – you don’t need to be an expert. Because as a course creator you have TWO options:Option #1: Be the ExpertYes, if you already have a special skill or expertise, you can “be the expert” and share that knowledge.Let’s say you’re a certified massage therapist. Or you have an MBA in real estate. Or you’re the Rock, Paper, Scissors world champion.In this case, sure – teach what you already know.But there’s another option…Option #2: Be the Curious NoviceYou can also be a “curious novice” and teach as you LEARN yourself. Here’s what I mean…Choose a topic you’re interested in. Spend a weekend or two and read the 3 top-selling books on that topic.And BOOM. You are now enough of an expert. Meaning, you’ll know more than 99% of people who are going to buy your course.Don’t believe this is possible?Take Joseph Michael Nicoletti, who did just that:Joseph Michael Nicoletti teaches ScrivenerJoseph helps novelists write their novel with Scrivener. And he makes about $20,000 to $30,000 a month doing it.Let me rephrase that. He makes almost $1,000 a day by showing novelists how to use an app for writing.I know. Ridiculous.Well…When he decided to create an online course about Scrivener, he said:I was just using it casually. I definitely wasn’t an expert. I have never written a book or anything.And he went on…I purchased every book on Scrivener and studied everything I could find on it. I’d study a particular feature, and then record a tutorial on it. Short 3-5 minute chunks mainly so it was easier for me to create, but it turned out to be one of the most popular features.Long story short, he created his course by learning one feature, filming a video about it. Then he learned another feature and filmed another video about it.He learned as he created, and he went on to become a huge success. And this is why I love Michael’s story:If you want to create an online course about something – ANYTHING – and you feel like “I don’t know anything that I could teach”It only takes 5 letters…LEARNAnd as you LEARN, you document the process. This way can create a course about almost anything that you’re interested in.This can actually be an advantage for your course. Why? Because the teacher who knows the most is not always the best teacher…“Expert-experts” often fall victim to the Curse of Knowledge:They skip over important information because it’s too obvious to them. And what happens? The student gets left behind.That’s why a teacher who’s just one step ahead of their students can sometimes create a more valuable course.Needless to say, you should always be honest about your experience and credentials.But the truth is:You don’t need to be the world’s foremost expert to teach a course.Now…People are literally creating courses about every topic imaginable:DatingHow to be a landlordHow to fly a droneWatercolor paintingSpiritual life coachingCopywritingDog trainingAnd more…The question is: What will YOU teach?Maybe it’s already clear in your mind. Or maybe you’re still looking for an idea.So let’s move on to the crucial next step:We have to make sure you choose a course idea that…You’re passionate aboutYou can make money teaching itSTEP 2: Choose a Profitable IdeaLet’s get specific:You can create a course about something you already know. Or you can create a course about something you’re just learning.But how do you choose a specific idea? And how do you make sure your idea is PROFITABLE? You don’t want to spend time creating a course and then find out later no one wants to buy it…In fact, this is the BIGGEST mistake new course creators make.They create a course, but they don’t make sure students actually want to learn about the specific topic they chose. No wonder they struggle to attract students!But I’ve got you covered…The FIRST lesson about choosing a profitable idea is this:If someone already created the course you want to create, that’s GOOD NEWS!I know that’s counterintuitive, but bear with me…When you come up with an online course idea that has NEVER been done before, that means one thing: there’s probably no one interested in buying it.Seriously.You might think, “But people need what I’m selling,” and maybe they do. But the internet is so large that if people need it, and are willing to buy it, there WILL be someone else selling it.As a matter of fact: if you come up with an idea for an online course, and you can’t find someone selling a course similar to what you want to offer, I’d find a new course.Of course, there are specific strategies for figuring out what to create an online course about……and I’ll share more of those with you next. For now, I want you to know this: If there’s competition, that’s a GOOD thing.With that said…I have 3 strategies to help you to come up with profitable course ideas:Take inventory of the things that people ALREADY ask you questions about or want your advice on.If you’re a freelancer or are already running a service business: Take inventory of the things your clients struggle with the most and ask you questions about all the time.Find the pain — and eliminate it. This means going out into the real world and finding problems that people have. Then, you can create an online course that solves those problems.Number 3 is my favorite strategy because it gets to the core of WHY people buy online courses…The short answer is:People buy courses because they’ve got a problem – and they want to solve it.Maybe they’re looking to learn how to use a complicated piece of software. Maybe they don’t fit into their favorite jeans and want to lose weight. Maybe they’re stressed out and overwhelmed and want to take control of their calendar.Whatever the case: people buy online courses because they have a problem in their life and they want to solve it.I know this might sound like I’m oversimplifying it, but it IS that simple. Think about the problems your friends, colleagues, and family members come to you with… LISTEN TO THEM.And then see if you can create a repeatable course that helps people solve problems JUST LIKE THAT.Sometimes it’s an acute problem that people need to solve right away. For example: How to potty train your puppy (I could have used that one…). Other times it’s a lingering problem. For example: How to be more confident.You can create a profitable course for both types of problems. But what I can tell you from my experience is this: The more specific of a problem you solve, the easier it will be to sell your course.If you’re at the point where you’re choosing an idea, I’ve got a useful worksheet for you that walks you through the steps. It’s a simple technique I use for my own courses to find a pain and eliminate it.So, make sure you grab the worksheet. It only takes 15 min. to complete. And you’ll walk away with a specific, profitable course idea.Now…What’s next once you have an idea?STEP 3: Test Your IdeaTo test whether your course idea has potential, it’s important you don’t just ask your friends and family…The good news is this:If you use the strategy and worksheet I just shared, chances are there IS a market for your course. But still…Before you spend a lot of time creating a course, let’s make sure you’re building something people will want to buy.So how do you test your idea?There are 2 good ways…Testing Strategy #1: Create a Free, Mini Email-CourseHere’s what I mean: Instead of creating videos, worksheets, and additional resources, simply create a mini-course, and deliver it by EMAIL.You don’t need a course website. You don’t need fancy software or design. Just deliver your course in email format.The best part? If you do this, you’re not just validating your idea, you’re also building an email list of future students for your PAID course at the same time.If you want more info about creating a mini email-course, I wrote up a case study of one of my students, Guillermo, who did this with great success.You can take this one step further, too:Testing Strategy #2: Pre-Sell Your CourseWhat if you could sell your course before you create it?Well, you can…Either you can create a sales page and ask people to “apply to buy”……or you can put up a “coming soon” page that explains what the course will be. Send it out to your audience or run some ads to your sales page and see if you can sell it.You can either set a start date in the future and actually sell it. Or you can create a dummy “buy now” button and simply track how many people click on it (not perfect, but it will give you an idea if your idea has potential to be a big hit).Both strategies – creating a mini email-course or pre-selling your course – are easy ways to test your idea.Once you’ve tested your idea, the question is:How do you create a course that your students will LOVE?To create a killer course, this next steps is crucial…STEP 4: Create a Course OutlineIt’s tough to create a multi-week course when you’re doing this for the first time. There’s a lot of content to create… And you want your content to be top-notch!That’s why the key to creating an amazing course content is to start with a clear outline.And whether you’re creating a free email-course or your first paid course, here’s what you absolutely need to remember:START SMALL.Look…When people create online courses, they think they need to create some big, in-depth online course that covers EVERYTHING they know……but that’s a mistake.Don’t do that. It’s a waste of time. Especially if you’re JUST getting started.My first online course was 3 little videos and a worksheet. And yet, it helped kick off my entire business.Just 3 little videos and some worksheets.Seriously.With that said, how do you decide what to cover in each lesson of your course?Well, that’s why you need an outline. Think of it as your course curriculum. And here’s what I suggest you do:First, look at the problem your course solves.Then, ask yourself this:What are all of the steps people need to take to achieve this goal?And that’s how you break your course down into individual lessons. For example…Take a look at what dating coach Francesca Hogi (who uses Zippy Courses, my software that makes creating and selling online courses a cinch) is doing.Francesca has a mini-course about flirting. It’s only five lessons (remember: keep it small!). She breaks the topic down in logical, bite-sized lessons.Like this:Outline for a mini course on flirtingFirst, she addresses the fear of flirting. Then she talks about how to get someone’s attention, then how to talk to them, and so on.Do you notice how each lesson brings the student one step closer to the end goal of the course?That’s exactly what you should do in your outline.After you break down your course into lesson like this, you can do the same thing for each individual lesson.Finally, one more, important tip for outlining your course:DON’T pack too much content into each lesson. Seriously.For a short course, lessons should be 5-10 minutes long. Definitely don’t create lessons that are longer than 20 minutes. Otherwise students will often tune out, even if your delivery is great.What’s great is, now that you know the purpose of each lesson, creating the actual content becomes very straightforward.So, let’s look at content creation in detail in the next step.STEP 5: Create Your Course ContentMost online courses are delivered in a VIDEO format. Plus, I always include WORKSHEETS, that help students implement what they learned.So how do you create this content?Well, the first thing I want you to know is this:Your first online course won’t look that great, and that’s okay.Here’s why…When you want to create – and sell – online courses, you may look at other people who do it and think: “Wow, their design is great, and so are their videos. I could never do that!”But here’s the problem:You’re comparing yourself to where we are now. And that’s a mistake. You need to compare where you are now to where we were in the beginning.Remember my first course videos?What my first online course looked likeBad lighting. Bad handwriting. Horrible hair…But those 3 videos went on to generate six figures in revenue. Why? Because, while the videos were low quality, the content was great.Now you might think, “Well, you’re different!”But I promise you I’m not.I recently interviewed another of my customers from Zippy Courses, and he said, “It all starts with a whiteboard on a chair.”Why?He’s an accountant, and he teaches business owners how to understand their numbers. In his video he did just that. Even though it was just a silly white board resting on a chair, the content was valuable, and it helped kick off his online course business.So the lesson is:Don’t get too hung up on production quality. Instead, focus on teaching valuable content – by giving insanely practical, step-by-step instructions – and I’ll guarantee your students will love your course.Which also means that the FORMAT of your course doesn’t matter; it could be text, audio, or video.With that said, the most popular format for students is video:You can either record direct-to-camera videos. Or, you can record a video of your screen, as you go through the slides of a presentation.And you don’t need to hire a high-end videographer to shoot or edit your video lessons… You can use your phone, and there are many easy-to-use tools and software available.For screen recordings, you can try Camtasia. Or, if you’re on a Mac, you can even use Quicktime for free.Let me just show you how to do it. It’s really simple. Here are the steps to make a Quicktime screen recording:Open Quicktime Player:Choose “New Screen Recording” (in the “File” menu):Choose your microphone:Click the record button and then click to start recording:Click to stop recording:Save your video:Boom. Now you know how to make your videos.Let’s talk briefly about worksheets:Worksheets should be PDF files, so it’s easy for people to download and print.Just create your document in Word or Pages. Then save it as a PDF and you’re done.You can make your worksheets fillable. I do this in all my courses. But you don’t have to.When you have your content… The next step is getting your course online!STEP 6: Get Your Course OnlineIdea? Check!Content? Check!Time to get your course online, so you can start selling it!The good news is:It USED to be a real pain to get a course up and running. You had to upload your videos in one place. Create a membership site. And then you had to coordinate everything with your email service, too. Ugh. It was a mess…But not anymore!Today you don’t need to be tech-whiz to get your course up and running:Zippy Courses makes creating – and selling – your course a cinch!After all, I built this software because I was frustrated with the other solutions that were available. Needless to say, my own courses run on Zippy, and I’m proud of the product we’ve built.With Zippy you can quickly and easily create your course page, protect your content, sell your course, and manage your students.I won’t list all the features here. But you can read about some of the cool BUILT-IN tools that help you make more course sales here:With that said, you might be wondering:“Why do I need to create MY OWN course site anyway?”As opposed to using a course platform, like Udemy or one of the many others.The answer?It comes down to CONTROL.With your own course site, you have total control over your course. Including price, design, students, a dedicated website (or a subdomain of your main website, like “Hostingdomains.com”), and so on…Personally, I just don’t like being at the mercy of one single company, when it comes to MY business.Also, I don’t like sharing my revenue…(Unless it’s with hand-picked partners.)Which brings us to the final phase of building a successful online course business:Selling and promoting your course.The first decision is: How much will you charge?STEP 7: Set a Price for Your CourseFor many new course creators, this is a tough decision. But when it comes to pricing, you must realize:People like buying courses – even when they can find the same information for free.It’s counterintuitive, I know.But while people “could” find what you plan on selling elsewhere..…they still have to find it.They also must figure out what information is legit… and what information is junk. And figuring out the difference can be a full time job for even the most savvy people.The alternative is often much easier: They find someone who created a course and they buy that.It’s what I do. And it’s what other people do too. That’s why the online course industry is exploding right now.Time is one of the most valuable things we can never get back. Why waste time “figuring out” what’s good or not when you can buy a course.Plus, paid courses also provide things that free information just can’t:A proven structure that leads to resultsDedicated student supportPersonal accountabilityA community of like-minded students (this is huge)And so much more. If you’ve ever joined a high-quality course, you’ve likely experienced this yourself. So don’t undercharge when you sell your own course.To help you set a price, I suggest you use a very simple pricing rule. I call it the “Similar Outcome Approach.”Here’s how it works:Think of the ideal outcome of going through your course. And then ask yourself, “What would someone have to pay to get the same results with a different method?” You can compare it to other courses, software, hiring someone to do it, or hiring a coach.You should also consider the “cost of doing nothing” for your students. Say you help someone clean up their diet, lose weight and live a much healthier life. What is that really worth? A lot more than if you think of your course as a collection of videos and PDFs…With that said, don’t obsess over optimizing your price. In the beginning, just position it in the right price range.Here’s how I like to categorize it:How to price your online courseThe table above should help you get started.Want more tips on pricing your courses?Here’s are some more advanced pricing tactics:Why Discounting Is for DummiesHow to fix the DUMB pricing mistake people makeWhat Converts Better: $100, $99, or $97?Price? CheckYou can now move on to…STEP 8: Get Students for Your CourseRemember, you don’t want to build a course and then go looking for students…You should know who your students are – and have an idea where you’ll find them – BEFORE you spend a lot of time building a huge course. That’s why in steps 2 & 3 I helped you choose a profitable idea and TEST it first.However, getting students for your course is an ONGOING process. And as your audience grows, so does your course business.So let’s talk about how to do that.The BEST way to get students for your course is to get them signed up to your email list first. Why? Because email is still the easiest way to make sales online.The good news is, you don’t need a huge audience to make good money with an online course…Take a look at this:How many subscribers do you need to make $10K?Let’s say your goal is to make $10,000. If you’re selling a $100 course you’ll need to pitch it to about 3,300 people (assuming an average conversion rate of 3%).Where are you going to find 3,000 people?If that sounds like a lot, I can promise you, it’s much easier than you think. And of course, you don’t need 3,000 people. Get your first 100 subscribers. Then your first 500, 1000, and you’re already well on your way.And if you already have an email list… Great! Even if it’s just a few hundred people – heck, if it’s just a few dozen people – that’s a great start.To build your email list you can use my proven list building strategy to get to 5,000 subscribers. Way over 100,000 people have downloaded this ebook and started their email list with it. Grab it, do it:Once you have a list of 1,000 people or so, you’re ready to launch your course. And that’s the final step!STEP 9: Launch Your CourseYou’ve got a course. You’re building your audience. Time to sell it!Now…Maybe “sales” sounds like a dirty word to you. Or you just might not have any experience selling anything, so you don’t know where to start… But don’t worry. I’ll share a simple 3-step pitch formula with you here.First, you might be wondering:“Should I sell my course as ‘evergreen’ or open and close enrollment?”Personally, I prefer to open and close enrollment because most of my sales come from my email list. But both options are viable. I’ll explain…Does your course solve an “acute” problem?If people want and need a solution right away, it’s often best to sell it as evergreen. For example, a course on “How to Use Macros in Excel.” People likely need a solution NOW, so if you make them wait, you might miss out on lots of students.Or does your course address a “lingering” problem?For courses that address big, lingering problems – things that people have been thinking about for months or years – launches are great because you can build anticipation. Something like “How to Become a Morning Person” falls into this category.Makes sense? Cool.Now, no matter how you sell your course, here’s…The 3-Step Course Pitch Formula:This simple formula takes people through 3 distinct phases of the sales process:Problem, Desire, and Solution.Here’s how it works…Describe the PROBLEM:Remember, your course solves a specific pain or problem. So, to kick of your launch, you need to remind people of the pain they’re facing right now.Sounds negative, I know. But you need to show potential customers that you understand their problems and their struggles. By describing their pain in detail, it helps you connect with potential buyers.Create DESIRE:Now it’s time to create desire by showing the contrast between the world as it is (step 1) and the world as it could be. And that’s what you should describe in this step: describe the PLEASURE!You don’t have to mention your course yet. You can use phrases like, “Imagine if…” or “Picture a world where…” and then talk about the outcome your course delivers.Pitch your SOLUTION:Your potential customers are aware of the problem and they want to find a solution. So now it’s time to show them that you can help them. Tell them about your course, what’s covered, and how it will help THEM - Life objects’s even better if you can SHOW people how it will help. For example, you could share a key insight from the course. Or share a case study from a client or student.The important point here is to create the contrast between the before and after first. Then introduce your course as the solution that will get them from pain to pleasure.When you look at sales this way, it’s not that crazy, is it?My final tip is this:Learn From People Who Already Did What You Want To DoI know it seems self-serving right now, but it’s important: you could try and figure everything out on your own. And you may end up wasting a lot of time (and money) doing it.Or…You could simply turn to someone who already did it, and shortcut your success by following their advice.I put together a FREE LIVE WEBINAR that goes down on March 6th. There are two convenient times available. One at 12PM Eastern. The other at 8PM Eastern. And I will show you how to make your first $10,000 selling online courses.I’ll cover everything from how to find an idea, to how to turn that idea into an online course, and how to start selling it. You can reserve your spot for the webinar right here: