How He Built a Thriving Online Community and a Profitable Blog in 5 Months
In late February of this year, he began blogging with zero knowledge of blogging. Today Jonathan Phillips, the friendly persona behind the Smart Wealthy Rich blog receives hundreds of comments per week from avid readers who just can’t seem to get enough of his very personal, yet professional and useful posts.
For anyone thinking about starting a blog, frustrated by what may seem like a monumental task of establishing a foothold in the crowded blogosphere, Jon’s is a success story that you can’t afford to miss.
Jon lives his life doing exactly what he loves. When I first talked with him, he was in the studio recording tracks for his first album with laptop in tow for the purpose of responding to his reader’s comments. He is adamant about replying to every single one – no doubt one of the reasons why a typical post is followed by somewhere between 30 and 100 comments.
His story began with a dream that had absolutely nothing to do with blogging. Two years ago, Jon quit his job working for 5 years in sales and marketing for an internet service provider to follow his passion for music. He quickly learned that a budding career in music doesn’t pay the bills (although it certainly can and no doubt will for someone with Jon’s tenacity and history of success) and began a job in network marketing which he felt wasn’t for him. After one year, he decided enough was enough and set out to find another source of income.
He had heard of a thing called blogging. He had heard of Wordpress, so downloaded the software and gave it a go with no idea about how to attract readers, design a blog, or build a community. Five months later, his blogging is responsible for a large part of his income.
How Jon Went From No Knowledge of Blogging to Blog that Pays His Bills in Just 5 Months
Jonathan immersed himself in reading successful blogs. He became active on social networking communities like MyBlogLog and Blog Catalog, meeting people, commenting on blogs, and soaking in an immense amount of knowledge.
The importance of social networking can not be stressed enough – whether in blogging or in any other area of life. As a new member to MyBlogLog, he added “successful-blog†to his friend’s list, thinking the name sounded interesting.
He didn’t know that the face behind “successful-blog†was Liz Strauss, blogging guru and the originator of the infamous SOB badge. He didn’t know that one of Liz’s primary focuses is to take new bloggers under her wing, helping them to fine tune their blogs, and mentoring them in the ways of blogging, but that’s exactly what she did. She helped him to fine tune his blog design and featured his blog on hers.
The design change was a remarkable improvement, but something was still missing.
10 weeks after the post appeared on successful-blog, Jonathan flew from his home in Montreal Canada to Chicago for Liz’s SOBCon 2007 and that is where the real “ah ha†moment occurred that changed everything.
Until that point, Jon had been mirroring the voice and style of other successful bloggers. During a “blog reboot†session at SOBCon hosted by David Armano and Liz Strauss, someone said something to the effect of “stop trying to look like a problogger – be yourself and they will come.†(paraphrasing here) The precise words weren’t important. In that moment, Jon knew that a lack of original voice is what was holding his blog back.
When he returned home, he began to write posts from his heart, and that is when the transformation began. Instead of writing like an authority, he began chronicling his journey, tying his personal stories with topics of interest to entrepreneurs, bloggers, and others searching for success.
A post last week on content theft told of his personal experience when a blogger copied one of his posts without permission and has generated 61 comments so far. His top commented post written back in May titled “If I Could Only Read Just 5 Blogs†generated an amazing 104 comments and is still collecting more.
How is Jon Generating So Many Comments when Others are Struggling for One or Two?
Jon is very serious about connecting with people. After attending the SOBCon event in Chicago, he decided that what he really wanted from his blog was to connect with people.
Each week, he surfs through MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, or Stumble Upon in search of 5 or 6 blogs on marketing and entrepreneurship, adds them to his reader, reads them daily for about a week, leaves comments on posts that compel him, and keeps the blogs that he feels provide him with value.
Jon is not just focused on his blog. He is genuinely interested in meeting new people, reading their ideas, and contributing to their conversations. As a result, he has built an incredibly active community in a record amount of time.
Jon’s Advice to New Bloggers
- Find your own voice – write from the heart
- Respond to every comment
- Write thought provoking posts and ask for opinions
- Allow people to subscribe to comments – when he added this feature, his traffic shot up dramatically
- Participate in social networking communities
For more insight on how Jon manages to gain so many comments, take a look at his recent post Surefire Ways To Get A Truck Load Of Comments On Your Blog Posts.
Some people measure blogging success by RSS readers or by traffic, but in my opinion, one of the hallmarks of a successful blog is the dialogue of its readers. Interestingly enough, by choosing not to mirror other successful bloggers and finding his own voice, Jon became just that – a very successful blogger.
Every Tuesday, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me†by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.
Wow! Christine! Wow!
It’s 5a.m. in Chicago. I sit here with my first cup of coffee, checking to see how my guy, Jonathan is doing and you two offer me this. Thank you.
That’s how special Jonathan is. See how he got you to turn his interview into a story about someone else? That’s truly who he is — generous, and people recognize that from his smile, from his voice, whether he’s talking or writing. He just can’t hide it. I did all could to talk him to coming to SOBCon because I am his fan.
Liz
Hi Liz! It seems you discovered first what we were all to learn later - that Jonathan is an amazing person and a top blogger in the making.
I think you hit on something key when you talked about how he managed to turn the interview into a story about someone else. Many people are taking the “steps” that Jonathan is to build a better blog… reply to every post… include a personal story… write catchy headlines…. ask a question at the end… etc..etc… but still most are not realizing the results that he is.
I told him.. it must be more than that! And it’s probably something that you don’t even notice! I think it is this fact you mention that Jonathan is quick to GENUINELY recognize others that perhaps is one of the reasons for his community building success.
We all have a lot to learn form Jonathan! Thanks for stopping by Liz ~
Christine
incredible story. just what i needed this morning. thank you!
erin
I agree Erin - Jonathan’s story is a very inspiring one!
Hi Christine,
I will definetly be checking out Jonathans blogs, he sounds very interesting. I like how you find the essense of the people you interview, You ask all the right questions!
Hi Starfish - You’ll certainly enjoy Jonathan’s blog. Thank you for the nice compliment
Thank you so much Christine for the interview, it was a really fun experience, you’re an awesome interviewer!
Liz, wow! yes it deserves a “wow”!
I’m one happy guy to have met you! and in person! 
It feels so good to read your comments guyz, I wouldn’t mind if I received only 1 or 2 comments per day, every single one counts and is deeply appreciated! Though I don’t mind getting 40-50 every day hehe
Erin, HiStarfish, I’m really happy you enjoyed reading the interview, I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed being interviewed by Christine
Hi Christine,
The blog is excellent and keeps me very motivated. Thanks for sharing.
Khalid
Thanks also. It’s good to know that I’m roughly on the right tracks. I’ve just got to put more of myself into the blog rather than just write articles.
[...] How He Built a Thriving Online Community and a Profitable Blog in 5 Months [...]
Jonathan, of course you are here replying to our readers! I really enjoyed talking with you - your story is certainly an inspiration to us all ~
Wow. What a compliment. Thank you Khalid. The comments and discussions from our amazing readers are what keep me motivated. Thanks again!
Christine,
Don’t discount how inspiring you yourself are!
Hi April! If putting more of himself into his posts made all the difference for Jonathan, perhaps it can for you too. I think we all start this way… afraid to put too much of ourselves into our writing. I’ve certainly been there and am still trying to find the right balance. As I’ve let myself come through my writing more, I’ve also discovered more exciting results and that blogging is more fulfilling.
As Jonathan’s story so very vividly portrays, people want to connect and know who’s behind the writing. They want to know you. Great to meet you April!
Wow - thank you Liz! This coming from someone who as inspired just about every new blogger out there in one way or another. SOBCon sounds really amazing… is there an ‘08 date scheduled?
Hi Christine!
It’s not official yet, so don’t book those flights . . . but we’re hoping for one weekend earlier, May 2-4. And Boyhowdy! Do I have HUGE plans. The handful of folks I’ve said, “what do you think of doing this?” to have said, “Do we HAVE to wait until next year?” TOO COOL.
SOBCon will never get bigger than one room, one hotel. It’s a relationship experience.
Jonathan said great things about SOBCon 07 and it sounds like 08 is going to top that!! I’m definitely blocking off that weekend right now just in case… It sounds fantastic
I’m loving these interviews…
I find myself much more drawn toward blogs where the blogger maintains a dialogue with readers. Personalities shine through much stronger this way, just like in online forums.
In searching for a site to place a text link ad last week, I left a few comments on some blogs. One guy responded with a great follow up and we bantered back and forth a few times.
Guess who scored my advertising $$$ ?
Hi Christine, since you stopped by my blog I decided to check yours out. This is a really helpful post for meeting others in the blogosphere and developing community with them. To me that’s really important!
Best of all, you included tips that are very helpful to me. Thanks!
Wonderful story about Jonathan. Jonathan really is a great guy and I wish him nothing but continue success with his blog.
Great interview! Jon’s one of the good guys so it’s great to see him become more successful as time goes by.
Thanks Robyn, but thank Jonathan! His ideas were very helpful to me as well. I enjoy your blog too - you bring up some very interesting points! ~ Christine
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A genuine rags to riches story. A heart warming story as well as an education in how to master blogging.
So true Andy! There are some blogs where I’ve left comments and never seem to get a reply. In repsonce, I stopped leaving comments and then stopped visiting those blogs altoghter.
I am loving these interviews too. Not only is it great to meet and learn about new people, but every person has a wealth of information just waiting to be tapped into if we will only listen. This week’s interview is with Liz Strauss who says she makes it a point to talk to a blogger every day on the phone. wow.
Thanks for sharing Andy - I really appreciate your comments!!
He really is an incredible guy isn’t he Rose!! Your comment reminds me of a point that Nate Whitehill brought up during his interview. He said while business try to compete with each other, blogging is all about working together. I so wish him, you, and every blogger boundless success. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Brown! What a fun blog you have! I love that NOW watch - that is the perfect watch for any bold entrepreneur who has decided to work on their own terms and their own schedule.
Very true Carl, Jonathan’s adventures in blogging are a real-life story. We all have amazing stories inside of ourselves that could make a major impact on another person’s life. I look forward to reading more of you comments and learning more about your story!
Holy WOW! Thank you so much for all your comments guyz! deeply appreciated!
Christine, I have to tell you, I’m soooooo happy you interviewed me, it’s amazing! All the nice comments, met a lot of new people because of this interview, it’s is awesome! I’m telling you, Awesome!
Hey great post Christine and hats off to Jonathan too. I first encountered Jonathan at…yup, MBL. Jonathan struck me as a genuine stand up guy with something to say. I think people in recognise that and act accordingly. You can’t fake genuine
I love blogs and bloggers as they really are a great communication medium full of so many people willing and able to help people reach their goals or simply connect and share a view or two.
Work and commitment pays, the stats dont lie
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