You Can Change Your Life

Today’s Featured Blogger: Peter of I Will Change Your Life and PickTheBrain

Welcome to the sixth edition of The Next 30 Blogging Heroes series. Inspired by the book Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World’s Top Bloggers by Michael A. Banks, this series will feature the next group of exceptional bloggers who are making an impact in the blogosphere.

These bloggers are getting their messages out there and having their voices heard. They have long-term goals and are working very each day to reach them. Blogging heroes create quality content and build a loyal, and very large, base of readers. This series will center on their best blogging practices as well as tips and advice.

The Next 45 Years is proud to welcome Peter of I Will Change Your Life and PickTheBrain. The message in Peter’s first blog, IWCYL, is a simple one: You can change your life.

By way of personal example, Peter shares how we are each responsible for the choices we make in life – choices that determine our level of happiness and success in life. His thoughtful and well-written articles not only reveal a piece of Peter’s own journey, but provide a roadmap for the rest of us to follow, too. We are fortunate that Peter is able to extend his reach with his new responsibilities at PickTheBrain.

What prompted you to start I Will Change Your Life?
On May 24, 2006, I discovered that I was to be a father (I remember the date so clearly because it was my birthday - what a present!). This news really turned my life upside down, and it prompted me to start my personal development journey as, at the time of hearing the news, my life was a mess in various ways.

By April 2007 I had made significant changes to my life, so I started my blog primarily to share my message: you can change your life. Basically my aim is to inspire people to realize their true potential in life by sharing my own personal story of change. I freely admit that I don’t have all the answers, so in many ways my readers are joining me on a journey of self-discovery. Some things (for example, happiness and love) I have found. Other things (for example, a meaningful career) I am still working towards.

How did you come up with that name for your blog?
I wanted a name that was bold, different and would “stick” in peoples’ heads. I must admit, I sometimes wonder if I should have chosen a different name as I am sure some people judge me as being pretentious and arrogant due to it. Hopefully, though, when people read my articles they realize that neither of these things are true, and instead see me as someone who is down-to-earth and genuinely wants to make a positive difference in peoples’ lives.

In a sense, the name of my blog is a bit misleading because at the end of the day people have to change their own lives. But that is not to say that other people can’t help, and that is what I hope to do with my blog.

I might also add that for me the name has an additional meaning. The name makes me think of my son because, given my response to the first question, “I will change your life” is something I imagine him saying to me right back when I first heard the news (that is, of course, if he could have talked).

Are you achieving what you set out to do with the site?
Definitely. From the emails and the comments I have received over the past 11 months, I know I have making a positive difference in the lives of a few people. And the site has certainly helped to grow as a person. As of late, I really feel as if I am moving towards finding my calling in life, and IWCYL is closely linked with that.

Also, I have come to appreciate that blogging provides me with a creative outlet, gives me multiple streams of income, and can open the door to a number of exciting opportunities. So yes, I am achieving everything I set out to do and more.

Where do you get your ideas for content?
Anywhere and everywhere I possibly can!

Readers of my site will know I usually incorporate my own personal experiences into my articles, so many of my ideas stem from reflecting on my past and being aware of what is presently happening in my life. Also, I gain inspiration from reading books and receiving feedback from readers via comments and emails. And finally, sometimes an insightful quote can spawn an entire article.

I would also like to make the point one of the most important things I do is carry a notebook and pen with me wherever I go. This allows me to capture ideas as soon as they come.

Tell us about your new responsibilities at PickTheBrain
Since the beginning of February I have been working as Editor for PickTheBrain. This entails preparing articles from our regular contributors to be published (for example, formatting and selecting appropriate images), writing my own articles (usually one per week), building the community, proactively finding guest writers, and anything else that may help build the site (for example, I have recently organized a few book competitions on the site).

John Wesley is still very much involved in the site, although much of his attention is directed toward a related project which I’m sure you will hear more about soon. So you could say there are now “two brains” running PickTheBrain. I think this approach is working well, as we are able to bounce ideas off each other, etc. I would also like to note that if you look at some of the most successful companies ever - Microsoft (Bill and Paul), Apple (Steve and Larry), and Google (Larry and Sergey) – you will see that a two-person model can lead to some great results.

What do you find to be the more difficult aspects of blogging?
The main difficulty is managing to do everything I want to do with my blogging while still living a balanced and happy life. I work a normal 9-5 Monday - Friday job (during which I have little to no access to both blogs and their associated email accounts), plus I have a 45 minute commute to and from work each day.

So I have very little free time during the week, and even then blogging comes after my family and health in terms of my priorities. Sounds almost impossible, doesn’t it? Well where there is a will there is a way. I am very busy at present, but I also feel as if I am chasing my dream which gives me energy and adds vitality to my days.

Do you do anything special to increase your readership?
I think what has helped to take my blog to the next level is networking. There were some times in the first few months of blogging where I wrote what were, in my opinion, particularly good articles. However, I had no idea how to properly promote them. Things started to change when I took the initiative to email other bloggers in the self improvement niche. We have supported each other in a number of ways (for example, commenting on articles and helping with social media) and as a result our blogs have grown together.

These days I have actually stepped back a bit from actively promoting my articles via the social media to instead mainly focus on the quality of content. I still do some promotion, but for the most part I trust that the readers of both sites will vote for articles that are worth sharing.

Do you use SEO? If so, which techniques provide the best results?
I use a few simple SEO techniques, such as ensuring I link to other articles on my blog, using “post slug”, and having the Google XML Sitemaps plugin installed. To be honest, though, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about SEO.

That said, just recently I have started to take a bigger interest in SEO. My involvement with PickTheBrain has shown me that it is worth learning about SEO as the site receives a lot of traffic via the search engines (for example, it fluctuates between being #1 and #2 for “self improvement” on Google). I am currently reading SEO Book which was recommended to me by John Wesley. It is very interesting, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about SEO.

What do you find gratifying about blogging?
That’s an easy one! Definitely the positive comments and emails I receive from readers. I love the interactive nature of blogging, and the way in which IWCYL and PTB attracts like-minded people into my life. Also, there is a certain satisfaction to be creating something and writing articles that people could potentially be reading for years into the future.

What are you future plans for I Will Change Your Life & PickTheBrain?
IWCYL: One of my main focuses at the moment is my Career Transitions Series. This series will feature interviews with, and guest posts from, people who have found a career they love. Apart from providing some interesting content for my readers, I am also hoping this series will give me some ideas for my own career. If you would like to be involved in the series, email me at peter@iwillchangeyourlife.com.

PTB: Less tips, more thought-provoking content. John and I both see the site as not so much providing people with easy answers, but rather challenging them and helping them to find their own answers for improving their life. We are always on the lookout for articles, so if you would like to potentially see your article on PTB drop me an email at peter@pickthebrain.com.

What advice can you offer other bloggers?
Tell more stories. In my opinion, there are too many people offering abstract advice in the self improvement community. I believe that if you can tie in a story into your articles, readers will find them far more interesting and of value.

Be different. As more and more people are starting to blog, it is becoming harder and harder to set yourself apart from the pack. Try to be different in whatever ways you can. In particular, try to develop a unique “voice”.

Be persistent. It can take time to find your feet blogging. I am starting to have some moderate success as of late, but for the first few months I think my wife was the only person who read my site. Enjoy yourself, believe in yourself, be persistent, and make it happen.
If I may, I would also like to invite any bloggers looking for further advice to read a recent article of mine called Everything I Know About Blogging.

Previous bloggers featured in this series:

Tina Su of Think Simple Now

John Wesley of PickTheBrain

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits

Ellesse Chow of Goal Setting College

Andrew Galasetti of Lyved.com

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Helpful Blogging Resources

• Unique Blog Designs: As many of you know, I just completed a blog redesign. Matt and his team were excellent. They provided expert design advice as well as much need technical support. If you are ready to take your blog to the next level, I high recommend Unique Blog Designs.

• ProBlogger is an outstanding online resource for learning effective blogging tips. The site has many useful and relevant articles to help you build a better blog and to earn money, too

• Michael A. Bank’s book Blogging Heroes is as informative as it is inspirational – a must-have reference book for serious bloggers.