Brilliant Brown Belt Bloggers – People Actively Follow *Them*

Morning!

You know, if there's one thing I hate with a fiery burning passion more flame-worthy than several super-novas on a late Sunday afternoon, it's….

Sniffling allergies.

Or a relentless cold.

Whatever it is, it's been dogging my steps now for 2 and a half days…and I'm *not* a happy earlobe!

In a word, WAH.

But I digress.  🙂

Today, I'd like to drag my unconscious somnolent self up from the pits of my ill-health to discuss the latest in my series regarding Black Belt Blogging.

We're already covered:

• White Belt Blogging
• Yellow Belt Blogging
• Green Belt Blogging

and it's time now for….

Brown Belt Blogging!

Now, the brown belt is one step below the Black Belt. 

So as you can imagine, it's the belt level at which many skills are not only being used on a regular scale, but also mastered inherently to boot.

And while I'll expand upon this at later date, let me give you a smattering of what Brown Belt Bloggers actually learn.

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1.)  Their blog is a popular or authority site.

Brown belt bloggers have mastered the art of participating at forums or commenting on other blogs, so people naturally just come back to see what's new.

Not only that – brown belt bloggers know how to promote themselves in social media, ie, forums, Facebook, Twitter and the like.

Now, it does *not* mean that their blogs/sites have tons of comments – that, alas, requires active participation from readers.  And we've all been to incredible sites where comments were few and sparse!

(I'm also leery about insisting on outside influences to be a requirement for a belt promotion as well).

But…brown belt bloggers have blogs which are considered authority sites within their niche.

How can you tell if it's authority site?

• People refer to posts from it in *their* blogs
• People tell others what *they* say
• It's legitimately linked all over the place in Google

Some nifty vids regarding, oh, say, getting links all over the place (ie, commenting) include:

Next, brown belt bloggers:

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2.)  They've created their own product OR they're regularly asked to review products

Brown belt bloggers have taken the next step in using their blog to generate income (if that's the path they choose) OR….they're so popular that people request them to review *their* products.

For example, I would call the hu-dad at The Thundering Herd definitely worthy of a brown belt (and black to boot!).  True, he doesn't sell anything, but his posts about his well-behaved zero-discipline (said very tongue in cheek) herd of huskies has generated quite the following indeed.

But more than that – he gets asked to review products relevant to his niche as well!  

I loved reading his post about Columbia Bugathermo Boots – the company had simply contacted him  and gave him the boots to try out, at no cost.

Another aspect of brown belt blogging is that said blogger is confident enough to create his or her own product to beef up their own online income.

In other words, you can even ask yourself – am I a blogger who markets?

A marketer who blogs?

Hmmmm?

Whatever the answer is, brown belt bloggers either makes money from their blogs, or receives requests to give their take on retail/marketing products.

Which brings me to:

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3.)  Brown belt bloggers decide upon their particular blogging/site building path.

This is a biggie for me.

Just like with the Martial Arts and Martial arts weapons, there *is* no *one* generic "black belt."

You can become a black belt in Goju-Ryu karate (that's from where my Black belt originates).

You can master katas.

You can become a black belt in Tae Kwan Do.

You can become a black belt in Aikido.

You can master katanas (japanese swords).

You can master the bo-staff.

You can master nu-chaku.

The point to remember is the following.

When you become a Black Belt within a Martial Arts, you're focusing upon a single style to master.

And when you become a Black Belt in Blogging, you've chosen to focus upon a single direction to master.

• You might want to become a black belt blogger in sharing opinions.
• You might want to become a black belt blogger in video commentary.
• You might want to become a black belt blogger in making money online.
• You might want to become a black belt blogger in becoming an authority source.
• You might want to become a black belt blogger in building up your business online.

Whatever path you choose, however…there are basics you simply *have* to master.

When a blogger earns a brown belt, she or he has decided on what path to pursue.

To recap, brown belt bloggers have at the very least these characteristics:

• Their blog is a popular or authority site.
• They've created their own product OR they're regularly asked to review products
•  Brown belt bloggers decide upon their particular blogging/site building path.

And yes indeed, it takes time, patience and determination to earn a brown belt in blogging.

But it is most definitely doable…indeed.

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling