Blogging World Cup: Guru FC vs Rising Stars United
In this article, you’ll learn about an exclusive football match between Guru FC and Rising Stars United, organized by nichehacks.com to determine the best blogging websites. We’ve compiled a list of all the players and officials involved in the game, along with their backgrounds and expertise in the field of online marketing and SEO. Discover their journey and their must-read blog posts that offer top-notch internet marketing advice. Get ready for some fun while also gaining insights into the world of online marketing.
To celebrate the launch of the World Cup in Brazil, nichehacks.com proudly brings to you an exclusive football (soccer for the Americans) match between Guru FC and Rising Stars United.
As well as hopefully being an interesting linkbait type post I thought it would be a bit of fun.
Let’s check out the players….
Rising Blogging Stars:
1. David McSweeney
2. Dave Schneider
3. Marc Andre
4. Jason Chesters
5. Tung Tran
6. Charles Floate
7. Lewis Ogden
8. Efoghor Joseph
9. Steve Brodsky
10. Matthew Barby
11. Nick Leroy
Blogging Gurus:
1. Matt Woodward
2. Spencer Haws
3. Ana Hoffman
4. Neil Patel
5. Brian Dean
6. Ryan Deiss
7. Shoemoney
8. Glen Allsop
9. Pat Flynn
10. Ramsay Taplin
11. Justin Cooke
And our officials for this game are…
Referee: Stuart Walker
Linesman 1: Mark Trueman
Lineswoman 2: Kristi Hines
To discover 200+ profitable niche markets click the image below now…
Let’s find out a little bit more about the players and officials….
David McSweeney
David McSweeney is an SEO expert and the man that inspired this all.
He recently featured me in a football themed linkbait post in which he referred to me as a cartoon character with half my head missing.
Had me in stitches.
Check out his blog Top5SEO.co.uk for SEO advice and tutorials and you can see his original linkbait post here.
Dave Schneider
I first became aware of Dave as a follower of the blog. He’d comment and send me emails.
Later he successfully launched SelfMadeBusinessman where he regularly releases in-depth guides and tutorials on all aspects of running an online business.
He’s an avid traveler and blogger and The Definitive Guide To User Testing is a must read.
Marc Andre
Marc is another regular commentator on nichehacks.com and runs the awesome blog ProfitBlitz.com where you can guarantee to find top notch IM and blogging advice.
His blogging case studies and
101 Link Building Ideas are must reads.
Jason Chesters
Jason is a UK based online marketer and has been in the SEO game for around 10 years running a series of niche websites.
Unlike many SEO guys he also understands the power of marketing and list building as proven by this post where he shows how he made $172k in 12 months through email marketing.
Check out his site for incredible SEO and link building advice.
Tung Tran
One of Vietnam’s top internet marketers Tung makes money from affiliate marketing through small niche sites and more recently through TeeSpring (5 figures in a matter of months!).
His blog is full of top-notch internet marketing and SEO advice and he loves vegetables.
Check out this awesome SEO strategy post.
Charles Floate
Charles has been doing SEO since he was just 12 years old when he decided to research how to get more traffic to his mum’s eCommerce website.
Since then he’s gone on to make five figures before he even turned 18.
They call him ‘The God of SEO’.
For all things, SEO and IM check out his blog. I particularly liked this post – http://godofseo.co/affiliate-marketing-blog/amazon-site/
Lewis Ogden
Lewis is a straight talker from the UK with a no bullshit approach to internet marketing.
He shares tried and tested methods and case studies that actually work and he can prove it!
Check out his post of how he made $400 from Facebook Ads and tshirt sales
Efoghor Joseph
A nurse turned online entrepreneur from Nigeria.
He’s been blogging since 2009 and is a Platinum Expert on Ezine Articles.
He covers all aspects of internet marketing, blogging and SEO.
Check out his post about guest blogging.
Steve Brodksy
Steve makes a full time living whilst travelling the world. A true digital nomad.
His aim is to teach you how to do the same.
His blog has epic advice on picking a niche, blogging and more.
This post on niche finding is a must read.
Matthew Barby
With years of experience in writing, blogging, SEO and social media Matthew in an avid internet marketer and traveller.
For advice on traffic, improving content and promoting your blog FindMyBlogWay is the place to go.
The Ultimate Guide To Running Online Competitions is a must read.
Nick LeRoy
Nick discovered SEO by accident when selling memorbillia bought from local garage sales on Ebay.
He realised that the number of ‘buzz words’ he used has a correlation with how many views his listings got.
He used this techniques for years not knowing that what he was doing was optimizing his listings for search engines.
Fast forward to now he’s a successful niche marketer and SEO.
Read Avoiding Entrepreneurial Burnout
Now let’s take a look at the Guru FC line up…
Matthew Woodward
Matt W has taken the internet marketing world by storm recently with his in-depth video tutorials, epic blog posts and transparency.
His content is the sort of stuff most people charge big money for!
He’s won numerous awards including best affiliate marketing blog, and Technorati top 100 business blog.
For the best SEO and affiliate marketing advice look no further.
How I Built A Top 100 Blog is a must read.
Spencer Haws
Spencer is the creator of LongTailPro and blogger at NichePursuits.
He’s an avid niche marketer and details how you can create successful niche sites at his blog.
For top notch niche marketing advice and tutorials you can’t go wrong.
To see how to build a niche site from $0 to $2,000 p/m read this post
Ana Hoffman
Ana was born and raised in Communist Russia and moved to the States in 1996.
A former model she found internet marketing through a period of unemployment for her and her husband.
Now she’s an online business owner and blogger.
She focuses primarily on how to drive engaged traffic to your site. A recent post on Content Marketing is a worthy read.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is the guy companies like Amazon go to if they want advice on SEO and getting more traffic.
He’s “kinda a big deal” even if he does say so himself.
Named as top 50 entrepreneuers in America by Barack Obama he’s the sort of guy we all should be listening to.
Behind successful companies like Kiss Metrics, Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and the Quicksprout.com blog.
QuickSprout.com regularly produces epic content that just cannot be beaten including this incredible post “The Complete Guide To Building Your Blog Audience”
Brian Dean
Brian is one of the best link builders in the industry.
His intelligent SEO strategies are not the usual rehashed garbage you hear all over the web.
He teaches how to get high quality links naturally from top quality websites.
His “Skyscraper Technique” post should be your first step
You’ll learn how to create posts that are guaranteed linkbait.
Ryan Deiss
Ryan is one of the biggest names in the internet marketing world.
He’s behind authority sites like Digital Marketer and Survival Life and is a sales funnel building pro.
On top of that he’s a really friendly and approachable guy and always replies when I reach out to him on Twitter looking to include him in an expert round up.
How We Grew A Blog From $0 To $6 Million is a must read
Jeremy “Shoemoney” Shoemaker
Shoemoney is a shining example of rags to riches.
At one point he was $50K in debt and sleeping on a friends couch.
He later turned that around and is now a multi millionare who’s been featured in Forbes and Entrepreneur to name but a few.
He’s ran ring tone businesses, eBay ad services, niche sites and more.
His blog shoemoney.com is a solid spot for internet marketing advice.
Glen Allsop
Glen started building websites at age 15. 5 years later he sold his personal development blog for a five figure sum.
He currently travels the world through income from affiliate marketing and SEO.
His in-depth posts and tutorials are some of the best on the net in the internet marketing sphere.
If I had to recommend one post it would be How To Build A Billion Dollar SEO Empire.
Pat Flynn
Family man and online entrepreneur Pat are one of the real good guys in IM.
He flipped the internet marketing blogging model on its head by sharing everything he does, from his niches to his sites, to how much he earns.
His honesty is refreshing and earns him some real trust and a loyal following.
For solid internet marketing help and niche marketing advice, you can’t go wrong with the SmartPassiveIncome blog.
Check out his Niche Site Duel 2 for inspiration on how to build niche sites that make money.
Ramsay Taplin
Ramsay aka The Blog Tyrant is one of the best writers and bloggers on the net.
At age 20 he sold his fitness blog for over $20,000 and continues to run blogs in various niches including his blog about blogging BlogTyrant.com
For the best blogging advice available on the net Ramsay is the man to go to.
Read about how he sold a blog for $20k in 8 months.
Justin Cooke
Justin went from a $33 a month business in December 2010 to $200K+ business in 2012 through building, buying and selling Adsense sites.
Today the business is known as “Empire Flippers” one of the number one resources on the net to buy and sell websites both made by Justin and his team and others.
For the best advice you can possibly find on website flipping head over to the Empire Flippers blog.
And let’s introduce our match officials…
Stuart Walker (Referee)
That’s me! You may already know me but for those of you who don’t I’m a former online gambler turned internet marketer.
I’m location independent and love to travel.
nichehacks.com is all about revealing untapped niches and insights into hot niche markets.
Read more about me here.
Kristi Hines (Lineswoman)
Kristi is a freelance writer, blogger and social media aficionado.
She’s been published on just about every major internet marketing blog on the net from Kissmetrics to Social Media Examiner to Search Engine Journal.
She also runs the brilliant Kikolani.com where you can find the best blogging tips and advice.
Mark Trueman (Linesman)
Mark started building websites when he was just a kid and is now a serial entrepreneur.
His awesome blog ZenSpill is the place to go for top notch content, intelligent case studies, experiments and other ways to
Blogging Match Analysis…
The match gets off to a slow start with neither team making much progress.
The Rising Stars back 4 David McSweeney, Marc Andre, Matthew Barby and Nick LeRoy are solid and David Schneider is playing a blinder in goal.
Guru FC’s strikers Matt Woodward, Ryan Deiss and Neil Patel can’t break down their defences.
After the first 35 minutes the Rising Stars show some promise with a driving run by Tung Tran followed by a blistering shot that rebounds off the post.
The Guru’s quickly counter attack, Glen Allsop plays the long ball to Pat Flynn who crosses it into the ball and out of nowhere Shoemoney pulls off a spectacular overhead kick leaving goalkeeper David Schneider standing, it’s a GOOOOAAAAAAAL!
The first 45 minutes ends with Guru FC one goal in the lead.
The second half gets off to a much better start with Guru FC dominating the Rising Stars.
They seem to have gotten a bit cocky with Spencer Haws and Ana Hoffman pulling off flicks and tricks at every opportunity.
They come to regret it though when Lewis Ogden snatches the ball from Spencers feet, dribbles past Ramsay Taplin and makes a run into the box only to be brought down by Justin Cooke from a brutal two footed tackle!
It’s a foul!
Referee Stuart Walker consults with his linesman Mark Trueman and then shows the red card to Justin and awards the penalty.
Up steps Efoghor Joseph looking calm and collected.
He takes a slow run up and calmly slots it into the back of the net, the keeper stood no chance.
It’s 1-1 and the Rising Stars are back in it.
With only 10 minutes left of the game it’s everyones to play for.
Both teams are going at it hard determined to win this match.
Neither team can break the deadlock.
AND WHATS THIS. SOMEONE HAS RUN ONTO THE SIDE OF THE PITCH AND IS MAKING A SCENE.
It looks like whoever it is is dressed in Brazilian Carnival Dress.
OMG IT’S GOOGLES OWN SPAM DEFENDER MATT CUTT’S.
Matt looks determined to put off the players by dancing the samba but is quickly wrestled to the ground by security. What a bizarre moment.
Now let’s get back on with the match.
There’s just 7 minutes left and it’s 1 goal a piece. Will it end a draw or can either team step up and take the victory?
Both teams are trying hard but neither can break down the other teams defences.
It’s the dying minutes of the game and Rising FC decide it’s make or break time.
Jason Chesters passes to Tung Tran who makes a run down the wing.
He crosses the ball into the box and ‘BOOM’ Charles Floate headers it into the back of the net.
The crowd go wild!
Guru FC are calling for offside. Is the referee going to allow the goal?
Referee Stuart Walker quickly consults with lineswoman Kristi Hines and the decision is that it was ON SIDE. The goal stands.
THE FINAL WISTLE BLOWS!
In the dying minutes Rising Stars FC win the match 2 goals to 1.
What an unbelievable match exclusive to nichehacks.com
I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe you are curious about how you can create something similar of your own so I’ve included a how to guide below.
How To Create Your Own Linkbait Post
First lets look at what ‘linkbait’ is.
It’s simply a post that’s designed to attract links from other websites in your niche.
It can be any or all (or none) of the following..
- A well written piece of content on a popular topic that goes above and beyond everything else on the net.
- Something creative, controversial or funny that is a bit different from your standard blog post.
- Improving on an existing highly linked piece of content to make it bigger and better – you already know it will generate links.
- ‘Ego-baiting’ where you play on the vanity of other webmasters and make them want to share it with their audience.
- A round up or collection of posts / experts opinions.
With this post I also want it to drive traffic and get a lot of social media shares as well as links.
There’s a ton of different posts you can create from “post round ups” like the The Ultimate Guide To Blogging which is essentially just a collection of links presented in a nice layout.
It generated 23 links, 82 comments, and hundreds of social shares (sadly most of the Twitter shares were lost when I switched plugins!) on a blog that at the time was less than 2 months old .
The reason it’s great at generating links (and social shares) is because not only are you referencing lots of other bloggers who link but you’re covering a ton of topics in one post and it makes your content the ‘go to’ piece of content on the subject.
Then there’s
expert round ups where you ask a bunch of experts the same question and post up their answers, always good for generating links from the experts themselves and other.
See an example based aroud keyword research tools here.
People love to reference and link to expert opinions.
Then there’s list posts like “50 Most Influential Bloggers” where you play to peoples ego’s by including them and hoping they share with their audience.
Or the creative and fun post that inspired this one by David McSweeney.
Then there’s also ‘Ultimate Guides’ like my niche research one which cover everything you need to know on a certain topic and presented in a nicely designed manner.
Then there’s what Brian Dean calls the “Skyscraper Technique” where you hunt out content that ALREADY has a ton of links (or shares) and set out to make something bigger and better – that way you are creating proven link-able content.
Still not sure how you can create your own linkbait post?
Check out the resources from Moz, Kissmetrics, HubSpot and Distilled.
Some good linkbait examples:
To discover 200+ profitable niche markets click the image below now…
Conclusion…
Hopefully you enjoyed this World Cup inspired post.
Not only do I hope it serves as a good example of interesting linkbait hopefully it was a bit of fun for you to read too as well as exposing you to some new bloggers you didn’t know about.
It might even give you some ideas for your own post. Creating them around popular events and news stories can be a very powerful way to get your content noticed.
The aim with this post is to generate a lot of links and social shares not just from those involved but from other bloggers and readers of the blog too.
It certainly beats your standard list post and having it themed around a current even should in theory make it more popular, time will tell I guess.
Worth considering if you’re trying to come up with the best linkbait post that you can.
Your standard lists and round up post work just fine, I’ve got a few like my best keyword research tool here and my IM experts post here, but this was much more fun to create.
So let me know what you think about in the comment section below and don’t forget to share on social media too.
Oh and who’s going to win the World Cup?
P.S.
Wondering how Matt Cutts reacted to the image?
Here’s how….