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Greetings from ProBlogger and welcome to another newsletter update.
 
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
 
This week we explore:
I hope you find this update useful!
 
TIP OF THE MONTH - BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER 
 
One of the things that sets most great bloggers apart from the rest is their originality and ability to start conversations and not just respond to what others write.

There are a number of reasons why most bloggers end up being followers rather than conversation starters - but I am starting to wonder whether perhaps one reason is that many bloggers rely too heavily upon their RSS feed reader as a place to get post ideas.

While RSS is an important part of many blogger's work flows the problem with relying too heavily upon it is that it's easy to allow all of your posts being based upon what someone else has written.

While picking up on what others write is an important part of blogging if all of your posts do it and you never have anything original to say you may gradually kill your own ability to think of original ideas.

As I've realized this more and more I've started to have RSS free days (or at least mornings) and am setting regular time aside for brainstorming of original post ideas.

I'm not advocating that we all stop using RSS - but perhaps this week set aside some time to just sit with your own ideas. Get offline completely, take a paper and pen and start writing - see where your thoughts lead you!
 
5 HOT POST AT PROBLOGGER IN SEPTEMBER
 
Over September I published 50+ posts on ProBlogger - but these 5 were read by more than any others. 
 
1. 13 Ways to Promote Your Next Blog Post
2. How to Grow Your Blog with StumbleUpon
3. When to Publish Blog Posts - Timing Considerations
4. Where to Position Ads in Your RSS Feed
5. How to Craft a Blog Post - 10 Crucial Points to Pause
 
30-40% OFF BLOG MASTERMIND COACHING PROGRAM
 
Regular ProBlogger readers know that I'm a big fan of the BlogMastermind blog coaching program by fellow Aussie Yaro Starak.
 
I won't go into full details here but today I posted on ProBlogger that because of the Australian Dollar crashing the course is effectively 30-40% off for US readers. Yaro is closing this opportunity on Monday.
 
Check out my post today for details on how you can benefit from this offer.
 
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK
 
This week I've been experimenting with something that I've been resisting for years! I'm not done testing it yet but this week I've been testing using Popover subscription forms at my Photography Blog for my newsletter there.
 
Previously I have been getting subscribers just through a signup form on my sidebar but this week I decided to use popovers (little forms that hover over the page). I'd been resisting doing this because I worried that they'd be annoying to readers but my tests this week have revealed some amazing results.
 
For starters my subscriber numbers are sky high - in fact they are over 10 times higher than normal! Check out this screen capture of my subscriber report (today only just started).
 
 
 
The cool thing is that I'm yet to have a complaint from readers and it hasn't impacted page views per reader at all. I'm still testing and tweeking and will post about my findings on ProBlogger in the next few weeks.
 
RECENT CONVERSATIONS
 
Let me finish this newsletter with a few links to hot recent conversations on ProBlogger - I'd love to hear your thoughts on these topics!
Also - don't forget to check out the ProBlogger Job Boards - there have been quite a few new jobs posted in the last week or two.
 
Thanks for your continued subscription to ProBlogger. I look forward to connecting with you in the coming month!
 
Darren Rowse