The Blog Startup Summary and Notes

My Notes

#

Have a business model.

Have core core or brand that is responsible for attracting people to you.

Two approaches to a new blog: content first or offer first.

With content first, you start with no product or service and create content to attract, grow, and nurture your audience. Your blog serves as a content hub to get people in the door.

You get permission to be in touch with them via email.

You find out what type of content makes your audience tick.

Once you start attracting an audience, you promote your own digital or affiliate products or offer the services that are most aligned with their needs and your skill set or expertise.

In Method 2, you have existing products and services and your blog serves to support your business

Even if you start with Method 1—like I did—you will eventually need to transition to Method 2

You need to figure out:

• The types of problems you want to solve for your audience.
• Your Business Model (Your pathway to making money. Because if you don’t monetize, you don’t have a business.)
• Your core or essence (Your brand, which will be responsible for attracting your ideal readers or buyers.)

Bonus material: HTTPS://THEBLOGSTARTUP.COM/BONUS

Some myths you may have heard about niches: • If there are big, established blogs in a niche, stay away from it. • If you don’t have enough experience and knowledge in the niche, don’t even attempt it

Your niche has to be original.

If there are several blogs in a niche, that niche is crowded. But it also means that there is validation of an existing audience out there for your blog…

That there is demand for the information, products, and services related to that niche

That there are people who are actively looking to solve pain points or need support in this niche.

Those big blogs may take a chunk of your audience, but not everyone will resonate with the voice and style of the big blogs. That’s the reason several blogs are able to thrive alongside each other. Remember that people are more likely to be influenced by someone they like and can relate to—someone who’s at a level that seems attainable. The pie is big enough for all of us

The basis of a good niche is four-fold: 1. Your target audience’s pain points 2. Your strengths and interests

Think of your blog in terms of the problem it solves. A niche is a solution to a problem

People want to be better versions of themselves. This better version does not have to be about having more money.

It could fall under any one of the following areas:

• Personal development
• Fitness
• Food
• Budgeting or personal finance
• Fashion/Beauty
• Lifestyle
• Home decor
• Organization
• Travel
• Outdoor/Survival

The missing puzzle pieces that people don’t consider before they pick a niche:

• Are there others in this niche who are serving a similar audience (big or small) who have the same problem or pain points that you want to help solve?
• Effectively monetizing their sites?

Who is participating in the conversation in this niche? Make a list of these people. Take note of their biz models: How are they monetizing their blogs? If you see that people are paying to get rid of pain or to gain something, then there’s certainly potential in that niche. You’re looking for signs of money flows in the niche. This could be via digital products, coaching, services, events, or even physical products.

Your niche does not target a one & done problem.

Your niche needs to have recurring income potential. You don’t want to solve a problem that people only seek help for once. You want a niche where people have the opportunity to advance and fulfill their potential at various stages.

How can they solve pain points of various intensities as they progress.

Help your audience through various tiny transformations.

Out of all your ideas, which ones do you have a clear monetization plan for?

What can see yourself working on for at least the next 3–5 years?

Bring your topics under one overarching theme or topic. What is your main message to your audience? What is the one thing you want them to take away? What message combines your different topics?

Frugality? Purposeful or intentional living? Happiness? Minimalism? Pick a message, keep it at the center, and then work out your value proposition.

When you try to explain five other things at the same time. Too many messages get confusing.

Jot down ideas on what your niche could be and make sure it meets the four-fold criteria.

Core message of your blog. This will form the basis for every single email, video, image, blog post, or product you create.

Your content has to educate, entertain, inspire, teach, or help your readers in some way.

How can you come up with an all-encompassing purpose or value proposition for your blog?You start by defining your blog parameters and drilling down into them to get really specific.

State your big business umbrella: • Drill down to the core business or niche. • State your Niche Level 1 (For who); i.e., what group/location.

• Drill down to your Niche Level 2 (To do what); i.e., what problem you want to help them with.

I educate/inspire/entertain/teach/help __________ who want to __________.

I show __________ how __________.

Psychographics

• What frustrates them?
• What worries do they have?
• What websites do they visit?
• What blogs do they read?
• What other hobbies or interests do they have?
• What social media channels do they hang out on?
• What mental block do they have to overcome?
• What is preventing your ideal reader from achieving the desired change?

Motivational Factors

• What do they desire, want, and aspire to?
• What are their fears, frustrations, and challenges?
• What do they want to achieve in the next three years?

Define clearly who I do not want to serve: My ideal reader is unlikely to be… My ideal reader is unlikely to identify with the term… My ideal reader is unlikely to be interested in..

Research your ideal reader.

Create a persona based on that research.

Join Facebook groups where your ideal audience members are likely to hang out.

Once you have access to a Facebook group, use the “Search this group” box and type in the following keywords (including the quotation marks):

“need help” “desperate for” “newbie” “have no clue” “advice about” “question about”

Other places you can mine for information on your ideal reader are Amazon, Udemy, and Product Hunt to name a few.

Look at products within your niche. What reviews and comments do they have? What are your audience saying.

Keep a swipe file of the exact ways your audience are describing their pain points, you can use these very words on your home page, about page, and landing pages to connect with them.

Your brand isn’t the logo or color palette you choose. Rather it’s the experience someone has with you.

What experience do you want to create? That’s what should influence your color palette. That’s what should influence your choice of font or logo.

You can’t build a personal brand if you try to be all things for all people. The more you alienate people, the more you attract your own kind of people too.

If you were a well-known blogger, who would you be?

There should be one or two people who immediately come to mind.

Think of who in the online space you most resonate with. What about them do you want to emulate for your brand?

What aspects of their brand do you want to incorporate for your own blog and business? Do you know what you believe in? What you stand for?

I want my target audience persona to feel that I’m ________ when they read my posts and watch/listen to my content (e.g., motivating, approachable). Most people would describe me as _________ (e.g., professional, confident, knowledgeable, fun). My blog business believes in_________. If I was a well-known blogger, I would be_______. I would never want to be seen as ____________. I would never want my content to be ___________. What feelings do I want my brand to evoke?

A solid brand creates trust, recognition, and consistency. The words, tone, and style you use in your writing say a lot about it. You need to be consistent in the voice you project across different content pieces and even platforms.

if you’re not careful, you can end up with a random concoction of voices and tones. People won't quite get what you're about.

You'll start attracting different people and end up confusing your target audience.

This is why you don’t ever want to leave defining your brand to chance. You also don’t want to sound like others in your niche

Qualify what your brand isn’t. For instance, your brand is bold but not arrogant. Fun but not wishy-washy. Honest but not hurtful.

Put these together using the ADDE (Attribute Markers – Dos – Don’ts – Expressions) Formula. Do’s are a short description of what your attribute markers actually mean. Don’ts define how you don’t want your brand voice to come across. And the expressions drill down into the tiny nuances of how your brand voice comes across.

Add in special expressions that embellish your writing. How would you talk to that person? Is your brand funny, warm, girly, or quirky? Or is it sophisticated, modern, and serious?

Something that’s right for someone else might not be right for you, so know yourself well.

When you write like everyone else and sound like everyone else and act like everyone else, you’re saying, ‘Our products are like everyone else’s, too.’

Would you go to a dinner party and just repeat what the person to the right of you is saying all night long?

Always ask yourself, Does this sound and feel like you? Does this represent your brand?

Use the 60/30/10 rule for colors.

#

Make your own color palette at Adobe Color or explore pre-designed color palettes at Color Hunt.

A primary color should take up 60% of the space. For contrast, 30% of the space should be occupied by the secondary color. The remaining 10 should be used for the accent color.

Use a word association exercise like the one at Viget.

You select your brand colors. Then head to FontPair to pick a set of complimentary fonts

Use a maximum of 2–3 fonts on your site. You could use one font for your headers, one font for your body of text, and an accent font which you should use sparingly on your sidebar or images.

Google fonts are safe for free and commercial use.

You do not need a professionally designed logo.

Get a simple font logo instead.

3 MUST-ANSWER QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU PROCEED

#

WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIMARY CONTENT CHANNEL?—THE MEDIUM YOU USE TO BUILD TRUST AND GROW YOUR AUDIENCE?

Blog to be your primary content channel.

Pick one when you’re starting out because you don’t want to spread yourself too thin.

Pick ONE main traffic source (likely a social media platform) and one secondary traffic source.

Primary traffic source is the one that helps you with lead generation. It brings traffic to your site, and if your site is optimized well, it’ll help you convert traffic to subscribers and grow your email list, i.e., your audience.

Examples of traffic sources: Pinterest YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Borrowing others’ platforms (i.e., guest posting) Influencers

Pick one that’s aligned with your ideal audience.

INSTAGRAM Best place to reach teens and millennials. 59% of 18–29-year-olds use Instagram.

FACEBOOK Works in largely any market. 84% of 30–49-year-olds use Facebook.
Facebook is clamping down heavily on diet, weight loss, etc. Check if your market is approved by their ToS.

PINTEREST Marketing primarily to women, focusing on physical products. 45% of women online vs. 17% of men online.

YOUTUBE Involve keyword targeting. Reach predominantly male audience. 55% of men online vs. 44% of women online.

TWITTER Younger market. More techy.

LINKEDIN 45% $75K+annual income.

Your secondary traffic source is one that feeds your primary traffic source or your marketing goals.

Guest posting was a huge part of my strategy to grow my audience when I started out.

Connect with influencers by sharing their work.

Engaged with them on Twitter so that I could get on their radar and get them familiar with my name before I pitched them a post.

If you’re stretched too thin, forego the secondary source of traffic altogether and just focus on your primary traffic source.

HOW WILL YOU BUILD AUTHORITY AND CREDIBILITY?

#

Can you get featured on podcasts and guest posts?

Can you coach or help people in exchange for a testimonial?

How can you work on displaying more authority markers such as “as seen in” logos?

Did a ton of free site reviews and email sequence reviews for my readers when I started out.

Did guest posting as I mentioned earlier so that I could display “as seen in” logos on my site to build credibility and authority.

Book: But I’m Not an Expert!

Your ONE constant will be an email list.

You don’t own anything other than your email list. Your blog is a transient medium.

Email is the only thing that gives you this undivided attention.

You think you need it only after building an audience but without it, it’s hard to nurture an audience as well. And even if you have a product ready for sale now, you wouldn’t be able to sell it because you don’t have a pool of subscribers to sell it to.

Your primary content channel is to attract an audience, build trust, and entice them to sign up for your email list.

What separates you from everyone else?

How is your content different? How is your business going to be different?

You don’t want to fit in. When you blend in too much with everyone else in your niche, you make it hard for readers to choose you.

This “the hook”—a simple pivot or deviation from something familiar meant to get your audience’s attention.

Book: The One Hour Content Plan

Think about why someone should read your blog over the thousands of others on a similar subject matter?

Saying it in a way that nobody else has before via your brand voice, style, or presentation.

Are you able to solve your audience’s pain point in a better way than anyone else?

Everything you do is centered around helping your audience tackle one specific challenge.

Giving your audience access to you is seen as a bad thing. But this is how you can distinguish yourself.

Good service is a point of parity; it’s what you’re expected to have. So if this is your differentiator, your service has to be truly exceptional.

Every brand has a spot in the marketplace. While low price does not necessarily equate to low quality, especially when you target the right audience, you don’t want to pick this as a differentiator. Because this often leads to a race the bottom.

Once you pick a point of differentiation, ask yourself:Is it relevant to your readers?

What words do they use to describe your content and doing business with you? Is this aligned with how you want to differentiate yourself?

Is that differentiation evident to your readers?

Your differentiation strategy may need to change with time so always analyze the space and see that your differentiation strategy still holds true.

Don’t fall for the most popular or promoted tool or service.

Free or cheapest is not always the best

What you can expect to pay for in the early A premium mobile-optimized theme Good hosting An email service provider Lead capture tools (landing pages &opt-in forms)

As you charge more for your products, you may want to create a better experience for your students.

As you start to attract more people, maybe you want to outsource design rather than do it yourself.

Can I make back this investment? Does this investment allow me to save time to (a) serve my audience better and (b) engage in business-building activities that would allow me to increase my income?

Think of your content in terms of buckets. Each content category is a bucket and you can have 3–5 content buckets.

Think about the content your target persona wants and needs. What does she want to know from you? What subjects do you have enough knowledge or experience in, that matter to her?

If I wanted to be known for just three topics, what would those be?”

Your readers start to get a clear picture of what you are about and who you serve.

You’re seen as “an expert” or knowledgeable in a few topics rather than anything and everything.

It’s easier to work with brands because they’ll look at your main topics to see if they fit with their products.

It’s easier to secure clients

These will shift over time

It’s easier to establish authority in 1–3 topics.

Bank or vault to capture ideas in.

Where exactly are you going to get ideas from?

LOOK AT YOUR OWN NICHE AND COMPETITION

What articles have done well for them in terms of shares and comments?

How can you replicate this success?

Sign up for content curation sites. These are sites like

• ContentGems
• Scoop.it
• BuzzSumo

These sites will send you lists of articles on topics you have selected in your notification settings. These sources will give you the fuel to ensure your content bank is always filled.

Only attempt to replicate those topics if there is a gap that you can fill.

There are three characteristics of content that are deemed valuable.

1. Fills an opportunity gap.

Could your content be better? Will your piece make a contribution to the existing content on this topic? Could you make it more helpful or user-friendly with tutorials or videos? Can it go further in-depth?

2. Has a clearly identifiable point of view

Is there a viewpoint or angle that hasn’t been addressed in the existing content out there?

Does your content take a stance about the topics and problems in your niche that others have not? Could your personality or brand voice give it a different slant?

3. Breaks sacred cows

Are there**** myths and beliefs that are immune from criticism or question? Does your content prove these wrong?

DO MORE OF WHAT’S WORKING FOR YOU

#

Make sure you have Google Analytics installed for this step.

If you don’t have Google Analytics yet, get the free plug-in Google Analytics Dashboard for WP. This plug-in automatically adds the tracking code to all the pages on your site.

Then go to Google Analytics and sign up for a free account.

Look at your Google Analytics account to find your top posts.

Look for posts with a low bounce rate. Your readers are staying on these posts for a longer period of time.

Identify the posts with the higher click-through rates.

CREATE CONTENT FOR ALL LEVELS OF YOUR READERS

#

Everyone who comes to your site is at a different place in the journey.

Some may be aware of the problem your service or product solves. Some be actively shopping for a solution. Others may be at the very beginning and have no idea that they even have a problem to solve in the first place.

Depending on the stage your reader is at, they require different pieces of content to move them from one stage to another.

To effectively move your readers from one stage to another, answer the following question:

What keeps my audience stuck in this phase and what do they need from me and my content to move forward?

Create different pieces of content to fuel the reader journey

Books: The One Hour Content Plan and The Profitable Content System.

Yoast defines cornerstone content as the core of your website. “It consists of the best, most important articles on your site; the pages or posts you want to rank highest in the search engines.”

Ideal topic for a cornerstone content piece is something that people are commonly searching for, without getting satisfying results.”

The content pieces that you want to tackle are those that • Raise your brand awareness.. • Establish authority and trust. • Feed your funnel (helping you build an email list for example).

Minimum Viable Content Plan (MVCP).

#

How-to or list posts on a pressing question the competition has failed to address (Authority post showcasing your expertise).

One polarizing or opinion post; e.g., X things you should never believe about…Why this is flawed.

What they don’t ever tell you about…
(Authority post showcasing your expertise)

Note: This post can quickly come across as a rant if you don’t have the credibility or authority to show for it yet. That doesn’t mean you have to shy away from writing opinionated posts.

It just means that you need to show examples and substantiate your content with third-party sources such as reputable articles and quotes from authoritative sources.

HOW TO OUTLINE YOUR POSTS

#

1. DETERMINE THE PURPOSE OF THE POST

Always determine how each piece of content is going to fit into your entire blog and business. Ask yourself what’s the goal of the post.

What do you want each post to do?

When you write with the end in mind, you know what you want the post to do for you. You measure what that post is meant to do based on the tangible and intangible goals you set beforehand.

A tangible goal Drive opt-ins to gauge interest for a product.
Get opt-ins and then lead them down a sequence to a paid product.
Make an affiliate commission.
Pitch a sponsored post.
Educate your reader (how-tos).

An intangible goal Position yourself as an expert or thought leader.
Network with influencers (through a roundup post).
Empower your readers (e.g., motivational pieces, income reports).
Entertain with personal stories.

The goal of your content needs to center on action.

IDENTIFY THE MAIN PAIN POINT

#

Pain always triumphs benefit. So always lead with the pain your audience is facing.

What pain point are you hitting at in the post? Knowing this will help you with writing the introduction and conclusion of your posts. It will also make it easy for your audience to identify with and relate to your post.

Post at least once a week or once every two weeks.

Grow your email list while your blog is still a work in progress. This is what I refer to as Minimum Viable Email Marketing (MVEM).

Your MVEM consists of the following:

• One opt-in incentive or lead magnet.
• One landing page for your main opt-in incentive or lead magnet.
• Opt-in forms on three top posts.
• One thank you page where you will direct new subscribers to click confirm that they do indeed want to subscribe to get your opt-in incentive.
• One top bar/exit intent pop-up/slide-in to capture traffic.
• One welcome email that covers the 3Cs

Credibility

#

Who are you? Why should they trust you or listen to you? What logos, features, special life incidents, beliefs, or viewpoints will build up your credibility?

Context

#

Why is what you’re talking about important now?

Continuity

#

How can you create an open loop that keeps them looking forward to your next email? The postscript or P.S. is the best place to tease your next email in your nurture series or nurture funnel.

Three emails in your nurture funnel:

1. One myth or mistake email.
   The easiest way to get someone to trust you is to break a widely held myth or share something that gives them an “aha” or light bulb moment.

What breaks your heart or makes you cringe in your industry/niche?

What do your ideal readers believe that they shouldn’t?

What’s the biggest excuse they make?

Identify the sacred cows and then break them.

2. One quick win/hack email

Answer a question that your ideal reader has or a question widely asked in your niche. Offer a quick hack; e.g., How to grow my email list, How to find my niche, How to set up WordPress, etc.

3. One email about your struggle.

The easiest way to grow your email list is to offer an opt-in incentive or lead magnet.

Examples:

• Swipe files
• Tool kits
• How-to guides
• Exclusive access to membership/Facebook groups
• Test/Quiz/Assessment
• Webinar (prerecorded or live)
• Cheat sheets
• Bite-sized email series
• Free assessment
• Free consult
• Coupons
• Loyalty program

Think of your blog purpose statement as well as the content categories you have decided on. What incentive addresses a pain point of your audience and is closely aligned with the purpose of your blog?

Opt-in incentive has to act as a primer for a related product or service that you have to offer.

Think about the problems that you want to solve for your audience.

What do you want to inspire, help, or educate them about?

In what categories and areas do you see yourself creating products or services?

Best opt-in incentives are quick to consume. They provide instant gratification and your audience should be able to immediately identify with the pain point that the incentive helps solve.

You do not need to create a massive guide to get subscribers.

PROMOTE YOUR OPT-IN INCENTIVE

If you’re going on a podcast or are guest posting, share a link to a landing page.

Always write descriptions for your opt-in incentives and share them where appropriate.

Construct an attractive description.

Write from the perspective of the reader in a conversational tone.

Have a call to action.

Use one of these starters:

• Have you ever been in a situation…?
• Imagine…
• Are you struggling with…?
• Ever wonder how…?
• Do you ask yourself…?
• Did you ever notice that…?

Insert starter and pain point.

In this

\[what’s your opt-in?\]

, I share

\[what’s in your freebie\]

.

With

\[state the name of your opt-in\]

, you’ll

\[state the benefits\]

. Get it here!

Insert LINK.

http://meerakothand.com/send-email-list/

PREPARE YOUR SITE TO CAPTURE TRAFFIC

#

Don’t be afraid of placing too many opt-in forms on your site. People are so used to seeing opt-in forms that they skim right past them.

If they’ve scrolled to the end of a post and enjoyed it and they don’t see an opt-in form there, most people are unlikely to take the trouble to scroll up to find one.

Add opt-in forms to your most popular posts and one top bar or exit intent pop-up to grab their attention.

HOW TO CRAFT YOUR OPT-IN FORMS AND LANDING PAGES

#

Determine what change your opt-in incentive gives your subscriber.

• Less organized to more organized.
• Anxious to calm and happy.
• Struggling to get traffic to plentiful page views and subscribers.

Then use the following formula on your opt-in form:

“YES! SEND ME \[NAME OF OPT-IN\] SO THAT BENEFIT].” OR “\[PROBLEM?\] Get my \[SOLUTION\] and \[RESULT\].

Then list down everything that your opt-in covers in bullet points.

Here are a few ways you can present your bullet points:

• Add intrigue by hinting at a secret or a myth
• Give a warning.
• Add an “even if” statement.
• Specify a branded technique.

Another way to capture traffic is via a landing page. And the conversion rate of a landing page is a lot higher than that of an opt-in form.

Formula for landing page: “

\[PROBLEM?\]

Get my

\[SOLUTION\]

and RESULT].”

WRITE YOUR WELCOME EMAIL + WELCOME EMAIL SERIES

Forty-eight hours after a subscriber opts-in is when they are most engaged with your brand.

Have a look at the open rates for your welcome email.

Opportunity to make a great first impression and start cultivating a relationship with your subscribers on the right note.

What your welcome email should address:

• Deliver your opt-in incentive.
• Share some social proof in the form of testimonials or links to places you’ve been featured.
• State why are you the best person to inspire, educate, or teach your subscriber about the topic and why the topic is important.
• Open a conversation loop. Ask them a specific question that will enable you to peek directly into what your subscriber needs.
• Series of 3–5 emails in a welcome email series on top of your single welcome email.

Each email builds off the other to help reinforce your brand and get them acquainted with your best content, what you have to offer, and why you’re the best person to help them.

You can set these emails in a sequence to go out on auto whenever a person signs up to your list.

Masterclass here: https://meera.email/gold

Home page

#

Recommend focusing on the first one-third of your screen.

Having an image or hero shot in that space with a statement that calls out your audience and states how you help them.

People need to land on your site and know within five seconds if your site’s for them.

Having a call to action or invitation to subscribe embedded within the header or right below the header as well social proof indicators.

Social proof indicators can be one of the following:

• Testimonials.
• Press mentions or “as seen in” logos.
• Customer stories
• Awards and accolades
• Numbers (satisfied customers, rankings, subscribers, followers, etc.)
• Reviews and ratings
• Have this header featured prominently in the top one-third of every page on your site.

Other elements

• Call to action

Before you craft your home page, think about all the people likely to visit your site. What problems are they trying to solve and what are the different needs these visitors will have?

What offers or incentives (paid or free) would you want to feature?

Home page can feature a prominent call to action.

Can also have additional buttons and links that are useful to your reader and present your body of work.

When in doubt, remember that your aim should be to get people onto your email list.

Rather than feature all your products and services, let the focus be on getting someone onto your email list.

From there you can carve out a pathway (i.e., sequence of emails) to get their eyeballs on your products and services.

Less is more when it comes to your site menu or navigation.

When your site’s new, you do not need to feature your blog categories.

An overloaded menu will clutter your site and cause confusion for your site visitors.

Suggested navigation menu

• Start here/About me
• Contact
• Work with me
• Shop
• Resources
• Link to main content channel (i.e., podcast, blog, YouTube channel)

Hero shot / Your first one-third

• Hook/Headline addressing their pain point and struggle
• How you can help them
• Why they should trust you
• An image of you aligned with your brand attributes

A fabulous about page

• Creates trust
• Establishes your credibility
• Builds rapport
• Injects your personality

Most stellar about pages have five or more of the seven elements below:

1. Use YOU and WE instead of I. You should make your reader or customer the focus of your about page. Write as if you’re talking to a friend and acknowledging his/her worries.

2. Tell them what you help with.

What is your website about? Who is it for and how does it help them?

The simple plug-and-play exercise below can help you be clear about who you are serving.

I help__________ (parents/small business owners/women/photographers) to___________ (explain the benefit they’ll get through your website).

I am a _______ (entrepreneur/writer/blogger/freelancer).

This blog/website is for________ (your target audience).

You may be afraid of alienating certain groups of people, but your blog or business is not for everyone.

And that’s how it should be.

You’d rather attract one hundred raving fans who get what your brand and message is about than one thousand people who lurk around and show no engagement.

Show them you understand their pain points

What’s troubling them?

What are their motivations or aspirations?

By doing this, you’re establishing trust, and you’re telling your reader that you understand them.

Examples:

Have you ever said

- I wish I could quit, but I need to pay the bills.

- I need more time for myself, but I have so much to do.

- I want a support group that doesn’t judge me.

Are you Dreading the thought of another meeting?

Dreaming of the weekend every single workday? Tired of the long hours with little appreciation?

Create connection with THE story. Your readers want to buy into YOUR story.

Maybe you’re a few steps ahead of your readers. Maybe you’re several steps ahead. They want to know that they can get there—to the place where you’re already at. You want them to think: If she can do it. I think I can.

You’re selling them your story and the possibility of a journey. The same works if you’re a business.

What meaning does your business or product convey? What story are they buying into with your product?

Dig into your why.

Find a core message that ties your products together and create a story around your struggle.

Give them a reason to listen to you.

The little white space—your mini wall of fame where you list your achievements and establish credibility.

Where has your work been featured?

How many companies have you worked with?

How many websites have you designed?

How many years of experience do you have in the industry?

Be upfront and position yourself as someone who is experiencing the same struggles and looking for a change. Let them know what to expect.

What kind of topics are you writing about?

Do you have a posting schedule?

When can they expect to hear from you?

Include ONE call to action.

What’s the purpose of your about page?

Is it to get them to look at your store?

If you’re a blogger, is it to get them to sign up for your updates or newsletter?

If you’re running a consulting business or if you’re a coach, is it to get them to set up an appointment with you?

THANK YOU PAGE

#

Subscribers are most engaged when they first sign up for your list.

Here are some elements you can include to make your thank you page work harder for you:

• A picture of you
• Clear instructions on what they should do next
• Your social media links
• A request to share your site or freebie
• Links to your best content
• Testimonials from your readers
• A personality (the most important thing!)

What goals are important to you?

• Adding credibility?
• Increasing your following on Instagram?
• Promoting your opt-in freebie or lead magnet?
• Add 2–3 elements at most on your thank you page

LAUNCH PLAN A

#

You launch with a landing page, an opt-in incentive, a thank you page, and a welcome email series/nurture sequence.

Use social media posts to build hype surrounding your launch and your opt-in incentive.

what you need to start with Plan A:

• One main traffic source
• One landing page
• One opt-in incentive
• A Welcome email
• At least three emails in a welcome email series
• A thank you page for subscribers
• A snippet/description of your opt-in incentive to
• Promote on your chosen traffic source

LAUNCH PLAN B

#

• An about me page.
• A contact me page using a free plug-in.
• Home page.
• Three posts from your Minimum Viable Content Plan.
• Your Minimum Viable Email Marketing Plan.

Done is better than perfect.

Spend the time creating posts or content for other sites via guest posting or podcasts so that your brand builds credibility and authority.

But how do you monetize your blog? What will make it a business?

Blanket statements like “A membership site is for everyone” or “There’s a course in everyone” are dangerous statements.

Why?

First, they don’t consider your zone of genius. Second, they don’t consider the stage of growth your business is in.

Play to your strengths and do more of what's working for you even if that may not seem like the fastest way of growing your business.

When you operate in your zone of genius, you attract your ideal customers. You serve them better and start to get known for the work you do.

Revenue streams

#

Your first product does not, and dare I say should not, be a premium course, especially if you’re new to marketing and selling, and if you’ve just started to grow your audience.

You can and should add a digital product. But start with a small digital product

Underestimated the time and resources that go into creating a modulated course.

A lower-priced item that would give people a smaller win. You’ll feel more confident when you get a small product out fast.

Your first goal should be to give your audience a taste of your paid content. Once they get a taste and they enjoy it, the chance of them coming back to buy more increases.

Your first milestone should be to hit that $1K

You will hit your $1K faster if you have an email list from Day 1 and you take efforts to nurture that list.

THE 2M+1 SYSTEM TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

#

Based on having two main sources of blog income and one supplementary source rather than just relying on one income stream.

Example:

• One tripwire
• One small product
• Affiliate marketing

Now my model looks like this:

• Self-publishing
• Membership site

Premium course

• Tripwires
• Affiliate marketing

As your business grows, you can diversify your income streams further.

The quickest way to monetize your blog is to offer a service. (If you love working with people one-on-one.)

Highly recommend creating a small product or tripwire.

A tripwire is a small-ticket item that you offer your subscriber as soon as they subscribe or early on in your email sequence.

The idea isn’t to profit from that product but to quickly turn a subscriber into a buyer.

Because people are more likely to open their wallets and purses for you a second time if they’ve already crossed that first sale hurdle.

CREATING A SMALL PRODUCT OR TRIPWIRE

#

Prepare for your first small digital product at the end of 3–6 months.

Two signs that you are ready to create a small product or tripwire:

1. You’re bringing in a consistent number of subscribers every day (no matter what this number is).
2. You’re getting engagement from your subscribers via your welcome email/series/nurture sequence (this is a sign that your audience are resonating with your content).

Here are different product types that are valuable and that people will pay for:

• Templates
• Printables
• Spreadsheets
• E-books
• Masterclasses
• Workbooks
• Minicourses (with 2–3 videos
• Live workshops
• Mock-ups
• Tools/System guides

Clues to what your first product should be:

Is there an opt-in incentive that’s converting well for you? If yes, create an accompanying product to that opt-in incentive.

Your first product has to sit right after the opt-in that you created. All email content that you’re creating should nudge the people who opted in toward that product or service.

Are you known for a particular topic or do people come to you asking questions about a particular topic?

Is there a certain category of posts that gets you the most amount of traffic?

Go back to the earlier question I asked: what do you want to be known for?

Do you want to be a part of the conversation in a particular space?

Before you create a single worksheet or slide deck for your product, do some validation.

You need to find out if there is a need for this product in the market or in your niche.

One question I always get is…

Should I run surveys and ask my audience what they want?

Does your audience really know what they want?

No, they don’t.

This is why I don’t recommend running surveys.

One of Henry Ford’s famous quotes was “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Instead of forcing your audience to discuss solutions that they don’t yet appreciate or fully recognize, get them to discuss problems or symptoms they have.

How then, can you test the viability of a product? How do you know if this is something people will buy?

Look at the market. A market consists of a group of products with similar characteristics.

Scan the market for the existence of other similar offers. This shows you that there’s a need and that people are looking for ways to solve this problem.

How searched for is the problem that your offer solves?

Tool I’m loving right now is Keywords Everywhere

Are there popular articles on BuzzSumo?

Are there existing courses on Udemy or courses created by other players in your niche?

A few things to look out for when you’re doing your market research:

Hook
Look for the hook that other product creators have used.

Your hook is the promise of the product. In many cases, the hook is a mixture of promise + timeline.

What exactly are they helping students achieve and how do they promise to help them achieve that?

Testimonials

What are students saying? You want to look for gaps in the market for what people want and have not received and how you can fill in with your product.

Benefits

Features

Bonuses

Results

Price point

If you can’t answer why someone should buy your product over someone else’s, then no one can.

Once you have certain ideas for the type of product you want to create and you’ve validated them, write targeted blog posts that show your expertise on the topic. You want your readers to associate you with the topic of the product.

Establish your authority and expertise in it so that readers trust your views and teachings with regard to that topic.

Don’t wait to monetize your site.

If you’re spending more time than you’re comfortable with, if you’re expending more energy than is worth what you’re getting back, that’s a revenue stream you should consider getting rid of.

Marketing isn’t just about selling or promotion. It’s also about attracting and capturing your ideal customers.

Marketing is made up of these four activities: Attract – Capture – Engage – Convert

Six parts:

• Identify your target audience.
• Attract them to your site.
• Capture your target audience.
• Nurture that target audience.
• Convert them to buyers.
• Turn them into brand advocates or repeat customers.

When there are gaps in any one of these six areas—your business will often experience feast and famine cycles.

Stranger They haven’t heard of you before at all. They probably clicked onto your site from seeing a pin image on Pinterest, a Facebook post that a friend of theirs shared, or a tweet on their Twitter feed.

Reader They have some form of brand recognition. They’ve heard of you before via a podcast or have seen your guest post on a site they frequent. A friend of theirs has been raving about you. They’ve clicked through to your site to read your content.

Subscriber They are new to your list. They visit your site likely from a link in your welcome email series. They may have read something intriguing in your email sequence and wanted to have a look at your blog, YouTube channel, or other content platforms.

Engaged subscriber

Heard of a brand crush? That’s what these people have on you. They adore your style. Most of them cannot wait to get their hands on your paid products if they haven’t already.

Customer & brand advocate

These are people who are attuned to your style. They’ve likely bought from you before—possibly more than once.

Your business needs to make an effort to:

1. Get more people on the front end.

This is how you continuously fill your sales pipeline with leads or potential customers. You do this by4having a system where you attract people to your site with your content.

You ensure your site is optimized, and you have relevant opt-in forms and landing pages especially at the “hot spots” your audience frequent.

2. Nurture new subscribers so that they become engaged subscribers and customers with your content. The further down people are, the better it is for your business.

Focus on what you need for your current stage of growth.

Will it make a direct impact on your business for your current stage of growth?

Will this move the needle for your blog + business?

Is there a particular skill you need to acquire to move forward?

Will you get back your ROI?

Is there a deal or special discount?

THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT WORRY ABOUT IN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS

#

• Creating a tag line
• Repurposing your content
• Getting a branded photoshoot
• Printing business cards (especially if you don’t have a local physical presence)
• Purchasing a designer logo (a simple font-based logo will do)
• Segmenting your email list
• Doing video
• Purchasing expensive tech and tools

THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO (in general)

#

• DO NOT ASK FOR COMMENTS OR FEEDBACK ON YOUR OPT-IN INCENTIVE OR LOGO OR PRODUCT IDEA IN RANDOM FACEBOOK GROUPS.

Instead: Mine for what your audience is looking for. What are they saying? What are their thoughts and pain points?

• DO NOT BRANCH OUT TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR

Instead: But be very clear on the goals you have for that platform. Why are you on a platform? What’s your main goal? Ad revenue? Subscribers? Reach Brand awareness?

HOW TO 10× YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

#

BATCH

When you mix too many different types of tasks per day, you’re not productive.

I talk about this more in The Profitable Content System.

PICK A FEW GOALS

Pick 1–3 goals a quarter depending on how ambitious you are.

Here are some blogging goals:

• Build authority and credibility.
• Connect with influencers.
• Nurture and build trust with subscribers.
• Increase page views.

Here’s what you can influence:

• Create a specific lead magnet aligned with each post you write.
• Pitch one site a week to guest post on.
• Focus on building one social media platform where your target audience hangs out.

Run a paid ad campaign

By focusing on actions you can directly influence, you won’t be tied down to metrics or statistics. You will also work toward tasks that you can directly impact.

ENGAGE IN SPRINTS

Concentrate on only one activity over a short period of time.

Things that benefit from the sprint technique:

• Creating a lead magnet or e-book
• Working on a short email course
• Crafting your launch marketing emails
• Writing a guest post and submitting a pitch

AVOID DECISION FATIGUE

You only have a couple of hours and you don’t want to spend that time debating what to do.

There are only two types of tasks you can do:

• Tasks that grow your blog
• Tasks that maintain your blog

Blog growth tasks are:

• Creating content
• Research for product creation
• Creating products
• Writing blog posts
• Engaging with your audience
• Networking with influencers
• Marketing

Maintenance tasks are:

• Website and theme updates
• Website and visual design
• Social media scheduling
• Bookkeeping
• Brand audit

You do one task from one category each day.

CREATE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Some ideas to plan your content

• Have themed Months. Take your readers through a topic for the entire month.

Lock in launch dates, affiliate sales, events, and holidays that are relevant to your niche. Work your content around these crucial dates.

I designed and use the CREATE Blog & Editorial Planner. You can have a look at it here: https://www.createplanner.com/editorial-planner/.

When you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself:

What do you need to do right now to make progress?

Consume content that’s aligned only with this.

Understand the type of selling you’re comfortable with and feel good about. What type of selling will you not engage in? What line won’t/ you cross no matter what?

Once you’re aware of this, you won’t have to second-guess yourself every time you get a nasty email.

Any product you create needs a few iterations before you get the messaging correct. So don't shelve anything without giving it a chance to work for you.

Foundation vs. speed. You need the right balance.

I define a solid foundation as:

a. Having systems in place to capture traffic and turn them into subscribers. b. Having a system to nurture subscribers and convert them to buyers. c. Having an idea of what the different content platforms (email/blogging/vlogging) mean for you and how they are distinct from one another.

Authority is your audience knowing they can trust you.

If you read the same ole blogs that your target audience are reading, how will you make new connections to the content out there? How will you enrich your audience with a different perspective?

Find new sources to read. Find those that are out of your target audience’s content circle.

Then form new content connections that you can share with your audience. Break existing beliefs and myths (or sacred cows as they call it) and bring them to light. That’s the quickest way to build authority and trust.

Always reflect back on whether your vision still serves you. Is the vision you have what you want or what people say it should be?

Is your business at odds with your vision for your life?