328 How to Choose a Profitable Blogging Niche

Are you struggling to choose the perfect blog topic?

Do you already have a topic but feel like you're missing a crucial element?

In this post, I will share how to choose and refine the perfect (profitable) blog topic.

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Top Blogging Niche Mistakes

One of the things that holds so many potential bloggers back is selecting a niche.

If you think about it, the niche you select can set you up for success, or failures.

But time after time, I see bloggers making a few big mistakes when it comes to choosing a niche:

1. They choose passion without profit

I'm all for choosing a topic you're passionate about. It's a big part of what I preach.

Choosing a Niche

But if you're passionate about a topic that people aren't willing to spend money on, then you won't make money.

That's not good for business.

2. Choosing profit without passion

Then there are those who go into a niche because they know there's a lot of money in that niche. They start creating content only to get burnt out soon after starting.

That's often because they aren't passionate about the topic. It's like having a job you hate only because it pays the bills.

Recipe for disaster.

3. Choosing niches that are too broad

Then there are those who go after a huge topic like politics or Christianity.

Avoid Broad niches

While those are hot topics, they're so broad that it's almost impossible to stand out.

Without the ability to stand out, you are setting yourself up for failure. Ain't nobody got time for that.

4. Choosing niches that are too narrow

Lastly, there are those who understand that they need to narrow down their topic. The only problem is that they end up going too narrow and their potential audience size is too small.

Yes, their target audience may be willing to spend money. But there aren't enough buyers to make it sustainable.

The Perfect Niche

Finally, there are those who stumble onto (or choose wisely) the perfect niche.

They are able to build a huge audience of raving fans and are making a good amount of money. On top of that, they LOVE what they do.

Here's how I would describe that perfect niche:

• You are passionate about the topic.
• There are a lot of other people who are passionate about that topic as well.
• It's not too competitive.
• There is a big problem that needs solving (and people are willing to pay for solutions).

This is the recipe for success. But the question still remains – how do you find that perfect niche for YOU?

I've got you covered. Keep reading.

Step 1: Uncover your passions

This is where it all begins. If you're going to spend a lot of energy building a blogging business, choose a passion.

“But Leslie, I don't know what I'm passionate about”.

Uncover your passion

No problem. Here are a few questions to help get you going:

What do you enjoy doing?

Pull out a pen and paper and start brainstorming some things you enjoy doing.

This is an important starting point. It works particularly well if you're able to go to a quiet place (preferably out in nature).

Start brainstorming the things that energize you.

What would you do for free?

If you had an endless supply of money, what would you continue doing? Would you stay at your current job? Would you go back to that thing you used to love doing?

Write down your answers.

What do people often ask you for help with?

If you're alive, chances are you get asked for help with specific things. Are you a good writer? Do you help people in biology?

In high school, did you take students to the library and do study groups helping in biology? (my answer to this question is yes, lol).

By now, you should be noticing that certain answers are starting to stand out. Here's what I want you to do – choose your top three.

Don't think too much about it. Choose three.

When you overthink things, you often end up going away from the true answer – the one that feels natural.

Now that you have your top three, you have a good starting point. Now let's do some real work.

Step 2: Do your research

Do some research

We know what your top 3 passions are, and now it's time to dig a little deeper.

While your passion is important, it can't build a business on its own. That's where the research comes into play.

Here are a few things you can do to help you with your research.

Do some basic keyword research

Keyword research can be a powerful thing for helping you choose the perfect niche.

And while there are all kinds of advanced tools out there, I like to keep things simple.

Use the Google Keyword Planner to see how many monthly searches your top passions get.

Google Keyword planner

Is it something people are searching for? I always hesitate to give numbers because these numbers are so subjective. Also, the recommended numbers change over time.

What I like to say is you probably shouldn't be choosing a niche with fewer than 1,000 monthly searches. And of course, higher is better.

The Google Keyword planner also gives you an idea of how stiff the competition is. Also, it tells you how much people are spending on ads for those keywords.

My recommendation is to put your three passions (and any reasonable variations) in the tool and dig deeper.

If you want to dig even deeper into keyword research, I've heard good things about Long Tail Pro.

Analyze your competition

You've already started getting some hints about your competition. But now it's time to do some more detailed analysis.

Analyze Your Competition

Go to Google and search for “Your niche + Blog”. This will show you some of the top blogs out there.

Take the top 10 blogs you find and ask yourself the following questions:

• What are they doing well?
• What are they doing poorly?
• What can you offer that's slightly different (and even better)?

Your answers to these questions will help give you insight as you narrow down your niche.

 Search the “Everything Store”

Yes, I'm talking about Amazon. One of the things I like doing is searching the Kindle store on Amazon for topics.

Search the “Everything Store”

This gives you an idea of whether people are willing to spend money for digital info in that niche.

If you find lots of Kindle books in there with decent numbers or reviews, this is a good sign.

If you don't, don't worry. This is all information you can use as you choose your niche (we'll get there).

Also, check to see what kinds of physical products you can find for sale targeting people in your niche.

This will give you an idea of options for monetization in the future.

Check out the social activity

Check out the social activities of your competitors

Our next stop – the king of the social media jungle – Facebook.

Go to Facebook and search for pages and groups in your niche.

If you're able to find pages, check them out. Are there VERY popular pages? Are there MANY pages?

And what about groups? Join a few and browse around. How active are those groups?

Are people engaging in lots of discussions on social media?

Doing this kind of research will give you an idea of how well your niches do on social media. This can help with getting your content out to the masses.

Your Goal

At this point, you may be thinking – “Leslie, you didn't give a bunch of specific numbers”.

No, I didn't – and even when I did give a number, I did so hesitantly.

I have a confession to make – I hate doing deep keyword research and complicated analyses.

But here's the good news – you don't need all that to build a successful blog.

Here's the goal with this research. You want to be able to compare your top three to see how they stack up against each other.

In doing this research, you may find that one stands out among the rest. If so, choose that one for the next step.

If you find that they are all pretty good, then you get to play “eenie meenie minie mo”.

Step 3: CHOOSE ONE (and Drill down)

Choose only one topic

Yes, I said one. Go ahead and make a choice, because we have some more work to do.

At this stage, you will most likely have a general topic. When I did this kind of activity, I ended up choosing topics like Biology and Blogging.

For you, it may be sewing, interior decorating or even woodworking.

While those are great topics to talk about, they aren't narrow enough for a blog these days.

You want to specialize in a specific topic to help a specific person reach a specific result.

Here are some questions to help you narrow down:

What specific aspect?

Let's say your topic is biology. The problem is that biology is such a diverse topic.

There's cell biology, physiology, molecular biology, high school biology, and much more.

What specific aspect of biology are you going to specialize in? When I started my biology blog, I chose human physiology.

Choose a specific aspect of your niche to tackle and you're on your way.

Who are you targeting?

Ask these questions as you decide what to choose

This is one of the best ways to narrow down your niche – choose a very specific demographic.

Instead of teaching physiology to anyone, I chose upper-level college biology students.

And you know what? When they found my content, they knew it was for them.

What specific problem are you helping them solve?

Let me tell you a secret. Well, it's not really a secret. Here goes . . .

People will spend money to solve problems.

There it is – the “secret” to your business success.

Identify a problem you are going to help your target audience solve. The data you got in your research should help here.

Especially when you checked out your competition and evaluated Facebook groups.

For me it was simple – My target audience couldn't understand their professors. They teach all kinds of complicated topics but the students don't understand them.

As a result, they struggle to pass their physiology class. Leslie to the rescue.

What result will you help them achieve?

If you help them solve the problem you're focused on, what will the result be?

This is something to get clear on because it will help you in everything you do.

In my case, I helped those students pass their physiology class. Even better, I help D students get A's.

What will that be for your blog?

Your summary statement

Your Summary Statement

When it's all said and done you'll be able to make the following statement:

My niche is ___________. I help ___________ do/achieve ____________ so that they can ______________.

This may look something like this:

My niche is biology/physiology. I help upper-level college biology students understand complicated topics in physiology so that they can get an A in their human physiology class.

What's your summary statement? Share it in the comments below.

Resources Mentioned

• Keyword research Tools:
  • Google Keyword Planner
  • Long Tail Pro

Infographic

Infographic: How to Choose a Profitable Blogging Niche

The post 328 How to Choose a Profitable Blogging Niche appeared first on Become A Blogger by Leslie Samuel.

source https://www.becomeablogger.com/26001/choose-a-profitable-blogging-niche/

327 How to Grow a Successful Blog with Raving Fans – with Jamerrill Stewart

Do you want to build a loyal audience of raving fans around your blog?

Well, then you’re in the right place.

Jamerrill Stewart shows exactly how she was able to do this using her blog and YouTube channel.

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Who is Jamerrill Stewart?

Jamerrill Stewart is the creator of Large Family Table – where mega motherhood and real life meet.

As a mom of 8, she has full days of homeschooling, toddler chasing, and overworking her slow cooker until it begs for mercy.

Jamerill Stewart, owner of largefamilytable.com

She doesn’t claim to have all the mega motherhood answers figured out.

But she does share her journey to inspire other mothers who are on similar journeys.

What does she share?

• Tips on homeschooling
• Her large family life
• Other tips and tricks on practical strategies for feeding a “herd” (of kids, that is).
• Much more…

Jamerrill’s Story

Jamerrill started a blog back in 2011. It was a simple hobby blog where she shared pics of family travel with her family members.

Jamerill with some of her kids.

It was more of a creative outlet than anything else.

At that time, she also started curating content for a homeschool Facebook page.

During that process, she found herself reading a bunch of other homeschool blogs.

That's when a thought hit her – I could do this!

She knew she wanted to write a book on the topic. But to sell this book, she needed to have an audience.

So she started a blog called Holy Spirit-lead Homeschooling.

By the summer of that year, she had 10K people who liked her page and her blog got over 3K page views/day.

How did she do it?

She understood her audience. 

She was homeschooling her kids, so had a good idea of what homeschooling mothers dealt with.

Understand your audience and create lots of content with them in mind.

As a result, she focused on providing encouragement for those mothers.

She published LOTS of great content.

To keep providing value to her audience, she published a few times per week.

While her schedule wasn't consistent, she showed up often.

She leverage guest posting.

She knew that posting on other homeschooling sites could get her more traffic, so that's what she did.

Jamerrill started contributing to A LOT of homeschooling sites. And she leveraged those post by linking back to relevant resources on her blog.

She focused on LEARNING.

Focus on learning

Because she wanted to grow her audience, she consumed content about blogging.

Using sites like Amy Lynn Andrews and Problogger, she learned as much as she could.

And then she followed that up with taking action.

She worked HARD!

Work hard

It's the thing so many people don't like to hear. Blogging takes work.

And even though Jamerrill had a busy homeschooling life, she worked a lot (and HARD).

At some points on her journey, she spent as many as 50 hours on her blog.

How? She worked in the morning before the kids got up, during nap times and after they went to bed.

Turning the Blog into a Business

At the end of 2011, she attended a blogging conference called Relevant.

She was also able to attend a mini-weekend mastermind retreat. There was one mom who made $10K selling a planner she created.

For the first time, she was seeing other bloggers actually making money.

She left those events inspired and determined to turn her blog into an actual business.

Turn blog into a business

By that time, she was already spending 15 – 20 hours/week on her blog.

She came back home and prayed that God would show her how to make $3-400/month on her blog.

She woke up the next morning with a business plan.

She had decided start a new site to refer people to Kindle books about homeschooling.

She called that site Kindle Homeschool (Now Free Homeschool Deals).

By recommending Kindle books as an affiliate, she started making money.

In her first month, Jamerrill made as much as her house payment.

By her 3rd month, the site's income equaled her husband's salary.

By month 6, it brought in twice as much as her husband's salary.

How? A combination of affiliate deals, recommending freebies and Adsense.

Free Homeschool Deals, another one of Jamerill's websites.

It took a lot of work, but by June 2013, her husband came home full-time.

Large Family Table

By the summer of 2015, she started to slow down (but not by choice).

As a result of working so hard at a desk for so long, she suffered a neck injury.

Jamerrill went from working 50 hours to 25 – 30 hours/week.

There was a lot to do, but Jamerrill hired help and trained people to work on the site.

By that time, she felt like she was missing her voice and knew she had to do something about it.

That's when Large Family Table was born. Today, this is her main focus.

Large Family Table website

Growing a Loyal Audience of Raving Fans

I brought Jamerrill on the podcast because of how much her audience loves her.

As bloggers, we want our readers to come to know, like and trust us. When that happens, we are able to help them more and are able to build solid businesses.

Her audience started with her on her first adventure into homeschool blogging. They then moved with her to Free Homeschool Deals and continued on with Large Family Table.

They consume her content like it's going out of style and are hyper-engaged.

Here are Jamerrill's simple tips for growing a loyal audience of Raving Fans…

Get real with your audience.

Get real with your audience

There are so many bloggers out there who try to make themselves look perfect.

In a world of contrived perfection, Jamerrill prefers to get real.

When you do well, be real.

When you make mistakes, be real.

One mistake Jamerrill made was naming her site Kindle Homeschool. Now obviously Amazon owns the Kindle trademark and what she did was illegal.

Did she know it at the time? No. It was a mistake. Did she hide that from her audience?

No, she did the opposite. She wrote an article and titled it “I have egg on my face, but God gets the glory”.

Share your journey.

People don't connect with brands, people connect with people.

Your goal isn't only to get people to buy. It's to get them to connect with you. That's how they become loyal fans.

How will they connect with you? By seeing themselves in you.

How do they see themselves in you? When you share your journey.

Chances are your audience experience similar things to you. Chances are, they have similar struggles.

Share those stories. Share those struggles.

One of the first vlogs she ever did was “Mommy, who broke your neck“.

“Mommy Who Broke Your Neck?” – one of Jamerill's blog showcasing one of her jouneys.

Was it all pretty? Nope. But it was her journey.

Expect a slow and steady long game.

Expect a slow and steady long game.

Loyalty doesn't come overnight. It's the result of providing value and connecting with your audience over a long period of time.

But if you're real with your audience, share your journey and provide value to the right niche, you'll win.

That's contrary to what a lot of internet marketers teach, but it's the core of what I stand for.

And I'm glad that Jamerrill was able to come on the show and share a little bit of her journey with you.

The Blogger Dream Team

Jamerrill is a part of the Blogger Dream Team. This is a mastermind group that I launched recently for top-performing bloggers.

We do have slots available right now and I'd love to have a conversation with you to see if we're a right fit.

If you are a top-performing blogger that would like to take things to the next level, I want to invite you to apply here.

Resources Mentioned

• Large Family Table– Jamerill's blog
• Jamerrill's Large Family Table – Jamerill's YouTube channel
• Free Homeschool Deals – Jamerill's deals website
• Resources from which Jamerill learned from:
  • Amy Lynn Andrews
  • Problogger

The post 327 How to Grow a Successful Blog with Raving Fans – with Jamerrill Stewart appeared first on Become A Blogger by Leslie Samuel.

source https://www.becomeablogger.com/26000/grow-successful-blog-with-raving-fans/

How to Start a Coaching Business and Look Like a Pro from the Get-Go

So. You want to start coaching.

Why wouldn’t you?!?

You get one-on-one insights from your audience that you can use to make your blog more interesting, and you can make some money without creating an entire e-course from scratch.

Offering coaching on your blog is a smart business decision.

But how do you do it?

Like, how do you collect payment? Or get people to schedule a call time without sending 15 back-and-forth “when is good for you” emails?

And when you do get people on the phone, what do you say?

Today we’re going to walk you through all of that:

• How to create a coaching offer people can’t say no to
• How to set up your coaching biz so people can easily buy and schedule sessions
• How to structure a one-hour coaching call and make sure it’s valuable for your clients

This is where the rubber meets the road—and if you stick to it, where your blog meets everything you’ve ever wanted it to have: dedicated readers, profit, and influencer status.

Sounds good, right?

So without further ado, here’s how to start your own coaching business:

#1. Create Your Mouthwatering Coaching Offer

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The best way to get readers to want to hire you as a coach is to give them something to look forward to as a result of your session. Yes, “coaching” means they’ll get to talk to you and pick your brain, but most readers will want a little more than that.

So to create your first offer, start with the end result someone will get after coaching with you.

Are you a business coach who will help them decide on their pricing? Are you a web designer who can give them ten ways to optimize their website conversions?

Decide on an outcome that will be for the benefit of the reader, and build an offer around that.

Here’s an outline to help you:

• Identify what you know is a big pain point for your audience that you can solve quickly.
• Outline what parts of it you’d easily be able to tackle in a 30-minute or one-hour phone call.
• Identify the deliverables the customer gets and can use at the end of the call.
• If you feel creative, come up with a fun name for the package. (Just don’t get too cutesy to the point of confusion.)

For example, one of my “coaching” offers is called an “On-Site Copy Teardown.” During the one-hour call, I walk people through their website copy and review any on-site data with them. We find ways to improve their copy so they can get more conversions instantly, without a page redesign.

#2. Set Up Your Coaching Biz and Make it Run Smoothly

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**rubs palms together vigorously**

All right, let’s get you set up to advertise, book, get paid for, and deliver your first coaching sessions. We’ll cover:

1. How to set up your sales processing system so people can purchase your coaching
2. How to set up a booking system so people can make appointments on your calendar
3. How to create a sales page so readers can find your offer

It’s a lot of little of steps, but it’s something you can tackle in one afternoon.

Note: I’ll be showing you a free way to get everything set up, but you can easily use a service like SimplyBook.me which is relatively inexpensive and makes setup and booking even more streamlined. Also, I’m using WordPress, but most of this can still be applied if you use another content management system.

1. Set Up a Way to Get Paid

When someone buys your coaching offer, two things need to happen:

1. The buyer needs to receive an email or PDF with a link to your calendar, so they can schedule a session.
2. You need to receive the payment in your bank account.

For the first, you need to have an e-commerce platform. And for the second, you need a payment processor like Paypal or Stripe.

For the e-commerce platform, we’ll use Payhip.

I use Payhip to deliver some miniature e-courses that I sell because it specializes in digital downloads, but I’ve also used it as a free way to sell one-hour Copy Teardowns and 30-minute Copy Review Sessions to my students.

First, go to Payhip and sign up for a free account:

After you log in, click on “Account” in the upper left-hand corner, then click on “Settings.”

Click on the “Payment Details” tab, and you’ll see a prompt to connect either your PayPal account or your Stripe account.

You can use PayPal (or PayPal and Stripe) if you like, but I prefer Stripe because it makes credit card payments much easier simply because that’s the only option. People don’t get confused with the additional options of paying with a PayPal balance or hooking up their bank accounts to send an e-check, like PayPal sometimes presents.

Stripe’s got a super-easy-to-follow setup process. If you don’t have an account yet, go to Stripe’s home page and click the “Create Account” button, and you’ll be ready to go before you know it.

2. Set Up a Way for Clients to Book Sessions

Now that you’ve got a way to collect payment from people, you need a way for them to book coaching sessions with you.

For which Calendly is perfect.

First, go to Calendly’s home page and click on one of the “Sign Up” buttons to register for a free account.

After signing in, choose Event Types in the main menu bar. Choose whether you want to open 15-minute sessions, 30-minute sessions, or 60-minute sessions by clicking the “on” switch in the appropriate event type box.

Then, click in the center of the event type box to edit the options for it.

First, select which times you are available for coaching sessions.

Then, in “Invitee Questions,” add any questions you want people to answer before the call. (You might also ask for their Skype username here, or their phone-number if you plan to call by phone.)

And finally, integrate with Google Calendar to add the booking to your calendar and to have an invitation sent to both of you.

3. Create and Upload Your Coaching “Product”

Now we’re going to create the “product” that you’ll sell.

And yes, you’ll technically be selling a coaching session rather than a digital download, but in order to use Payhip, you will need a digital “deliverable” that people will download instantly after purchase.

My download is nothing more than a PDF instruction sheet on how to schedule the coaching session they’ve just paid for, and instructions on what to do in the booking process.

Here’s what it looks like:

Very simple and straightforward, but it gets the job done.

The important part, though, is to make sure this document includes a link to your Calendly page so that people can book sessions with you. After that, include any other instructions you feel are necessary based on the coaching offer you’ve set up.

Then, go to your main Payhip dashboard, and click on the “Add new product” button:

Upload your PDF, give it a title, and set your price.

PayHip will also ask you for a cover image. If you have a blog logo, you could simply use that. Otherwise, Canva lets you create simple but good-looking graphics that are more specific to your offer.

Then you’ll need to add a product description. Most people who get to this page will come from your website or email list and already know what they’re buying. But this is a great place to reiterate the benefits of what you’re offering and what’s involved in your offer.

After that, all you have to do is select a relevant category and click “Add Product.”

And you’re done! You offer is officially for sale!

4. Publish Your Sales Page So People Can Find Your Offer

Phew. Almost there.

All you need now is a sales page so people can actually find your offer and buy a session with you.

Ideally, you want to create a distraction-free page for this. (Meaning no menu, no sidebar, and no buttons that lead to anything other than your coaching offer.) This gives page visitors two options: buy or leave.

Fortunately, many WordPress themes come with a distraction-free landing page template. (You’ll have to check and make sure, especially if you’re using a free theme.)

Go to your WordPress dashboard, find Pages in your left-hand menu, and click on Add New.

On the right-hand side of your content editor, look for a widget called Post Attributes and see if it offers a landing page template.

Note: If you don’t see this option, it might mean that your theme doesn’t offer a landing page template, or it might mean that it has a different method for creating landing pages.

Google [name of your theme] “landing page” to find out. But if you discover your theme doesn’t have a landing page option, don’t worry.

You can try an online app like Leadpages or a plugin like Thrive Architect to help you build and publish the landing page. (Yes, they cost money, but they also have pre-built templates that have been tested for high conversion rates.)

Now that you’ve set up your page as a landing page, give it a name, adjust the URL if needed, and add your sales copy.

And once the sales copy is written, of course, you need to add the buy button.

To get the code for this, go back to your Payhip dashboard and click on the Share/Embed button that appears next to your product listing:

A window will pop up, and you’ll click on the “Embed Button” tab in that window.

You’ll see the embed code right away, but before you copy it, click on the “More Options” text below the embed code.

This drops down an entire menu of settings where you can adjust the button text, the size, and the display options until it all looks the way you want it to.

After you’ve adjusted the button’s looks to your specifications, copy the code and go back to WordPress.

Click the Text tab in the upper right-hand corner of your content editor, and paste the button code where you want it to appear on your page:

Now, publish the page and add it to your main menu.

First, click “Publish” on the right-hand side of the page editor.

Then go to “Appearance” in the left-hand menu, and click on “Menus.”

Then add a check in the box next to your new page, and click on “Add to Menu.”

And that’s it!

You’ve now got a coaching offer for sale. (Congratulations!)

Hint: Rather than stopping at putting the page in your website menu, drive traffic to your offer in other ways, too. Your website sidebar, social media profiles, mentioning it in your blog posts, and sending information to your email list about your offer are all great ways to get attention to it.)

#3. Run Your First Coaching Calls Like a Seasoned Pro

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With figuring out your offer and adding it to your website, you’ve already done most of the work.

But then you get the first booking for your first ever coaching call . . . and if you’re like most bloggers who like blogging because it means you can sit behind a screen and not be in the public eye 24/7, you start to get a little nervous. Maybe even sweat a bit.

And allll these insecurities start coming up:

• How can I coach people when I’m not perfect at this myself?
• What if they hate what I have to say?
• What if no one follows my advice and they shame me on the Internet?
• What happens if I end up on a call with someone for two hours instead of one? Should I send them an invoice for double the price or just leave it be?
• What if I don’t have enough material to fill the hour they paid for?

Which is why it’s important to remember that you do have something special to offer. If you’re passionate enough to start a blog and write regularly on a topic, chances are you know more than at least 80% of people about that topic.

It’s also important to remember that when people pay for something, it means they’re putting their skin in the game and will be invested in your advice. They’re not expecting you to be perfect—all they need is your advice to get them to the next step.

And while some people will want to just talk and talk and talk about their problems, you’re the coach here, so you’ll need to rein in the conversation and keep it focused on the outcomes you want to deliver within that one-hour conversation.

With time, you’ll become more practiced and discover what works best for you as you do more coaching sessions. But to start out, here’s a great timeline to guide the conversation that keeps everything neatly inside of one hour, and makes sure your client feels heard.

Use This Coaching Call Timeline to Schedule Your Talking Points

Talking Point and Time Estimate	Time Elapsed
3-5 minutes: Exchange hellos and small talk, and ask client to talk about their pain point.	5 minutes
5-7 minutes: Client talks about their pain point and you ask clarifying questions to make sure you’re on the same page.	10-15 minutes
5 minutes: Pick out three major areas to talk about and run them by client to see if they’re on board. You’ll allocate 15 minutes to each point, and can move on to more at the end if you have time left over. This serves as your 45-minute warning.	15 minutes
15 minutes: Talk about and give advice on Point 1. Make sure it’s conversational and that you’re asking the client questions like, “Does that make sense?” and “Does this seem doable?” to keep them engaged.	30 minutes
Give 30-minute warning and transition to Point 2.	30 minutes
15 minutes: Talk about and give advice on Point 2. Make sure it’s conversational and that you’re asking the client questions like, “Does that make sense?” and “Does this seem doable?” to keep them engaged.	45 minutes
Give 45-minute warning and transition to Point 3	45 minutes
10-12 minutes: Talk about Point 3. (It’s usually the least crucial of all three points.) Again, keep things conversational.	55 minutes
Give a 3-5 minute warning and ask if they have other questions you can answer.	55 minutes
5 minutes: Quickly answer questions or, if the client doesn’t have any questions, give a recap of the points you went over and talk about how you’ll follow up after the call.	60 minutes

Honestly, I know 15 minutes might sound like a lot of time to talk about one point, but it’ll go surprisingly quickly. You’ve got a lot of knowledge in your head about your particular topic area, and 99% of the time, clients who pay to get on the phone with you will eat it up and ask all sorts of questions.

If you find yourself in the position of a client having a million more questions and you’re at the 58-minute mark, try not to worry too much. Politely tell them you’ve only got time for one more question, that you’ll follow up with a list of notes on what you’ve gone over, and that if they feel like jumping on another 30-minute or 60-minute call in the next week or so, they can.

Using the reason of having another call lined up after this client is a great exit, even if you don’t actually have one. And honestly, you’ll find most people will have 100% respect for the boundaries you set.

#4. Give Your Clients That Little Bit of Extra After the Call

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After the call, as I’ve hinted above, you’ll want to do a brief follow-up with the client as a way to officially close things out and give them the information covered on the call as a point of reference.

Most people will take their own notes, but the follow-up email is always a nice touch and increases their feelings of loyalty toward you as someone who has their best interests at heart.

But in addition to the customer support side of after-call follow-up, you’ll want to take the opportunity to jot down what you learned during the call for your own purposes.

It doesn’t have to take more than 5-10 minutes, but writing down the following things will go a long way toward making the most of these calls for a better blog and blog-based business:

• Things that surprised you about this client’s particular situation
• Patterns you’re starting to see in your coaching clients
• Things you weren’t aware people in your target audience struggled with
• Any new blog post ideas that came to you as a result of the conversation

Equipped with this information, you’ll be able to make your blog more interesting and engaging for people in your target audience, and to validate the ideas you have for products that you hope to make money on in the long run.

You’re Ready! Now Get Yourself Some Coaching Clients

Coaching is the perfect way to connect with your audience and see what makes them tick.

I’ve seen it in my own business: Since I started coaching, I’ve become more relevant to my audience and I’ve strengthened my business at least ten-fold.

I can write content that I know is interesting to them, I know what they’re struggling with, and I know what kind of products to put together so I can generate income from my blog.

And while none of this will happen overnight, you’ll see results from your blog much faster if you coach people in your audience early … even if you only get a few clients here and there.

So create your offer, set up your coaching business, and make your first coaching calls.

It’s never too early to start.

About the Author: Chelsea Baldwin is the founder of Copy Power, where she teaches copywriting and helps entrepreneurs make the kind of “bang-bang” impression that gets remembered (even days after people leave your site). Use her free 3-part email course to learn how to write astonishingly memorable copy for yourself, even if you’re not a writer.

source https://smartblogger.com/how-to-start-a-coaching-business/

326 Your Questions: Giving too Much Away and Creating Review Blogs

In today’s episode, I switch things up a little.

I answer two questions that were left on my voicemail hotline. If you’d like your question to be answered in a future episode, call (888) 835 – 2414.

Listen to This Episode

Question 1: How do you start and grow a review blog? – Marco

More than just reviewing a blog, provide value and high-quality education to your audience.

This is a great question. A lot of people are interested in creating review blogs because it’s easier to see how these blogs can be monetized – affiliate links.

If you review a product and someone clicks your affiliate link to buy, you earn a commission. But most people approach this the wrong way.

Instead of trying to be a blog that focuses on providing reviews to make money, be one that focuses on providing value to your target audience.

In other words, the principles are very similar to starting and growing any blog that’s focused on educating others.

It starts by having a clear picture of who your target audience is. Ask yourself:

• Who he/she?
• What are his/her goals?
• What is he/she struggling with?

Once you know those things, your goal is to create the perfect review blog for that person.

To do that, it has to be more than a review blog. It needs to provide value and high-quality education.

The best example I’ve found: The Points Guy (more than a review blog).

The Points Guy is more than a review blog. It aims to educate their readers, too.

Here’s what they do (and what I would recommend for you to emulate):

They understand who their audience is – people who are looking for smart ways to travel and maximize any trip while saving money and maximizing their experience.

To cater to that audience they publish:

• Hands-on travel advice
• Creative ways to book flights
• Details about the latest changes to all major airlines, hotels and credit cards

And of course, a MAJOR feature of the blog is that they have all kinds of reviews of hotels, flights and credit cards.

Whenever I want to find out something related to travel, I go there.

I recently signed up for the American Express Platinum Card after reading a bunch of credit card reviews on their site.

Now my entire travel experience has been transformed because I was well-informed before signing up.

The question is – how can you provide as much value as is humanly possible for the person who is looking for the kinds of reviews you want to write?

Here are a few more practical tips:

Start by reviewing what you already own.

One of the things that attracts people to the idea of having a review blog is the ability to get free stuff to review.

Well, that comes as your reputation grows. To grow that reputation, start by reviewing the things you already own.

Do your research.

Do your research

Analyse what other reviewers in your industry are doing. What’s working for them? What are they missing?

Know the products you are reviewing. Research the features and benefits. Become an expert on that product.

Don’t cut corners.

The best reviews are thorough. When you are finished with the review, ask yourself this question – Is this the best review I can make.

The better your review, the more trust you’ll earn. Go all out.

This will also help in the future when you start reaching out to brands for free products.

Don’t be a reviewer. Be an educator.

Your job isn’t to review the product to get a sale. Your job is to educate your audience so that they can make the best decisions for THEM.

When you do that, you will earn their trust. When you earn their trust, you will be more likely to earn the sale.

Connect with the product creator.

Connect with the product creator

One thing companies love seeing is awesome reviews of the products they create. If you do a great job at the things above, you should be proud to share it with them.

Also they will be excited to see what you’ve done. These relationships go a long way to help you grow as a blogger.

I’ve had some of the best opportunities as a result of my reviews.

Connect with similar companies.

Once you have a portfolio of great reviews under your belt, reach out to other companies. Explain what you do and show them examples of your work.

Let them know that you would love to work with them to create high-quality training/reviews about their products.

You never know – you just might get stuff for free.

Question 2: How much value can I give away without giving away too much? If I give all my value, I have nothing else to sell. – Chris Morgan

This is a very common question. In fact, it’s one that I’ve even asked.

It makes sense on the surface – If you give everything away, you won’t have anything to sell. However, I look at it differently.

As a blogger, my goal is to provide value to my audience. The more value I provide, the easier it is for them to get to know, like and trust me.

Give as much as you can

Instead of asking how much I should hold back, I focus on giving as much as I can.

I know what you’re thinking – then you won’t have anything to sell.

Wrong.

People will always pay for what’s valuable to them if it’s presented in the right way as a solution to their problem.

Here’s an example . . .

When I build my biology blog (which I sold last year), I gave everything away. I created videos teaching biology, without holding back.

But I also knew I wanted to make money.

So I took the same content I gave away for free, repackaged it as an ebook and sold that.

Why did people pay for something that was available for free? They were actually paying for convenience.

Yes, they could go to my blog and click around to every page to find the content. Or they could buy it as one simple ebook.

Something they could take with them, consume from any device, whether they were online or off.

Here’s another example . . .

I never hold anything back on Become a Blogger or in my podcast. I give as much as I can.

But I also have my coaching club.

Yes – you can go through all of my podcast episodes and put together a cohesive picture of how to build a successful blogging business.

Or you can get access to me, and the structure of my coaching club.

Here are a few tips to help you decide how to do this . . .

Give generously.

I said this already, but it’s worth mentioning again. It’s not about how much you should hold back. It’s about how much you can serve your audience. Serve first.

Charge for structure and convenience.

If you give generously, there will be LOTS of info on your blog. They can find what they need. Or you can create products, courses, etc to provide structure to the value you provide.

People will pay for structure and convenience because it makes their lives easier.

Charge for access.

Charge for access

Your time is your most valuable asset. Charge accordingly. Yes, they can get superficial access to you via your blog. But there are lots of opportunities for you to charge for access to your time.

Make business decisions based on data.

Regardless of how much you give, there will always be more you can give. Yes, you can repackage what you already offer, but there’s always room for you to create something new.

I recommend using data to make those decisions. Survey your audience. See what they are struggling with. Use that data to come up with interesting products or services you can sell.

Do you have questions?

I’m going to be including more questions in my podcast episodes from now on. If you have questions, go ahead and ask them by leaving a voice message on the hotline.

The number is (888) 835 – 2414

The post 326 Your Questions: Giving too Much Away and Creating Review Blogs appeared first on Become A Blogger by Leslie Samuel.

source https://www.becomeablogger.com/25991/your-questions-giving-too-much-review/

7 Totally Legitimate Ways to Make Passive Income from Your Blog

You’re skeptical.

You hear about bloggers who make money while they sleep — bloggers who take epic vacations or spend all their time with their families, and at the end of each month, they still have money coming in.

It sounds too good to be true. Especially when you’re slaving away every day and can barely make ends meet.

But it’s not just an urban legend. Once your blog draws a steady stream of traffic, you can turn it into a passive income machine. You can make money on autopilot and you won’t have to resort to any shady tactics to do so.

Check out these seven totally legitimate ways to make passive income from your blog.

#1. Sell Resources and Templates You Created for Personal Use

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Sherry, the Canadian blogger behind the blog Save Spend Splurge, found herself in $60,000 worth of debt after college.

This is a predicament shared by many millennials today. But instead of paying her debt back slowly with minimum payments, Sherry created a budgeting template in Excel that helped her get that entire debt load off of her back just 18 months later.

After starting her personal finance blog, Sherry realized something. If her Excel template was powerful enough to clear her debt in 18 months, it could help her readers too.

So she called it “the Budgeting Tool” and listed it for sale on her blog for $50:

She then made it easy to find by adding a link in her top menu and sidebar:

You may have created some resources for your personal use that would be useful for your readers, too. In fact, maybe you’ve created a resource that they’d be happy to pay for.

For example, if you blog about weddings and you’ve created your own invitations, you can sell them as printables. If you blog about graphic design, you have probably created Photoshop templates that you could sell. Or if you’re a travel blogger, you could sell bag-packing checklists or trip-planning worksheets.

Whatever niche you’re in, chances are there’s plenty of opportunity for selling such resources and templates.

#2. Ship Physical Products (Without the Inventory Headaches)

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When you think of selling physical products on your blog, it might seem like a nightmare. You imagine yourself in your living room, surrounded by products and empty boxes, with dozens of printed-out orders in hand, and you’re trying to make sure everybody gets exactly what they ordered.

But these days, you can sell products without needing to store, package, and send them yourself. You can use dropshipping companies that do it for you.

Dropshipping is a method of ecommerce that lets you transmit orders directly to the supplier. The supplier will then take care of the packaging and ship the product directly to the customer.

You don’t have to lift a finger, your spare bedroom doesn’t have to turn into a stockroom, and the USPS guy won’t come knocking on your door every day.

Benny Hsu from Get Busy Living sells his own t-shirts through one of these companies:

Benny uses Teespring, a shirt and apparel dropshipping and manufacturing company that allows you to design your own products and sell them via its platform.

He earned $100,000 in five months through selling t-shirts. He tested several designs and after he found which ones sold well, he could sit back and watch the sales come in.

Offering a physical product on your blog doesn’t have to mean constant inventory management. It can mean dropshipping and selling your products passively for years to come.

If you’re interested in pursuing dropshipping, you can find a list of dropshipping companies here.

#3. Become Your Own Book Publisher

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Given that you’re a blogger, I assume you love writing. So publishing an ebook is a perfect way to generate passive income. It offers a way to get recurring payments for the words you write down.

This is what Tracy Gillett does on her blog, Raised Good:

She sells The Lost Art of Natural Parenting for $17. She’s set up a sales page on her blog, and also sells it to her subscribers through an email autoresponder series, allowing her to sell her ebook on autopilot:

The beauty of publishing ebooks is that you can offer them to your readers as a digital download, wiping your hands clean of having to handle and ship a physical book. Once you write it, it can truly be passive.

Having written the 129-page ebook in 2016, Tracy can now earn money from selling it for years to come, no matter whether she’s traveling, working in her day job, exploring, or spending time with her son.

#4. Promote Other People’s Products and Earn Steady Commissions

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You probably use several products related to your blog niche, right?

I might even guess that you love some of those products. If you nodded yes, then you can probably reap the benefits of this “holy grail” of passive blogging income: affiliate marketing.

Leanne Vogel, a nutrition educator and the blogger behind the keto blog Healthful Pursuit, uses many supplements in her own diet. So when she’s writing blog posts or recording podcast episodes, mentioning those products is natural.

When one of her audience members buys from her referral link, she makes an affiliate commission. And that, my friends, is “passive income”: referring your audience to products you know and love and getting paid for it, too.

For example, check out how Leanne places an affiliate link for Perfect Keto products in her blog post:

She incorporated the link naturally within an article, giving her audience a discount just for them.

Leanne gets a commission for referring sales to Perfect Keto, and her audience finds out about a product that she loves and uses. It’s a win-win.  

#5. Sell Courses That Teach Highly Desired Skills

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Your audience wants to develop skills that will help them fulfill their goals. You can get paid teaching them those skills. And you don’t even have to do it in person. (Wouldn’t be passive if you did, now would it?)

Blogger Sarah Lambert writes a photography blog for moms, and she gets to do just that by selling online courses to her audience, teaching them how to do what she loves to do.

She first offers a free email challenge to grow her email list and prove the value of her courses:

She then sells a course that teaches her audience how to use their cameras to take great pictures of their children.

All you need is the course content, and a course-creation platform like Teachable or ClickFunnels.

You can sell the courses on your website like Sarah does, through your email list, and by mentioning it in articles where it fits.

This can make you a lot of money as courses can sell for high dollar amounts. Many bloggers charge anywhere from $100 to $1,000 for their courses. When it comes to pricing your course, you should keep this in mind:

If you want to charge high prices, you absolutely can, but you must make big promises. Similarly, if you want to charge low prices, you absolutely can, but you must make small promises. In either case, though, the value of the promise should be at least 10X the price.
— Jon Morrow

 
Online education is a $107 billion industry. A lot of that profit comes from bloggers selling courses around their topics. They organize their content into a learning system and add immense value to their readers’ lives.

What can you teach your readers that would add value to their lives?

#6. Create Software That Fills a Desperate Need (Even if You’re Not a Developer)

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When Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income launched his podcast, he couldn’t find the perfect podcast player. He wanted one that looked good on his site, but also had the capabilities that the established podcast players had.

Instead of waiting for somebody else to make a better program, he hired people to create the player he wanted: The Smart Podcast Player.

Pat sells the podcast player on his blog and in his online courses about podcasting.

He reports earning over $14,000 from the player in September 2017:

Not too shabby, right?

Ever use software and wish it were better? Does your audience desperately need an app that doesn’t even exist yet? Consider making it (of having it made) yourself.

Admittedly, this requires you to either be a developer or be able to hire one. But if you can swing it, you can profit.

#7. Offer a Challenge That Will Change Your Readers’  Lives

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In 2014, I began to enact dozens of tiny changes in my life (like waking up earlier, making time for fitness every day, and journaling). I blogged about many of these changes as I saw them make a positive impact on my life.

As these small changes turned into habits, I realized something:

Every small, positive change we make in our lives pays compound interest.

Enter The Unsettle Challenge: one of the ways my blog makes passive income.

The Unsettle Challenge is a paid email series that delivers one email a day for 30 days, each challenging the reader to make a positive change in their lives, like eliminate wasted time or drink a green smoothie every day.  

I charge $30 for it — one dollar for each day of the challenge — and sell it to my subscribers through an automated email:

The challenge still sells, even two years after I launched it.

And I haven’t touched the sales email, the challenge, or the sales page at all since it launched.

In an online world full of free challenges, you might doubt that you can charge for a challenge, but I’m proof that you can — as long as the challenge offers value.

Turn Your Blog into a Passive Income Machine and Start Living the Dream

You started blogging because you love your topic.

You want to share your passion with the world, add value to your reader’s lives, and do what you love.

But you also want to earn a bit of money from your blog. And what better way to do that than to earn passive income — so you can do what professional bloggers are known for: travel the world, make money at home in your pajamas, and spend more time with your family.

The good news: There are plenty of opportunities to earn passive income from your blog, from affiliate marketing to creating your own physical products. You just have to figure out which method suits you best.

About the Author: Sarah Peterson writes insanely useful guides on marketing and entrepreneurship at Unsettle.org.  Get her report, 10 Free Tools That Reveal the Product Your Audience Is Begging For to finally start making money from your blog… the right way.

 

source https://smartblogger.com/ways-to-make-passive-income/