Kimanzi Constable's Blog, page 43

How To Convert New Visitors From Guest Posting (Part 1)

The last three posts we’ve talked about guest posting and how it can help you build your online presence. The question then becomes what do you do when new visitors come to your website? How can you convert them from casual browsers into email subscribers?

I faced this very question after my big guest post for Dan Miller. Back then, I didn’t know anything, so sadly I didn’t add many of those visitors to my email list.

After doing some research I learned. If you’re going to be successful, and grow your online business, you have to convert new visitors. I had a half a million visitors to this website in 2012. Can you guess how many people I converted to my email list? 6,700 people.

That’s a horrible conversion rate, and if I had done better, my online business would have supported me a lot quicker. Even if you don’t get that many visitors, you have to do a good job of converting new people. Here are some tips.

A killer freebie

If you’ve been in this online world for a while, you understand the value of offering a free digital gift. When people give you their email address, you send them some content you created, and uploaded to an email service provider.

This is a great way to convert those people that aren’t sure. Here’s the thing, a lot of freebies on websites aren’t very good. I use to offer a manifesto on this website because it was popular back then.

These days it’s not enough to get people to convert. People are looking for good, and actionable content they can use to accomplish their goals. They don’t want to read a list of what I did and will do.

I have since offered a PDF that teaches people how to start and market a profitable online business. This PDF takes them from starting a WordPress website all the way to creating products and services.

Many new visitors have told me they love it and it’s added value. Your freebie should be better than most people’s paid content. It should catch people’s attention right away.

*Update* I like to batch my blog posts so I write these months in advance. Since writing this, I have updated my freebie again, if you are on my email list I’ll go into detail why. I now offer four killer guides that cover the major aspects of building an online business that supports your family.

Since the update, my opt in rate has increased 46% in four days! This freebie was so good, I had people unsubscribe, and resubscribe just to get the freebie. I’ll be sending these guides to my email list Saturday.

Your freebie should have a two-fold purpose: it should get people to sign up, and it should get them thinking about buying your paid stuff. People buy from someone they know, like, trust, and get value from. Your freebie is the beginning part of that process.

Take some extra time and really think about your freebie. One freebie that has blown me away is my friend Gene’s from Leaders in the Trenches. He gives away a seven-day boot camp that will help you create more predictable income with your business.

I’ve gone though the boot camp and can’t believe the content is free. He gives some killer nuggets, and by the end of it, you’re seriously thinking about hiring him. He has created something that will lead to countless sales in the future.

That’s what your freebie should do. If your freebie isn’t doing that right now, you should start working on a new one. I know my PDF online business series works, my manifesto didn’t.

Have a clean, non confusing website

You’ve seen them. Right? The websites where you just don’t know what to do because there’s too much going on. You want to click, and find out more, but you don’t know where to start!

The best way you can convert visitors is making their experience on your website smooth. Don’t have too many tabs, the fewer the better. Don’t have too much information.

Make it very obvious what you want a new visitor to do, and the number one thing should be getting them to sign up for your email list. Every page should be clean and straight to the point.

There are many great themes in WordPress that can help you keep it simple while having all the functionality you need. Try not to go over board with plugins that will slow your website down.

This concludes part one. We’ll dig a little deeper in the next post. You have 10 seconds when someone visits your website to make a good first impression. Making it a smooth experience for them will convert casual visitors.

What are you doing to convert new visitors? 

How To Land Articles On Large Websites (Part 2)

Aloha and welcome back! I hope you enjoyed part one and took away some yummy nuggets. If you did, and already started applying them, comment below, and tell me what you did!

We’re here because guest posting is one of the best ways to build your audience. Two articles on the Huffington Post and the Good Men Project have gotten this website over 12,000 new email subscribers in the last two months.

Getting interviewed on podcasts and radio shows is great, but think about where people are listening to those shows. They’re in the car, on the way to work, or they’re working out.

If they like what you’re saying, they have to remember to come home and look you up. When they’re reading a guest post, or article on a large website, and like it, all they have to do is click a link and they’re on your website in seconds. It’s instant and within minutes they can be signing up for your email list. That’s the power of a good guest post.

In the last post I talked about the writing side of things. You have to do your research and write deeper content. If you missed it, there are some key takeaways that you can use. Today let’s get into the strategy.

3. Have the right pitch

Having the right pitch means a few things. Let’s start with whom to pitch to. Remember when we talked about research? Getting articles featured on large websites only happens when you pitch it to the right person.

Last post we talked about the Huffington Post and “verticals.” Have you figured those out yet? Verticals are the categories in the Huffington Post; the one I normally post in is “Healthy Living.”

When you get in as a contributor at the Huffington Post, you can post in whatever vertical you want. If you’ve done your research, you should know that every vertical has its own editor.

For you to have a chance to write for the Huffington Post, you have to send your post to the editor of whatever vertical your post fits under. The Huffington Post does have a standard place to submit articles, but can you imagine how many people are submitting articles everyday? One editor told me it was like 30,000 submissions a day.

To cut through all that, send your article to the right editor. That way you can get a quick yes or no. They’re usually very busy, so you should get your answer pretty quickly.

With a little research you can find out who’s the best person to pitch your article to on large websites. On blogs, it may be the owner of the blog. How do you reach them?

Think about emails. Most of us have email addresses with a your name@thedomain of the website. If that bloggers name is Jeff his email is probably Jeff@thiswebsite.com.

This is just a guess, but it’s a good one. With some digging you can find out who the right person to pitch to is, all this information is available online. Getting articles featured on large websites starts with deep, strong content. After that it’s about pitching to the right editor, they are the ones who decide what get’s published or rejected.

Look at the picture. I did some of your research for you. It’s a list of editors at the Huffington Post. Look at their names, and use the email tip I just gave you. To reach a Huff Post editor their email address will end in  @HuffingtonPost.com.

4. The structure of your pitch

I use to pitch pretty horribly. I used the “flattery technique.” This usually goes something like this:

“Hello so and so,

I’m a huge fan of your blog. The content is great. I would love to give back by writing a guest post for your audience. Do you take guest posts?”

I used this all the time with mixed results. First, the blogger sees right through this. They know you want exposure to their audience so the flattery, and giving back line seems fake to them.

A better approach is honesty with something to back up what you saying. Here’s a better structure.

“Hello so and so,

I’m a fan of your website. My favorite article is “Name a specific article that has helped you.” I have written a guest post that speaks to your audience that’s at the bottom of this email (bloggers HATE attachments, send the post in the body of the email).

Here are some samples of my work on these websites (name off a few places you’ve guest posted and hyperlink the articles).

Thank you,

Your name”

Then paste the article or articles. Another great strategy is to post three topics that you want to write about. You then bullet point out what each of those posts will be about.

The blogger can then decide which ones he likes. By listing three, if he doesn’t like one or two, he has options. They know best and will tell you what works best for their website.

Here is the email I sent to Mind Body Green when I wanted to write for them. I sent it on Friday, and by Monday, my first post went live.

Use this same structure for large websites, like the Huffington Post, when you pitch the right editor.

That’s it. If you want to get your work on a large website that can dramatically increase your audience:

Do your research. Who do you pitch to? What is the best article to write? How much research did you put in the article? These questions have to be answered if you’re going to successfully land a big guest post.
Dig deeper. Write from your heart. Get past the normal fluff and write about the topics most people will be afraid to write about. Your post should strike a nerve and educate at the same time.
Figure out the best approach. Figure out whom to pitch to and what about. Do your research and find the person that can make it happen.
Have the right structure. Don’t try to land your post with flattery. Let your research and content speak for itself. Show your past work to prove what you’ve got.

You can so do this and the results will be life changing! Name one large website you’re going to pitch? 

P.S. Today Chris Guillebeau’s new book releases! I had the honor of interviewing Chris for the Huffington Post. Shares are greatly appreciated, I want to help Chris spread the message of this book.

How To Land Articles On Large Websites (Part 1)

Guest posting is a killer strategy for building your online presence. You write an article for a website that is larger than yours, and they give you three links back to your website.This is great for getting exposed to new, larger audiences. It’s also killer for the back links it provides to your website. Back links are what ultimately helps with your search engine optimization.

This is how I built my audience in 2012 when I had ten people a day visiting my website. I saw the value in guest posting and immediately wrote an article for the Huffington Post.

One of the editors probably looked at it and laughed. What’s wild is that three years later I did land an article on the Huffington Post, and I’m actually a contributing writer for them! I also write for the Good Men Project, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Mind Body Green.

One guest post for Michael Hyatt put me on the map, and is still the number one way I continue to build traffic, and email subscribers. I’m guessing I don’t need to convince you of the merits of guest posting, so I’ll move on.

You know it works, and you want to, but how do you land guest posts on large websites? In the last post I talked about expanding your horizons. I talked about guest posting for websites that are outside of our normal circle.

You may have even thought about those sites and are ready. Over the next couple of posts I’d like to give you some tips to land those bigger guest posts and articles on really large websites.

1. Research before you write

Since writing for some amazing places I get a lot of emails asking how to write for places like the Huffington Post. The first question I ask is what “vertical” would you write for?

This normally brings on a lot more questions. I would explain how the verticals work, but now you’re going to have to do your own research if you want to write for the Huffington Post. Think of this as your homework.

The point being, if you’re going to write for a large website, you have to understand how things work. What kind of people are reading the website, and the style the website is written in?

Most of the time we write posts, and then think of where they should go, that’s wrong. You should research WHERE you want to write for and THEN write the post.

That post should be completely for that audience, and in the style of that website. If you were going to write for the Huffington Post, what vertical would it fit in? (Look, I just gave you a hint)

When I say research, I mean thorough research. This doesn’t mean you skim over the site and then throw something together. You should know if they even take guest posts/contributors, and who to send your articles too.

I could have told you exactly who to send your article to at the Huffington Post before I ever wrote for them. I had done a ton of research and that information is available online.

Doing your research is great for writing the right content that gets accepted, but it will also come in handy with figuring out how to get featured. We’ll get into that later.

2. Dig deeper

If you’re friends with me on social media or listened to my episode of Starve the Doubts, you know a secret about me: I’m a HUGE Taylor Swift fan. I always get asked why, the answer is simple: I like the way she writes music.

I can completely understand what she’s writing, and it speaks to how I grew up. Her music goes beyond the normal surface fluff you see in music. That surface level fluff is exactly how I use to write.

I was worried about offending people; I was worried it wasn’t good writing. I let a lot of things hold me back from opening up, and really writing. Once I could let go, and really find my voice, I could write deeper content.

Larger websites aren’t looking for the fluff. There’s too much of that available online, and they want to steer clear of it. They want the deeper content. The kind of content where you talk about things other people aren’t willing to talk about. Content that flies in the face of what is normally written.

I wrote an article recently called ‘5 Ways Social Media Marketing Is Overrated‘ for Entrepreneur Magazine. All the social media experts trashed me left and right, but… they shared the article like crazy. Entrepreneur Magazine loved it. The post is original and challenges what we’re normally told. That’s the kind of content they like. Look at the shares and comments:

 

I contribute for a website called The Good Men Project. They get 2 million weekly visitors. Their tagline is “the conversation no one else is having.” Do you think they would take an article on “how to be a better man?”

That post is generic and fluff; they want content that’s far deeper than that. A better post would be “7 reasons you’re not a better man.” In that post you would go deep, and talk about the things that hold men back, and when I say “things,” I mean the things we don’t talk about: porn, mental and physical abuse, lying, cheating.

Digging deeper also means doing research. What you’re writing about should be backed up by facts, and figures. You should link to incredible content that backs up what you’re saying. I made some bold statements in this article, but I backed every one of them with research.

You’re a writer so stop holding back, and write. Create something that’s a little bit outside of your comfort zone, and submit it to the Good Men Project (20% of their writers are women) or another large website.

This is the end of part one. When we talk next, I’ll be giving you all the strategy stuff. I’ll tell you how to contribute to large sites, and the best way to pitch them. Don’t miss the next post.

My goal is to open your mind to see the possibilities. Once you do, I want to teach you how to capitalize on those opportunities. You can write for anyone! Right now I want you to think about three large websites you can write for.

At the end of this series I’ll be giving you a free downloadable guide that walks you through how I write articles for large websites, and who to send those articles to.

How much research do you do for your guest posts? Are you creating the deeper content? 

Look For Opportunities Outside of Your Comfort Zone

For those of you on my email list this may be a rerun (maybe). For those of you who aren’t, I wanted to give you a sampling of the exclusive content I send out to my email subscribers. If you aren’t signed up you’re missing out! I feel like I covered a topic that those who are building need to embrace!

♦◊♦

Aloha everyone! Just coming at you with some more exclusive content. I want this email list to feel like an exclusive club as a thank you for staying signed up for my email updates!

I want to give you one valuable tip/lesson I just learned myself. I won’t keep you in suspense: look beyond the little pond we all seem to be swimming in right now. 

The number one way I’ve built my audience is through guest posting. One guest post for Michael Hyatt in 2012 put me on the map. I’m a guest-posting evangelist. I tell my clients to do it, and if you’ve been reading my stuff for a while you’ve seen me talk about it.

When I talk about guest posting on larger websites, who comes to mind? I’m guessing you think of Dan Miller, Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, and so on. There’s probably a list of 15 to 20 websites that all of us think about.

Here’s the problem: if you and I are thinking about trying to guest post on those websites, how many other people do you think are as well? More than that, we all read those same websites, how much overlap is there between those audiences?

For a long time I was one of those people until a few weeks ago. I started writing a guest post for the usually websites. After the post was done, I started to think about where it would fit.

I thought those usual places would be great, but I wondered what else was out there? I started looking at large websites. I mean really large websites.

I looked to see if they take contributors, and was surprised to find most large news/information websites do. I submitted that post to the Huffington Post and with the nudging of a friend, it got in front of the eyes of Arianna Huffington. As you know, that post went live, and has blown my mind to the possibilities.

I did the same thing with another guest post that I wrote, and it went live on the Good Men Project, which gets 2 million visitors a week. This post has been shared over 21,000 times!

I will give you a full report shortly as to the results, but after one week my website has gotten 55,000 visitors and 4,400 new email subscribers. If I would have submitted these posts in the normal spots, I don’t think I would have gotten these results.

*Update* I wrote this email several months ago. I have since started writing for a few more places: Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, the Good Men Project, Mind Body Green, and the Business Insider. What have been the results? I have added 11,000 email subscribers to my email list. My traffic is through the roof: 

My Alexa score is the best it’s ever been. This is my ranking compared to 900 million other websites. #1 (Google) being the best ranking you can have.

Look beyond where we normally think about guest posting. Set your sights higher and surprise yourself. The worst thing that can happen is they say no. If they do, move on, and try again.

Here is a killer list of possible guest posting websites. My homework for you is to identify three big websites that you have never heard of on this list. Go to those websites, and see if they accept guest posts. If they do, you know what to do.

Once you have identified those three websites respond to this email or email me at kconstable29@me.com with your list. I would love to give you help and feedback!

In addition to those websites, these large news/information websites all take contributors:

Huffington Post

Good Men Project

Forbes

Entrepreneur

If you’re in the marriage space, have you heard of this website? This is my friend Dave’s website, and in addition to having a huge email list, his Facebook page has over 700,000 likes.

If you’re in the career space, have you heard of this website? Check out the Alexa ranking of the website.

If you’re in the lifestyle design space, have you heard of this website? Another large website that most people aren’t trying to guest post for.

These are just a few examples, but my goal is to open up your eyes to the possibilities. Let’s all stop trying to swim in the same pond. Instead let’s dive right into the ocean!

55,000 visitors I would have never gotten if I kept doing the same old same old. That’s all I’ve got for you today. Sorry to ramble. Normally here I would throw in a plug for my coaching program, but I’m completely full and I actually have a waiting list!

That Huffington Post article brought in more business than I can handle right now. If you do want coaching let me know, and I’ll add your name to the waiting list. I want to help as many people as possible but it might take a little longer.

♦◊♦

My goal is NOT to make you think I’m some great guy, I’m just a regular person who’s trying to figure out what works. My goal is to show you that us who are building can get big opportunities if we’re willing to put in the leg work. Over the next month I have some killer how-to posts coming your way.

I’m going to teach you how to land these large articles, how to book consulting business at companies, how to convert new visitors, and a host of other things. I want you to come away from this month with $2,000 from your online business. Sound good? Let’s make the end of this year really count.

List one website that’s outside of our normal circle that you have or will reach out to? 

Sometimes You Have To Put Yourself In The Right Places

What does it take to be successful? Sometimes putting yourself in the right places and being around the right people. You’ve heard the Jim Rohn saying: “you’re the average of the five people you hang out with.” It’s true and if you’re in situations or around certain people you won’t make any progress.

The only way I finally made traction was putting myself in the right situations and being surrounded by the right people. For me it started with attending Brendon Burchard’s Experts Academy.

I met people doing things I only dream of and made connections that have definitely helped my business. Going to that conference was the right situation for success.

Besides that conference, the friends that I have today, the mastermind group that I’m in, and the other conferences I’ve attended have all contributed to my success.

Conferences

There are some amazing conferences going on everyday. Conferences that will teach you what you need to know. There you will also network with people who can help your success.

For a long time I was afraid to invest in myself. After that conference I saw the value and invested in two really amazing conferences. I also started speaking and got to attend sessions at these conferences.

I wish I had applied all that I learned at those conferences. I wish I had stayed in touch with all the amazing people who I met. Learn from my mistakes.

If you have a chance to attend a conference that can help you and your business do it. Don’t drain your bank account to do it but if you have a little extra cash look at conferences that will help.

Coaching

You may know that I coach so I’m a little biased. If I’m going to be honest with you I prefer coaching to conferences. You can go to an amazing conference and learn a ton.

You then come home and start implementing but will end up with questions on how to proceed. If the conference is over how do you get your questions answered? Most of the time you’re figuring it out on your own.

What I really like about coaching is that you have someone to answer all your questions immediately. To be fair you have to pick the right coach.

There are too many coaches that talk the talk but can’t back up what they’re saying. Look for a coach that gets results. What kind of testimonials do they have from previous customers?

If you find the right coach you can get personal help that’s specific to your situation. Conferences tend to teach general principles that may not be best for where you are.

Again, let me stress that it depends on the coach and conference. Jared Easley, Gene Hammett, and I are throwing a conference here in Maui in December.

We’re going to try to blend the two: coaching and conferences. There won’t be “sessions”. It will be a mastermind format where we get really up close and personal.

Plus, since it’s in Maui, we’ll be doing some once-in-a-lifetime activities. Check it out and see what you think. After it’s over I’ll report back to you on how it went. This conference is the first of it’s kind!

Masterminds

There’s nothing like bouncing your ideas by a group of people who will be honest and help you out. There’s nothing like contributing and learning from people who are taking action.

I’m in an amazing mastermind group that has helped grow my business and introduced me to some amazing friends. The value of a good mastermind group is priceless.

If you’re not in one you should join a good one or start your own. The advice I would give you is look for people who are where you’re at or slightly ahead. You don’t want to be in a group where you’re pretty much giving them a group coaching session.

Good social media groups

Just like a good mastermind group you can join amazing social media groups. There are groups for book launches, careers, business, etc. You name it and there’s probably a group for it.

You can also create great groups. My friend Abbie has a group for flight attendants. That group is now at 6,000 people and growing. She tells me stories that bring a smile to her face.

Look for those good groups or create one of your own. The right group will give you tremendous value.

Put yourself around the right people and right situations and you will create success. Learn, contribute and grow and don’t be afraid to invest in yourself.

If you’re hanging out with negative people they will drag you and your dream down. Surround yourself with people who will be honest but will also help you anyway they can.

How are you putting yourself in the right situations?  

 

 

 

An Update On My Dreams

Back in 2011 I wrote a book that was eventually called Are You Living or Existing? 9 Steps to Change Your Life (affiliate link).The book started off in the self-publishing world but was picked up by my publisher, Sound Wisdom Books.

That book, and my first book sold well, and were the driving force to creating this online business. The book is the blueprint I used to go from a life of existing to a life now that seems like a dream.

Up until four months ago I felt a little bit like a fraud. While I’ve been busting my butt working on my dreams, I still wasn’t fully living them. In the book I talked about three main topics: my weight, my work, and where we lived.

I had conquered the work part when I was able to leave a job I hated to write, speak, and coach full-time at the beginning of 2013. My weight has been an up, and down battle.

I had done well and lost some weight, only to gain it back. On June 17th of 2013 I got fed up and decided to finally get rid of the weight once and for all. Since that date I’ve lost 170 pounds. I’m 10 pounds away from my dream weight. I just wrote about it for the amazing website Mind Body Green.

That’s two of the three things I wrote about in the book. The third was moving to Maui. This one stressed me out a little. We talked and talked but had no definite plans.

We finally got serious about moving to Hawaii and planned out the move in May of 2013. We started looking at the cost, and got a little sticker shock. How can people really afford to live here??

The cost was so high that we started to look at moving to the Big Island instead of Maui. After some long talks, and a hard look at numbers, we agreed that Maui was our dream.

As you may know we officially moved here to Maui on April 8th of 2014. This was the last piece of the puzzle for us. Everything I talked about in the book has now come to pass. I wrote about the move for the Huffington Post.

This last piece took the wind out of the sails of my major hater (sorry). I can honestly tell you it was worth the entire struggle. Life here is better than we expected. We absolutely love it here.

So to update you on my dreams, I can tell you that I hit every major goal that I set. I have since worked on new goals and I’m shooting for the stars. I now know nothing is impossible.

You can do it too

I wanted to update you, but more than that I want to encourage you. We struggle so hard for our dreams, and we wonder if it’s worth it. The answer is 100% yes.

It took the death of my father to really help me understand how short life truly is. We all know this, but do we really know it? Look at how fast this year has gone already.

Look how fast your kids grow up. They were just in diapers, now they’re teenagers with an attitude. Life moves fast, and time is the one resource we can’t get back.

Chase that dream, and don’t do it tomorrow, because you might not have a tomorrow. Once you make it you’ll see that the struggle will have been worth it.

We have four months left in this year, plenty of time to give your dream one last push. You may not be where you want to be right now, but that’s ok. As long as you keep taking action, you will make your dreams your reality. The key is to not give up!

Give us an update on your dream. How’s it going? 

4 Creative Ways To Chase Your Dream When Money Is Low

Welcome to those visiting from the blog of Jon Acuff! I’m very honored to have you here. If what I’m saying here makes sense be sure to sign up for email updates. I send exclusive content to my email list that helps you create true freedom and create a profitable online business.

We all have dreams and would love to make them a reality. Sometimes that’s hard to do for various reasons. You may be doing this with a family, which means you don’t have a bunch of disposable income. You may just not have enough income, period.

I’ve been there on both counts. When I started chasing my dream in 2011 I was broke. More than that I owed money to a bunch of people. When I got the brilliant idea to chase my dream of being a writer I had to come up with the cash somehow.

I looked into what it would take and the amount I needed was $900. This would get my website designed, my book edited and a nice cover made. The only problem was I didn’t have $900.

I found a way to get that money and chase my dream with very little money. I want to give you a few ideas if you’re in this same boat.

1. Odd jobs

The easy road would have been to borrow money from my parents but I had already done that too many times. I’m just not a fan of borrowing money from anyone. I wanted to do this on my own.

To come up with the $900 I did odd jobs. I cut my neighbors grass, I did yard work, and I cleaned houses. Whatever odd job someone needed done, I did it.

Was it fun? Of course not and I felt like a failure but I got that $900 in one month. Even after I got the $900 I continued to work the odd jobs because it put much-needed cash in our budget.

Wherever you’re at there are opportunities all around you. For me it was manual labor, for you it might be something else. Do you have a skill that you could do on the side to make some cash?

You just might have to do the manual labor but rest assured it’s getting you closer to your dream. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make your dream happen.

I’m guessing there’s something you do that you don’t even think about but are skilled at. How can you make a little cash on the side with that thing that could help build your dream?

2. Bartering

If you’re building an online dream are there others doing the same that you could barter with? Maybe you have writing skills and that person does web work. There’s an opportunity to help each other out for free.

Look for those in your space that are doing what you’re doing. Look for opportunities to help each other out. When I was building a few times I put ads out on Craigslist offering to barter.

A few times I encountered some nut jobs but a bunch of times I was able to trade services with others for free. It was beautiful and in my budget. Look for those opportunities because they’re all around you.

3. Crowd funding

There are some amazing crowd funding sites that have helped many dreams become a reality. My good friend Jared Easley from Starve the Doubts and his friends had a dream to host a conference for podcaster’s.

They put that dream on Kickstater and got it completely funded. They’re having an amazing conference that’s even bringing in A-Listers like Chris Brogan.

Do you want to release a book or product? Crowd funding could be the way to go. You put your idea on those sites and offer things if people donate. Things like a signed book, two books, an exclusive chapter and so on.

There are many examples of people who have rocked crowd funding and made their dreams a reality.

4. Beta version

Let’s say you created a book or program but don’t have the money to market it. You can pre-sell the thing and let people know this is the beta version.

The beauty of this is you get the money you need to finish and market the thing and get valuable feedback from people on what to improve. You put out the beta, get the feedback and make the final version killer.

This is a concept the Foundation talks about and uses. If people are willing to buy your beta version you know for sure you have a thing that will sell. If no one buys it you know you have some work to do.

Chasing your dream with little or no money is possible. If you’re willing to work hard and get a little creative you can generate the income you need and then some.

Take advantage of some of the opportunities that we didn’t have before. Use them to make your dream a reality. Get even more creative to fund your dream and let us know what worked for you.

Are you using any creative ways to chase your dream? 

P.S. If you’ve never read the $100 Start Up (affiliate link) by Chris Guillebeau you need to this week! I have the honor of interviewing Chris for the Huffington Post about his new book that launches September 9th. The book is fabulous! What questions would you ask Chris about his dream chasing journey? Ask in the comments.

P.S.S. My latest article for the Good Men Project is live, comments and shares are appreciated!

It’s Hard To Build An Online Business In 2014

From 1998 to 2012 it was a lot easier to build an online business. There was less competition and all this was new to many people. As of today there are 900 million websites, 250 million blogs and 175,000 blogs being added everyday.

I started my online business in 2011 but didn’t get serious until 2012. Back then you could guest post on a large blog and literally get tens of thousands of visitors and thousands of subscribers.

This one guest post on Michael Hyatt’s blog alone got this blog 6,000 subscriber’s and over 20,000 visits. A few guest posts like this and you were set. In 2014 a lot of big blogs don’t take unsolicited guest posts anymore.

Don’t misunderstand me. Guest posting is still my favorite and number one way to build traffic to a website. I send out one guest post a week and will continue because I believe the value is still there.

I’ve now even started to expand my horizons. Last week I had an article on the Huffington Post and the Good Men Project. These two articles brought in 100,000 visitors and counting!

If you’re building an online business in 2014 I know I’m preaching to the choir. It’s hard isn’t it? It’s hard to get people’s attention and keep it. There are just too many people talking about the same things.

I hope I’m not coming off as a downer because I absolutely believe in online business. I love it and the freedom it can provide. I love living life on my terms and knowing I can wake up and do what’s right for my life.

If you are building an online business and not seeing traction my message is; hang in there. Yes it’s harder and yes it’s slower but it’s possible. Everyday people are experiencing their “freedom date.”

Focus on your why

Why did you start? Who are you trying to help and with what? If you’re going to be successful you always have to focus on your why. When you deal with those hard times focusing on that why will get you through it.

More than that it will remind you that this isn’t about you. It’s frustrating when things just don’t go as planned but if you take the focus off yourself it puts things into perspective.

Whatever you do online the focus shouldn’t be about you. If you’re writing a guest post, for example, your focus should be about teaching that other bloggers audience. The focus shouldn’t be about all the subscribers you’ll get.

When you approach things from a “give me” mindset it will come through and repel people. Focus on the message and ways you can get that message out to the world in a bigger way.

Stay in hustle mode

Even though it’s hard you have to always be hustling. Keep sending out those guest posts. Keep doing those interviews. Keep creating killer content for your website.

Remember: perseverance is what wins in the online business-building world. Too many people will start and eventually quit. Decide right now that you’re going to be the one that sticks it out.

What does it take?

In 2014 it takes more work, more patience and a greater focus. Anyone who is first to market has an easier time. Not an easy time but an easier time. Look at John Lee Dumas at Entrepreneur on Fire. He was the first seven-day-a-week podcast. He was first to market and that among many reasons is why he makes over $200,000 a month.

If you’re first to the market with a fresh twist then you’ll do well. If you’re not, that’s ok because you’ll hustle harder and make your thing work. Hard work teaches you to appreciate what it takes and will make you a better teacher.

What does it take? It takes using frameworks that work and adding your unique spin. It takes getting more personal and really connecting with your audience.

It takes the right focus and not losing the information overload battle. It takes building your business one person at a time. Yes it’s hard but you can do this and make your dream a reality.

What’s been the hardest part of building your online business? 

Stop Focusing On The Wrong Things

Whether it’s building an online business or trying to improve your life, the right focus can make all the difference. It’s easy to be a busy bee and not really get much accomplished.

I’ve talked a lot about my online business building efforts. When I started I wanted to make this thing support our family as soon as possible. I tried everything you can think of to generate income.

I wasn’t focused and more than that, I didn’t know how to have the right focus. I focused on the little mundane things that don’t help you make progress.

When I did finally understand the importance of focus and where I should be focused amazing things happened. I created a business that actually supports our family.

Where you focus your time affects the results you’re going to get. When it comes to online business it’s crucial to cut out information overload and focus.

Get clear on whom you’re talking to and what you’re talking about

Who’s your target audience? How are you most passionate about helping? You have to get really specific and not attempt to reach the entire world. Once you get clear you can really dig in and help them the way they need to be helped.

Once you figure out whom you’re talking to, what are you talking about? What’s your core message? What’s the tagline for your message? When we come to your website it should be very clear right away. Focus on your target audience.

Honing your craft

While you’re building your audience and you don’t have as many people, hone your craft. This is the time to figure out your style and how you want to deliver your message.

Is it a written blog? How about podcasting? If you’re looking to jump in a less crowded market you should definitely think about podcasting. Maybe you want to do video.

Whatever it is that you want to do use that time when no one is looking to find your voice and perfect your message. You can only get better with practice so practice while you build. Focus on honing your craft.

Build your email list

When you want to take your passion and turn it into profit your email list is going to be the best way to do that. I’ve written a bunch about your email list because it’s vitally important.

The people you interact with on social media and various other online channels are causally interested. When they sign up for your email list they’re going beyond casual and into the category of really interested.

When you do have something to sell those that are interested are the ones who will buy. It won’t be the person on social media who logs on to connect with you personally.

If you ever want to get your book published by a traditional publisher the first question a publisher will ask you is how big is your email list? Building your email list is something you’ll never regret. Focus on building your list.

Create things that people buy

Once you’ve built a solid foundation it’s time to focus on monetizing. Money isn’t everything but you’re going to need it to pay your bills. Too often we think I’ll just keep building without monetizing. You then send out that first sales email and a ton of people unsubscribe.

No, we don’t always want to sell, but if you never sell you’re conditioning your audience to always expect something for free. If you have 100 people in your email list you should be generating at least $1,000 a month from your dream.

Don’t believe me? Email me at kconstable29@gmail.com and I’ll tell you why and how. It’s possible and I’ve seen many of the people I’m working with do it.

We talk about the right focus online. The wrong focus is anything that really isn’t important right now. Do you really need to study keywords? Do you really need to be on that affiliate marketing webinar?

Don’t get caught up in information overload. Focus on what’s important to your building efforts and dig in.

What is your focus for the next month? 

Get Rid of The Clutter

We just have too much clutter in our lives. Whether it’s our home, our car or even our business there’s clutter that has to go! What we don’t realize is how much that clutter is holding us back.

I learned this lesson the hard way when we moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Maui, Hawaii four months ago. Let me just tell you upfront that the move definitely tested the relationship between my wife and I!

We decided that instead of shipping our stuff and car we would sell EVERYTHING in a huge rummage sale. As we started to dig through stuff we found things we hadn’t seen in 10 years!!

There was stuff everywhere and our dreams of the huge rummage sale quickly died. In the end we put a BUNCH of stuff on our curb that people came and got for free.

We donated an entire truckload of stuff to the Salvation Army; it was literally the entire truck. In the end we made $5,000 with the stuff we did sell but we used that money to buy things for our home here in Maui.

We learned a valuable lesson with this move. If you came to our house now you would see that we live a very simple life now. I was shocked about how freeing living simple is. Through this experience I want to share three lessons about clutter with you.

We don’t truly realize how much clutter we have

Until you really dig in you don’t realize how out of control things are. Since what we talk about here is online stuff let’s talk about clutter online. How cluttered does your website look?

Is there just too much for anyone to really focus on your message? Keep up your website and keep it simple. It should be very clear what you want people to do once they visit your website.

What about the other parts of your business? Is your schedule too cluttered and filled with unnecessary appointments? Is your social media cluttered with confusing messages and constant self-promotion?

If you answered yes to any of these questions it is time to clean up that clutter. Get things to where they need to be and won’t distract from your ultimate message.

We don’t realize how clutter frustrates the situation

When someone comes to your website and it is super cluttered they get frustrated and never come back. If they can’t get to the information they need you’ve lost them, possibly for good.

It can be the clutter on your desk where you create content or just your house in general. Whether or not you realize it that clutter is affecting your mood and ultimately your productivity.

When you’re constantly having to work around stuff it will affect you. Get rid of that clutter and your frustration level will go down.

Simple is the way to go

Simple is better. A simple website, a simple (yet powerful) message, simple marketing messages. Simple house without the clutter! This will make for a happier you and more effective business.

Take a hard look at everything you’re doing right now with your dream. Take a hard look at the physical area where you’re working on your dream. Is there a way to simplify?

I can give you a simple example: the plugins on my website. I had a bunch of plugins doing various things. What I realized is that some of those plugins were distracting and actually slowed down my website.

I removed the ones that weren’t needed and my website sped up. Now when you come to this site I hope you see the message and not the “stuff.” Take it from me and test it out yourself: simplify.

This week I challenge you to open up your eyes and see what’s around you. Is there clutter that needs to get cleaned up? Is there a way to simplify your life? If you read Zenhabits.net you’ve seen Leo’s amazing post about clutter.

Are things cluttered or simple for you in your life and business? How can you improve?