Kimanzi Constable's Blog, page 45

Where Do I Even Start Online?

The hardest part of an online business is knowing where to start. When you start to research online business you could end up with information overload. There’s a ton of information out there and a lot of it is contradictory. This is where I found myself at the end of 2011. I had just written a book and was trying to figure out how to turn my dream into a business that supports our family. I started researching and was overwhelmed.

I read about guest-posting, SEO, social media and a ton of other topics. I was already working 50-60 hours a week. Where would I find the time to do all this stuff? All the information actually held me back because I just didn’t know where to start.

When I did figure it out and started to make some progress I realized I still had a ton to learn and missed a key step in creating an online business. Here I am in June of 2014 with an online business that now supports our family.

I can tell you that even after this thing supports you there is still a ton to learn. I can also tell you that the freedom an online business brings is priceless. To be able to wake up every day and know you get to help people is amazing.

Having the freedom to spend the precious time we have on this earth doing what’s important to you is incredible. You get to live life on your terms, not the systems. If you’re on this journey struggling stay encouraged because the struggles will be worth it once you get here.

Start here

So where do you start? It all starts with who you want to serve. When I say “serve” I mean who in this world do you most want to help? Is it single women? Married men? Male teenagers? Single mothers? Single fathers? Men with disabilities?

The best way to stand out from the other 900 million websites is to get specific. When you think you’re there get even more specific. Nine times out of ten most of us start out too general. Laura Roeder breaks this down amazingly in this interview with my friend Gene.

Let’s say you’re passionate about single parents and write to single fathers AND mothers. How can you help them both? Single mothers and fathers have two totally different things going on in their lives.

Think about the different situations they would face that’s specific to their gender. In order to serve both you would have to write one post for single mothers on Monday and the single fathers on Tuesday to be effective.

As you’re writing you would have to use a lot of general words and it can get confusing. If you’re a single father and you write for single fathers you know exactly what they’re going through and will face.

You can really hone in and deal with the deeper issues. There’s a ton of fluff and general stuff online that people are used to reading. If you dig in and start talking about the deep issues that’s the kind of content that goes viral. That’s how people really get helped.

Who is your target audience? 

Male or female? 
What age? A 25-year-old is going through a different stage in life than a 50-year-old. They have completely different problems and needs.
Where do they live? People in the United States have different issues than other countries. There might be a specific situation to whatever country you live in.
How much money do they make? It’s not all about the money but you’re creating a business. You’re not trying to get rich but you want this to support you so your target audience should be able to afford your services.
What are their biggest struggles? When you figure out what those struggles are you figure out what products and services to offer. If you create something that solves a problem your audience will buy it.

Once you figure out who you want to serve you can really build a solid foundation online. You can figure out where those people hang out and the best way to reach them. You can also figure out how they want to be reached.

If you already have your foundation set up is there any way to get clear? I had over 5,400 people on my email list in August of 2013. I had a conversation that changed the way I thought about this with a friend/coach.

I decided to get clear and focus on the family man. I told my email list about the change and 1,200 people unsubscribed in one month. Can you imagine that? I almost pulled what little hair I had left out!

Over the next few months my friend’s advice made complete sense. I was able to speak directly to the family man about what he would face. I started talking about specific problems and solutions.

The results were fewer people on my email list but my income increased. As I got specific the family man realized my stuff was for them and they bought it. Since then I’ve seen my revenue increase by $4,000 a month on average.

It’s scary to get specific. You worry about running out of things to talk about. You worry about turning people off. If you do that’s good. Seth Godin says if you try to reach everyone you’ll reach no one.

When someone comes to your website within the first 10 seconds they should know whether or not the website is for them. Wondering where to start or grow online? Start with who you most want to help.

Who’s your target audience? Why?

P.S. If your website isn’t functioning the way you need it to (converting and generating income) or you need a website set-up, check out a few new products that I recently added. Get Details here.

Online Business Ideas

Starting an online business is hard work, especially when you don’t know what business you want to start. When you do have an idea it’s probably too general. That’s exactly how I started out.

It was a good business coach (thanks Gene) that helped me get some clarity and narrow in. From the time I started my online business until the time it actually supported our family was about two years.

I know I could have gotten here quicker if I had been specific from the start. If I could have figured out my target audience and helped them with their biggest struggles.

Getting specific online is the key to standing out. Today I’d like to give you a few specific ideas that you could use to start a killer online business. You may have started something already but maybe these can help you get a little more specific.

These could also touch a chord because you may have experience in one of the areas. Take that experience and combine it with research to create a killer online business.

Interview prep

As I write this there are people all over the world interviewing for jobs. Four years ago I had to hire people for my business and it was a nightmare at times. You may know how to interview well but many people don’t.

A little guidance could help so many people look good in interviews and actually get jobs. You could be that person giving them guidance and create a killer business out of it.

Think about all the things you could offer:

Interview prep through one on one/ group coaching.
An online course on the interview process.
A PDF checklist of what to do before and after an interview.
An audio guide of some commonly asked questions in interviews. 

The ideas area limitless. You could then create a ton of free content specifically talking about interviewing at jobs. You can also interview human resource professionals and start the “Job Prep” podcast. 

People will respond like crazy because of how specific it is. The beauty of this is you don’t have to have a huge audience to make money. You will always have an audience because people will always interview for jobs.

As of this writing the domain jobprep.com is available! The content you create would be so specific you wouldn’t have to create it as often. You could have numbers and a bunch of research to back up what you’re saying.

If you have any experience with interviews or job prep this idea could be gold for you. Somebody better run with this one

2. Aches and pains

This idea might almost be too general because of all the aches and pains you can talk about. We all have aches and pains so this would be a topic that would appeal to a wide audience.

Maybe you’ve had issues with aches and pains or maybe someone close to you has. Take that experience and learn as much as possible as you can about aches and pains.

Things you can offer:

An e-book on aches and pains and remedies
An online course on the common causes of aches and pains
A PDF of what to do when you get certain aches and pains

Again the ideas are limitless. It would be easy to create compelling content because of all the information out there. The way to stand out would be to add your own unique spin.

You could get even more specific and talk about natural ways to cure aches and pains or only talk about specific aches and pains.

When I was at Brendon Burchard’s Experts Academy I met a man whose online business is to help people with allergies. At the time I thought the idea was crazy. After talking to him, checking online and seeing that he was making six-figures, I learned a lesson: specific is the way to go. All he talks about is allergies in America and how to cure them. He’s actually very passionate about it.

You can be as passionate with the aches and pains and help people overcome difficult pain. I hope someone who has experience or passion with this topic runs with it! At the time of this writing the domain achesandpains.com is available.

Here are a few more ideas:

Human resources online. If you have experience in HR you could be the go to source online for HR professionals or people who just want to get in the mind of an HR person. The domain HR101guide.com is available.
Voice problems. Maybe someone wants to be a singer or just has problems talking. You can research voice issues and create content to help people fix those problems. The domain letmehelpyourvoice.com is available.
Domain expert. One of the hardest things online is picking the right domain and that’s where you come in. Create content and products on the ins and outs of domains. The domain domainknowledge.com is available.
Customer service. Have you ever experienced horrible customer service? We all have and this is an area that many could use training on. That training could come from you! The domain customerservicetraining101.com is available.

These ideas are very specific. This will help with creating content and finding an audience. You’ll be able to dig really deep and people with these struggles will buy like crazy.

If you decide to use any of these please email me and let me know how it goes. I would love to feature your story here. What do you talk about online? How can you get more specific? 

P.S. Since Friday is July 4th this will be the only post this week Enjoy the holiday and spend that time fully present with your family!

Never Give Up on Your Dream (You’re Closer Than You Realize)

Hey all! I’m excited to have my friend Dave Arnold writing for us today. Dave is a husband, father, writer, speaker, coach, and advocate for the displaced. You can connect with him on Twitter  or Facebook. 

I wanted to bring Dave on because he is in a unique position and has an amazing story. I think we all can relate with Dave’s efforts to build his business. When you’re done reading the post head over to Dave’s site and check out what he has going on. I’m a huge fan of his and love how he’s helping people. Take it away Dave!

Two months ago I received a letter in the mail. It was one of those letters that you read and think, Gulp. Now what am I going to do?

What did the letter say? I knew you’d ask.

The letter was from the district superintendent – i.e. the main boss – of the church-based organization I work for, and indicated that unfortunately funds have dried up and therefore they can no longer afford to pay me a salary or health benefits.

To their credit, this action is not immediate; it will happen down the road. Nevertheless it will happen.

The gulp came because I have two small children – one who was just born this past March – and we will lose our health benefits.

All that to say, however, I wasn’t scared or even that disappointed.

Why is that?

I’ll get to that in a minute.

Sometimes a closed-door and bad news is the exact thing we need to help us walk through a better door which leads to good news.

You see, there are many factors and forces out there attempting to knock you off of the path of your dream. We have our own fears and what-ifs to deal with, other people’s opinions and plans for us… you name it.

Truthfully, I’ve given up on my dream more than once and have used all the excuses:

I started too late.

Why would people listen to me?

I can’t make a living doing this.

But I’m here to say, it’s possible to live your dream and that…

It’s never too late to start. In fact, the most important thing is to start.

People will listen to you because you are the only unique you on the planet. The world needs your voice! You can make a living off your dream if you are persistent and willing to put some elbow grease into it.

So after I opened the letter and shared it with my wife, she reminded me of a conversation we had about six months ago.

The conversation was about how I felt called to provide for my family through my online business of writing, speaking, and coaching. This promoted me to talk to my dad who has his own business and just finished publishing his own book.

In short, my dad offered to contract me to help him with online marketing and promoting his book (stuff I love to do and am doing with my own business). Not only that, it’s more than double what I was making with the faith-based organization and he’s 100% supportive of my dream.

Amazing!

So just because one door closes it doesn’t mean it’s the end. Like the great Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Our job is to keep taking shots, keep getting out there, keep knocking on the door of our dreams.

Sure doors will shut, but you better believe others will open. Kimanzi is an example to all of us as someone who didn’t give up on his dream and kept knocking.

So I say, knock on friends, knock on.

If you enjoyed this, please consider signing up for my email list. You can do so here and get my free Manifesto, Made to Soar.

Was there ever a time when you have thought about or have given up on your dream? 

P.S. In case you missed it my friend Jimmy and I launched something to help frustrated self-published authors. Check it out here.

Sleazy Marketing Tactics You Should Avoid

Sometimes the Internet can be the wild west. There’s some amazing information out there but a ton of information that you should run far, far away from.

Starting out I researched what was working and how I could implement those tactics so I could actually start making money. Back then I was desperate for money.

We were living paycheck to paycheck and even if my online business only made $100 a month that could have made an impact on our lives. I’m not going to lie, I was desperate.

Desperation made me do things that common sense should have steered me away from. It also made me consume more information than I could have possibly acted on.

At the height of the madness I was signed up for 87 different blogs. I would follow the SEO guys, the analytic guys, the MLM guys and so on. I read everything and tried a bunch of stuff but honestly I never reached that $100 a month mark.

If you’re starting out or haven’t seen any progress with your online business I know how you feel. You put your blood, sweat and tears into this thing and you just want to see results (I can help).

Even though it’s frustrating there are some marketing tactics that you should never turn to in an attempt to make a couple of dollars. Here are a few major ones.

1. Lying

If you told me you made $1,000 yesterday selling your book there’s really not a way to prove it. Online you can lie your teeth out. You should never lie or exaggerate the truth.

I’m a Christian and I firmly believe the truth always comes out. If you’re not you might believe in karma. If you’re faking it the truth will come out and especially if you’re a coach. If people hire you and don’t get results it won’t be long before your business dries up.

Life is too short to live a lie. Be you and be proud of who you are and the action you’re taking. If you’re not there yet that’s ok. You will get there but until then be honest about where you’re at.

2. Over promising

You know exactly what I’m talking about. Websites that claim this product will increase sales by 200% or get you “these” amazing results. Again, run far away.

Not every product or service will make millions or cure cancer. When you’re writing copy for your product or service clearly state what it does and the real life benefits.

I’m guessing if you release a product it’s something you have personal experience with. What results did your product or service get for you? Tell me about that. Get personal and tell me how it’s helped your life and I’ll buy it. Get some testimonials from people who have gotten value from it.

3. Not giving refunds

I’ve bought a few online products that weren’t as advertised. For legal reasons I can’t name them but when I asked for a refund I was given the run around. One of them I did get my money back but I pretty much had to send a letter to my congressman first.

If someone buys something from you and doesn’t get the value and asks for a refund give it to them. Our goal should be to deliver over the top value to anyone who buys our stuff. If we don’t then we shouldn’t try to keep someone’s money.

4. Promoting a product without reviewing it first

One way to make money online is through affiliate sales. You see a product or service from someone and you promote it on your websites. Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income makes a ton of cash from affiliate sales. Pat’s a super honest guy and only promotes things he believes in.

There’s a temptation to look at his numbers and want to try the same thing. Hey it’s easy too! You take a product and just have to promote it. Don’t let the temptation to make easy money have you promote a product or service you haven’t directly experienced.

If you haven’t used it or someone you absolutely respect hasn’t used it don’t promote it. That’s a recipe for disaster and who knows what that product or service teaches. Don’t do it!

5. Holding back on all the good stuff

There’s a temptation to think you have to hold back on all your good content. If someone wants it they should pay for it. That kind of thinking will keep your thing from growing.

People have to see you actually know what you’re talking about before they buy from you. Putting your best stuff out there shows people you do know. People buy from someone they know, like, and trust. Giving them your good stuff helps accomplish all three.

6. Sneaky SEO tactics

There are a ton of things you can do to get your site high in Google. There’s also a ton of information online that can teach you how to do it in shady ways. I’ll keep this brief: don’t do any of them.

When Google finds out your site will be blacklisted and that’s it for you. It’s not worth the little bit of traffic. Just do things the right even though it’s a slower way.

7. Broken links 

Sometimes the big bloggers will send out their post with broken links. They’ll then send out the same post will the “correct links.” They do this to increase open rates and it actually works.

It’s tempting but if you only have an email list of less than 500 people doing this tactic will get people unsubscribing like crazy. It’s not worth it in the long run and it’s not a good way to build trust.

8. Not offering a replay for your webinars 

I’ve debated this one with a few people. My buddy Gene from Leaders in the Trenches brought up some good points. Those with bigger online presences tend to not offer a replay for their webinars.

I’m going to stay objective so I’ll say this CAN be for two reasons:  They believe only people watching live will act on the information or they want you on the live video because they know you’re more likely to buy.

I’ll keep my opinion to myself. I will say that if you don’t have a huge audience it doesn’t make sense to not offer a replay. You want as many people as possible to see your stuff.

Someone could watch your video weeks later, like the content, and decide to buy. I’ve had this happen at least four times that I know of. It’s also a great way to build your online presence.

Don’t get sucked into all the information out there. Focus on what you need to do right now to grow your online presence. When you learn something new and relevant apply it right away and then learn some more. More action.

Follow advice from those you greatly respect and study them. Be honest, add value, and your dream will support you! If you need help figuring out what works check out my coaching program.

What are some sleazy marketing tactics you’ve seen online? 

I Know Where You’re Wasting Time

Building your dream on the side is hard. You have a day job and a family. You have other responsibilities and the general craziness of life. Finding time to build your dream seems impossible at times.

It’s a dilemma because you don’t have time but if you don’t make the time your dream will never happen. I remember this dilemma clearly as I was building this business.

I worked 50 to 60 hours a week delivering bread. I have a wife and three growing children and I had responsibilities at church. I slept three to five hours a night for twelve years but still dreamed of being a writer.

Despite all the craziness I did find time to write two books, create several products, speak all over the world and build an online business that supports our family.

It might seem like a lot but it wasn’t half as much as I could have accomplished if I was focused. I could have done a lot more and gotten here faster with two major tips.

If you’re chasing a dream on the side you’re going to have to use every minute wisely. With two simple tips you can make your dream happen a lot quicker.

Cut out the distractions

As you’re reading this you’re probably thinking “duh” but as you think that how many tabs do you have open right now? Are your email and social media notifications turned on? Are you getting calls that really aren’t that important?

Every minute is precious and when you use those minutes catering to distractions that’s one less minute you can spend on your dream. Those little distractions are time killers and if you added up the time you would be shocked.

Dan Miller is the multi-millionaire NY Times best-selling author of 48 Days To The Work You Love. Last year he had a challenge to create one new product every month. He created those products and wrote a book. He also reads one book a week. Read that paragraph over again and say WOW!

One thing that I’ve heard Dan say over and over again is that he works in uninterrupted blocks of time. He completely eliminates the distractions, especially the ones I mentioned above. He uses that time to focus and just work.

Can we all be superstars like Dan Miller? 100% YES! You may not get as much accomplished in the same amount of time but you can get more accomplished than you ever thought possible. 

I just interviewed Stacy Claffin. She wakes up every day at 4 am and writes until 7 am. During those three hours she cuts out all other distractions. Working without distractions has allowed her to write and release 11 books since November of 2012. Did I mention that she has two kids who she home schools and runs a daycare??

This is how you create rockstar content that grows your audience, changes lives, and brings hope to the world. Social media will come and go but your dream can change your life and give you true freedom.

Look, we all have different things going on in our lives. You may not have huge blocks of time to work on your dream. The point is to use whatever you have and do the best you can.

*One day test* I challenge you for one day to work in an uninterrupted block of time. When you sit down to work on your dream turn everything else off. At the end of that time period see what you’ve accomplished compared to what you normally do. If it works you might want to continue and build until it’s a habit that helps you create and grow your dream!

Focus on what’s most important right now

How many blogs do you read everyday? How many podcasts do you listen to? There’s a ton of information out there and it’s easy to get information overload. As a matter of fact most people starting out or people who haven’t seen progress end up getting information overload.

We want answers and we want our thing to be built better and faster. In an effort to do that we turn to information. Information overload has crippled many a dream and there’s an easy fix: focus on what’s most important right now.

If you’re just starting out your focus should be creating amazing content and building your email list. That’s where your focus should be, not reading an article about affiliate marketing tips. Not listening to a podcast about SEO tactics.

Too often we see something cool an A-Lister did that generated a bunch of money and we want to try it. We download the plugin, we install that widget. We buy that program and in the end it’s a complete waste of time. We spend hours just trying to figure out how to use the thing and that’s precious time that could be used building your audience one person at a time.

That’s where they are at in their journey not where you should try to be. You need to do what’s going to make progress where you are. The thing that always makes progress and actually builds your business is making life-long customers.

That’s the advantage you have when you’re “small”, you can make a personal connection with every new audience member. That personal connection is what makes life-long customers as Derek Halpern talked about.

Don’t run down the rabbit holes. Instead focus on what you need to work on where you are in the journey. Do that and then move on to all those cool things. Realize that in the end good content is what people are looking for. All the fancy plugins and widgets are nice but if the content doesn’t back it up people aren’t coming back. Have you ever gone back to a restaurant that looked good but had yucky food?

Look, you can build an online business that supports your family if you have the right focus, cut out the distractions, and hustle. I can tell you from personal experience that this life is better than you can imagine.

There’s nothing like having the freedom to spend time on the things that are important to you. To live life on your terms, not the systems.

How much time do you get to work on your dream weekly? How productive are you honestly? 

When Is The Right Time To Chase Your Dream?

For 12 years I waited for the “right time” to make big changes in my life. I told myself I would wait until our kids were a little older. I would wait until I found a new job. I had ten things that I would wait for before I took action.

I spent years waiting and all it resulted in was a miserable life. Every day was miserable, every day I dreamed of more. All I did was dream. I never took action on any of those dreams.

When I decided to stop waiting for the right time and took action change happened which lead to all our dreams becoming our reality. Today we live in Maui, Hawaii. I’ve lost 160 pounds and I’m fully supported by my dream.

I don’t say this to brag. I’m not special and I’m definitely not the only person living their dream. Every day people are seeing their dream become their reality and every day is an opportunity for you.

Today is the right time

Stop waiting for the right time because it’s never going to come. Life isn’t a movie where things just “work out.” The right time is right now, today, the very moment after you get done reading this.

Life is too short and we’re not even guaranteed a tomorrow. All we have is today so stop waiting! Make today count! Can you imagine how differently you would live your life if you found out today was your last day on this earth?

You wouldn’t let all your doubts and fears or the negative voices of others keep you from making that day count. That’s how we should live each day. The right time is today and right now.

What dream are you chasing and how are you actively chasing it? 

When You’re Small You Have To Look Big

Have you seen Natalie Sisson’s videos? They’re amazing and on location in some pretty cool places. I have to admit that her videos are better than mine I’m laughing as I write this because her videos are WAY better than mine!

My videos are better now and since figuring out how to use iMovies they’ve got even better. Right? When I started out I really didn’t think too much about how they looked. I just wanted to get the videos out there.

I felt the same way about my blog posts and website. Hey, I was taking action and putting myself out there, wasn’t that enough? When you looked at everything I did you would definitely think I was “small time.”

When we’re starting out we don’t focus too much on how things look, we focus on creating. That’s good and bad. What we release to the world doesn’t have to be perfect but you want it to look top-notch.

Look, at the end of the day if the content is killer people will be engaged and come back. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have great content and make it look good too. As a matter of fact if you want people to hire you when you’re small your stuff should look like a million bucks!

The little things go a long way

When you’re building this on the side you usually don’t have a bunch of disposable income. It would be nice to hire a VA to create beautiful images and do amazing editing on your videos and podcasts if you had the money.

Even though you may not have a bunch of money to throw around there are tools and services you can use to make your stuff look really good. Here are a few tools/services to make you look good. These are just the basics:

Bartering. There are many amazing people online doing all kinds of stuff. Maybe there’s a way for you to come together and help each other out by bartering services. One of the things you need is a professional looking website. To get one designed it could cost you between $900-$3000. Could you trade coaching with a web designer to get your site together? My friend Abbie did just that and now has a professional looking website. Whatever you do there is someone online that needs that skill and it can be a golden opportunity for both of you. Don’t just barter with anyone and everyone.  Look for people who this kind of arrangement would work best for both of you. Cost: Free.
PicMoney. As a blogger you always need good images and that’s where pic monkey can help. Take one of your photos and edit it to fit what you’re talking about in that post. Cost: Free.
Mailchimp. Now if you use Aweber that’s cool. I only bring up Mailchimp because that’s who I use as my email provider. They do a great job getting your emails out to your email list and there are many templates to make your emails look professional. Remember what we talked about a few posts away? Your email list is one of the most important parts of your online business. Cost: Free to $10 a month at their lowest plan.
E-Junkie. You need a shopping cart service to sell your stuff. Again, there are many great options but I use E-Junkie and am very happy with the service. They’re professional and very versatile. You can have a shopping cart service for everything you’ll sell plus set up discount codes and affiliates. Cost: $5 a month at their lowest plan.
Standard software. There is way too much software to list and I did release a post on all the stuff I use. To look good at a lower price the iWorks products and the basic Microsoft products will work.

Make an extra effort 

Even if you’re building you should treat everything you do very seriously. If you’re doing a webinar you should be well-practiced up ahead of time. It shouldn’t look like you just threw something together.

Your blog posts should look like they’re well thought out. Your products and services should be content that blows your target audience away. You don’t have to be a huge A-Lister to make your stuff look “big”.  You just have to make an extra effort.

Are you willing to give this all you’ve got? If you are you’ll make your online business stand out and grow to where it will support you. That’s what it takes!

What do you do to make your online business stand out? 

P.S. The winner of TC Avey’s book is Lawrence Namale! Congrats Lawrence and thank you for the generous gift TC

A Little Research Goes A Long Way

When I started writing in July of 2011 I was told the more I blogged the more traffic I would get. I saw many successful bloggers releasing blog posts everyday so I decided to do the same thing.

When I started I had so much to talk about. I was very general so I released a new post five days a week. I could write for hours and days back then so everyday posting was no issue at all for me.

You know how it goes, right? I started with five posts a week but after a month I started to burn out. It also didn’t help that I was only getting five to ten visitors a day reading the blog. Back then I was so desperate for engagement that I let the spam comments stay on the blog and I even responded to them (don’t tell anyone)!

I dropped the posting to four days, then three and finally landed on posting two times a week. How did I land on that number and what have the results been? Let’s talk about it

Posting more doesn’t bring in more traffic

I want to add a caveat to that statement:  It doesn’t add more traffic when you’re building. If you’re running a large blog like Problogger posting more will get you more traffic because you have thousands of people viewing and sharing which brings in a ton of search traffic.

Think about this logically: How does posting more bring you more traffic…….? Chances are if you have a smaller audience you’re not getting that much traffic from the search engines so how would posting more help?

If you have a smaller audience they probably need time to digest your content. When you’re posting too often I guarantee they’re not reading every one of your posts unless they’re SUPER fans.

Keep in mind that people are busy and life is crazy. They probably are reading multiple blogs every day. With all the content out there you have to give your readers just the right dose of you: Too much and they spit you out. Content that’s worth it and they keep reading it.

Derek Halpern at Social Triggers has talked a lot about this topic and is very knowledgeable. Check out what he has to say about how often you should post. Jeff Bullas recently ran a really good post talking about this also.

Before moving on let me just say upfront that I’m not attacking you if you post more than once a week. My goal is to help you figure out what works best to build your online business but I do want to give you actionable content to think about. As I always say, testing is how you figure things out.

Better is better than more

Instead of posting more content, how about better content? What do I mean when I say better? I mean you don’t just throw a post out there so you can stay consistent with your posting schedule.

Every blog post should make your target audience think and want to take action. Tweetable 

We all have felt the pressure the night before our next post is supposed to go live. In that moment we’re tempted to throw 400 words together and schedule it. Bad move and a good way to get people to not open your emails anymore.

Here are a few tips for better posts:

Research: If you’re teaching something how can you back up what you’re saying? Is there a great article or podcast that can back you up? Link to relevant content that can help your target audience but don’t go nuts with the hyperlinks. You want people to be tuned into what you’re teaching.  You do not want them going to someone else’s site and not coming back. Hyperlinks should always open in a new window. Linking to an extremely helpful article makes your content more valuable and you get some link juice from Google. I’ve made an effort to put a lot more research into my posts and in the last month the response has been: 26% more visitors, 37% more shares, an increase in my open rates of 11%. Test it out and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Numbers: This kind of goes with research but if you can include helpful numbers your post will be better. More than just numbers, real numbers. The reason Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income is so popular is because of his honesty and openness in sharing his numbers. Are there numbers that are relevant to what you’re teaching? I’m not telling you to reveal your whole life but if you can get personal with your numbers your audience will respond like crazy.
Get personal: People read your blog because they want to learn but more than that, they want to learn from you. Get more personal and let people know why you’re writing about what you’re writing about. Is there an example you can use from your life? Have you ever been to a website where the person is writing in the third person? Do you feel that personal connection that makes you want to keep reading? The answer is NO and you don’t want to be you.
Get to the point: As writers we can tend to ramble on. As I’m writing this post I can see that I’m already at 886 words. Stop rambling Kimanzi! I will go through the post again and take out anything that’s not necessary. You should do the same. If something isn’t relevant to what you’re teaching, take it out.

These are just a few tips but I hope you get what I’m trying to say. Quantity is not the answer, quality is. Put your heart and soul into each post and the response will be more engagement.

Test out the right combination of posting and see what results you get. If you’re just posting a certain amount of times because you read an A-Lister say that’s what you should do, rethink that strategy.

I had an email list of 6,700 people at its height. When I went from posting five days to three days my open rates decreased by 8%. When I went from three days to two my open rates decreased 5%.

When I focused on writing better content, even though I was posting less, my open rates increased by 11% and a whole bunch of other good results. The one result that matters the most is my bottom line.

More people opening and being engaged means more people responding by buying my books and hiring me for services. I’m learning how to convert which is what gets your dream to support you. Write better content, it’s the key!

How often do you post and how did you come up with that number? Is there a way for you to write better content? 

Book Launching 101

This is a guest post by TC Avey who is a Christian devoted to God, family and friends. She is passionate about encouraging Christians to live a life dedicated to Christ as well as helping them understand the importance of preserving our national freedoms through knowledge and love. She blogs at Wisdom of a Fool. You can also follow her on Twitter and GoodReads. Her book, The Precipice: When Everything We Know Ends, is available for purchase on Amazon by clicking here.

I recently launched my book, The Precipice: When Everything We Know Ends.

I spent months preparing for this event. I can’t tell you the amount of time and effort that went into my launch—forget the blood, sweat, and tears of editing and publishing. I’m talking about the LAUNCH!

You see, it’s not enough to simply write and publish an awesome book. You can be the world’s next bestselling author, but if the world doesn’t know your book exists, it doesn’t matter how great the content is (click to tweet).

Therefore, it’s imperative you invest time and effort into your launch.

One of the initial things you need to do is start following people like Kimanzi to help you formulate your game plan (it’s what I’ve been doing for a few years and it’s been very helpful). Next, keep these things in mind as you prepare to send your book into the world.

First, build relationships with people.

Not the type of relationship where you want to sell them something (even though you hope they purchase your book), but the type of relationship that can withstand them NOT buying it.

Not everyone, even your close buddies and family will pay money to read your work. Some people don’t like reading, they aren’t passionate about the topic matter, they don’t have the time, they don’t have an eReader and you haven’t published in print, or whatever. You need to accept there will be some who won’t buy your book.

There’s also the issue that sometimes people acquire your book but they never leave a review on Amazon (or other sites)—despite how often you’ve told them the importance reviews are for future sells.

During these disappointing times to you as an author, you need to have built relationships that can withstand this type of hurt and/or disappointment.

Therefore, build relationships without an agenda (click to tweet).

After you’ve built relationships, ask people to help promote your book.

One of the best things I did was offer to write interview Q&A for people or to do a Guest Post on their blog.

Often people want to help, they just don’t have the time. Offering to do a Guest Post relieves them of the pressure of thinking up something to say about your book outside the review they’ve already agreed to write.

From my own experience in interviewing people, I’ve realized sometimes it’s hard to come up with questions, especially if an author has done five interviews already. If you (the author) have Q&A sets ready for your launch team to utilize, it will benefit everyone.

The weeks leading up to the release of my book I made sets of Q&A and had them ready in case people asked for question ideas. When anyone wanted to use a set of Q&A, I gave it to them exclusively. I never repeated them. While some of the interviews were very similar, none were identical.

This kept the content fresh for readers who may follow many of the same blogs you’re interviewed on.

TIP: The mistake I made was in cramming too much into one week!

During my launch week I did 9 Interviews and 7 Guest Posts. I bombarded social media outlets with the message, “I wrote a book”.

Days one and two of my launch had solid sells. This put my book on Amazon’s Best Seller List in all three categories I had it listed. I was beyond excited.

But by the end of the week, my sales had fizzled. People were tired of hearing about my book. Yet I remained on Amazon’s Best Seller List. Surely this would help promote my book, right?

Nope.

Being on Amazon’s Best Seller List does not guarantee additional sales. I won’t say it’s not helpful, it made me smile, but an author can’t rely on it to further get the message out: “here’s a book worth reading”.

It would have been better to have planned a 2-3 day launch using only a handful of my Interviews/Guest Posts and have the others slowly and consistently published in the following weeks.

As it was, the week after my launch I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d used up many of my resources, not to mention all the energy I’d spent in such a short amount of time. Yes, I was still on Amazon’s Best Seller List, but how was I going to stay there?

Now, I’m back to square one—building relationships and asking people if I can do Interviews and/or Guest Posts. Seems like a never-ending cycle. But it’s part of marketing a book.

I believe in my book. I believe in its message. So it’s worth all the time and effort to get it, not only on Amazon’s Best Seller List (I like to smile), but also into the hands of people I truly believe will benefit from reading it.

If you’re contemplating publishing a book, be prepared. There’s more to it than simply making it available (click to tweet). You’ve got to believe in it. Let it motivate you to reach out and meet new people. Allow it to be a spring-board for building relationships.

Because once you’ve reached someone with your book, there’s another opportunity to connect with them on a deeper level than simply selling a product.

What about you, do you have a plan for launching your book into the world?  If you have launched a book, what advice do you have for aspiring authors?

SPECIAL OFFER- One commenter will be randomly selected to win an ebook copy of The Precipice: When Everything We Know Ends. The Winner will be announced next week and contacted via email.

5 Tricks to Make You “Husband of the Month” While Chasing Your Dreams

This is a guest post by Jimmy Burgess. He was a millionaire by 35, lost it all and ended up in bankruptcy. He bounced back quickly financially, but it was the bounce back that happened physically, relationally and spiritually that led him to write the book What Just Happened? How To Bounce Back In Life So You Can Do More, Have More, and Be More. If you get the book between June 3-6 you’ll get over $200 in bonuses. You can also connect with Jimmy on Twitter. Note from Me: Jimmy is also running a contest where you can win a Kindle Fire and coaching. Details here

Is your dream all-consuming? Does your dream sometimes take your focus away from being the husband you were created to be? We all lose focus on what’s truly important now and then. The statement, “If Momma’s happy then everybody’s happy,” is so true. When my relationship with my wife is thriving , everything else in my life seems to fall into place.

In our marriages, nothing happens by accident. We need to, no we must, purposely find ways to surprise and encourage our wives if we want our relationships to grow. Ultimately, when our wives feel appreciated and special, they want to make us feel appreciated and special (wink, wink). Here are five tricks to make sure your wife feels appreciated and special even when you are chasing your dreams.

1: Write Her an Unexpected Note

Remember how you used to write letters to her when you were dating? She loved them then and she will love them even more now. This doesn’t have to be a long drawn out letter. Tell her what you appreciate about her. As a matter of fact, sometimes shorter notes have just as big an impact as love letters. Who knew that you were just a few sticky notes away from improving your marriage?

Write on a sticky note “I chose you and it was the best decision I ever made.” Place that sticky note on the bathroom mirror where she will see it first thing in the morning when she brushes her teeth. Another possibility is to write “I appreciate _______ on a sticky note,” Fill in the blank with whatever it is that you appreciate. Get creative and leave multiple notes spread around.

2: Have a Song Composed for Her

You can have a song composed and sung for $5. If you haven’t found www.fiverr.com yet, I highly recommend checking it out. You can get people to do just about anything you can dream of, from work related items to completely off-the-wall stuff, for only $5. Go on this website and search for “make a love song.” There you will find extremely talented people from all over the world who will compose and sing a song about your wife. They will then email a video that you can send her.

3: Do Unexpected Small Things

Here are a few examples that will hopefully get your mind thinking of other unique ways to do the unexpected. Before bed or in the morning, put toothpaste on her toothbrush for her. Have her coffee or tea ready for her in the morning. Make the bed. Draw her a hot bubble bath. Figure out little things she does for herself every day and do them for her.

4: Get Back to Basics

Remember what the two of you loved to do when you were dating and go do it. If it was dancing, then go dancing. If it was a picnic lunch, then go do it. If it was a motorcycle ride, then go do it. If it was a concert, then go to one. The same things you did to make her fall in love with you will make her love and appreciate you more. They may even lead her to fall in love with you again.

5: Show Her You Love Her

Begin to do more than you have ever done before. If she usually cleans the kitchen, then you do it every so often. If she usually makes breakfast for the kids, then you do it one morning. If she always cooks dinner, then you do it one night. If she usually takes the kids to school then you take them one morning. By giving more than you have ever given before, you will get back more peace, love and fulfillment than you have ever received before.

You Are The Thermostat

As a man who has been married for seventeen years, I understand that marriages have ebbs and flows. In most cases our actions, as husbands, are the thermostat that controls the temperature for our relationships with our wives and the temperament of our children. Realize how blessed you are to have your wife. Cherish her and all that she does for you and your family. Be a purposeful man of action who treasures his wife. If you will do these things, I promise that your wife and children will treasure you.

What Say You?

Together we can become the husbands we were created to be. In the comment section below, share your best trick that makes your wife feel special.

P.S. Don’t miss a webinar I’m doing on 3 Killer Ways To Grow Your Email List. June 10 at 8 pm CST.

Sign up here If you’re on my email list you’re all good!