Podcasts about day content challenge

IGNITE - 30 Day Content Challenge is HERE! $33

Today on our "monthly break" from Q&A, we talked about a challenge we are putting on for coaches. Recently the crippling overwhelm and comparison to other coaches has affect quite a few mentee's that we work with. Therefore, we came up with a 30 day content challenge for coaches to give them a kick up the ass, and get momentum and action taking to a whole new level. It is completely FREE and any coach can join.We kick off on the 30th June. The 30-day social media challenge aims to boost consistency for coaches.Repetitions in posting help build confidence and efficiency.Coaches often struggle with overthinking their content.Finding one's voice is crucial for effective engagement.Community support can motivate coaches to take action.Client check-ins should focus on key areas for improvement.Scaling a coaching business requires reevaluating service delivery.Reactive changes to pricing or services can be detrimental.Reflecting on client loss can provide valuable insights.Consistency in social media can lead to better client interactions.Want to join? Simply join the free Facebook group here

The Calm Business Encyclopedia project reached its finish line and we're equal parts excited and exhausted

In today's episode I'm celebrating 100 episodes of the podcast!! And I'm diving into the 5 key lessons I've learnt since starting my podcast back in September 2020, what I wish I'd known then and some perspective shifts to help you start and grow you're own. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

Have you ever felt like you are doing all the things, you're taking all the action and you literally can't do anymore... but nothing is working? You aren't seeing results, you feel stuck and it just feels like it's never going to happen. In this episode, I talk about this exact feeling and how you can shift this energy and move forwards. We dive into connecting with your bigger vision & why, recommitting and igniting that 'no matter what' energy and when to know when to pivot, change or even quit completely. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

How is it already the end of April? I feel like I blinked and a month passed! April has been all about finding my flow in business again after a break and I talk about how it felt coming back to creating content again, signing clients after not selling for 5-6 weeks and making a BIG investment in my health and what that brought up for me. It's a JUICY one, so grab a cup of tea and let's dive in. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

I recently took an unplanned break from social media for over a month (!) and on returning, found it really difficult to pick up momentum again and get back into the habit of posting consistently. So, in this episode, I'm sharing the exact steps I took in March to do exactly that. I take you through the 4 key stages of returning to content creation to help you turn it into a daily habit, pick up momentum and post consistently again. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

Jess is a heart-centred Mindset and Lifestyle Coach, obsessed with empowering women to heal their mindset and guide them to the most vibrant version of themselves. In this episode, Jess shares all about her coming full circle within her coaching business, rediscovering her authentic voice and what that actually looks like and the importance of building self trust and leading with confidence. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Connect with Jess: ✨ Instagram: @jessreadingco ✨ Podcast: The Prep Talk Podcast ✨ 1:1 Coaching with Jess Let's Connect:

If you're feeling a bit stuck, stagnant and just don't know what to focus on or do next, this episode is for you. I'm sharing the exact steps I took in March to go from feeling 'meh' to 'let's freaking do this'. If you're ready for a bit of a reset this Spring, grab a cup of tea and let's dive in! If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

The podcast is back babyyyy! After an unplanned month off, I'm sharing all the Q1 updates and lessons, including where I've been in March and my plan for Q2! I chat weight loss, grief, taking a break from content & social media and so much more so grab a cup of tea and let's go! If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

It's 1st March! Spring is on its way and I am SO freaking excited. In this episode I'm sharing 5 of the habits I am embracing and practicing as we come into spring to help me take intentional action towards my goals, look after myself and just show up as my most confident and aligned self. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

I took nearly 2 weeks off socials in February and I'm sharing all the lessons, shifts & lightbulb moments I've had during that time. I dive into some of the things that have felt a little off in the online space recently and share some of the things I'm changing in my own approach to business & content. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

Abbie Radford is a Business Coach & Mentor helping women move like they know they could be through activating your most POWERFUL self Abbie helps you elevate your mind, messaging and brand for FIYAH messaging, ILYSM clients & offer expansion. In this episode... Abbie bares ALL when it comes to marketing, mindset and creating a business that you are TRULY obsessed with, all whilst fulfilling your potential and stepping into your power. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Connect with Abbie: ✨ Instagram: @thisisabigailjane ✨ Podcast: The High Ticket Honeys Podcast ✨ Free Masterclass: 32k in 60 Days Let's Connect:

An inside look into Content Club! Join us here for free weekly coaching!   Don't Miss "TRAILBLAZER: THE 5-DAY CONTENT CHALLENGE!!" SING UP HERE: https://www.matthewallyn.me/trailblazer 

What is my client CRUSHING her content? Uncovering and understanding her deeper purpose OUTSIDE of her business Speaking to the version of yourself that "woke up" Speaking from life experiences and using specific details and getting out of your comfort zone to create FUN and FRESH content!   Sign up for TRAILBLAZER: The 5-Day Content Challenge here: https://www.matthewallyn.me/trailblazer  Connect with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthew.allyn/ 

For the past two years, I have shown up consistently across my Instagram & podcast, posting at least 3-4 times week on my Instagram feed, nearly every day on my stories and once a week on my podcast. And I've done it WITHOUT burning out, without resenting it and without it feeling like something to just tick off the to do list. Want to know how? In this episode, I'm sharing 5 shifts to help you create content consistently without burning out. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

You want to feel more confident and full of self trust - but what does that actually mean to you? In this episode I'm sharing 6 different ways building my own inner confidence has supported me in my life, work & business. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

Welcome to another episode of the Soul Shift Series! In this episode, I'm sharing the one shift I made in my content to take it from blah & boring to powerful AF and effortless. I chat about perfectionism in our content creation, how that is holding us back from really tapping into our authentic voice and how we come back to ourselves to connect to our dream clients. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

Alicia-May @iamaliciamaycoaching is a multi 6 figure business coach that works with women to create wealth & activate their true purpose. Alicia combines her expertise in money & mindset together in her coaching work with one main mission - to stop trading money for time, supporting female business owners to scale to 6 figures and beyond their OWN way! In this episode, Alicia shares honestly about her journey from starting again to multi-6 figures in just 12 months. She shares the real highs and lows of an entrepreneur and what she would do differently, the lessons and breakthroughs she experienced and her big celebrations. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Connect with Alicia: ✨ Instagram: @iamaliciamaycoaching ✨ Podcast: Memos of a Millionaire ✨ Membership: Boost 12 Month Membership Let's Connect:

When I started my business I was RIDDLED with perfectionism. It showed up in almost every single thing I did and massively held me back from showing up online, getting VISIBLE and ultimately, growing my business. So today, I'm breaking down 4 different ways perfectionism has shown up for me and I've gone a step further to explain the mindset & beliefs I had BEHIND the perfectionism (i.e. WHY it was stopping me from growing!). If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

In this episode, I'm laying down the gauntlet. It's time for a 100-Day content challenge. If you're looking to take things to the next level this year, joining this challenge is a MUST. Most people underestimate organic content's ability to positively impact their bottom line. I like to think of direct response marketing as a faucet that you can turn on or turn off and I like to think of branding as more of a river. You need both to succeed and there are distinct advantages to each.What's the best way to go about it though? And which platforms should you use? I cover all of that in this episode. Other episodes mentioned in today's podcast: Episode 18 and Episode 51Time stamps: 2:13 Why I Don't Talk About Social Media 4:13 My REAL Feelings On "Branding"5:12 Branding And Your Value Proposition 7:13 How Investing And Organic Are More Alike Than You Thought9:24 The 100-Day Content Challenge10:39 The First Time Organic Paid Off For Us Off Big Time12:58 What To Do If You're Worried About Consistency 16:46 Get Access To My Social Content Planner17:10  100 Days Vs 30 Days ► Follow Josh on social media: YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Enjoying The Ecommerce Alley Podcast?Click here to join our free Facebook group to get additional resources & access to weekly LIVE workshops that will help grow your revenue.

Welcome to the first episode 2023! In this episode, I'm sharing 8 practical things you can do in January to prepare for your best year yet. You don't have to hit the ground running, but making time for these things will help to set yourself up for a great year. If you loved this episode, please leave a 5* review and share a screenshot on Instagram, tagging me @amysaunds! *FREE* 5-Day Content Challenge to help you create content that connects with your DREAM clients ➡️ amysaunds.co.uk/content-challenge Let's Connect:

Follow us on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/styledby.Kim Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@styledby.kim?_t=8W0ys9wWE3u&_r=1 30 Day Content Challenge: https://mailchi.mp/e8e2942f83be/style-your-content-30-days --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theelevatedhairstylist/support

Follow us on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/styledby.Kim Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@styledby.kim?_t=8W0ys9wWE3u&_r=1 30 Day Content Challenge: https://mailchi.mp/e8e2942f83be/style-your-content-30-days --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theelevatedhairstylist/support

Follow us on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/styledby.Kim Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@styledby.kim?_t=8W0ys9wWE3u&_r=1 30 Day Content Challenge: https://mailchi.mp/e8e2942f83be/style-your-content-30-days --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theelevatedhairstylist/support

Follow us on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/styledby.Kim Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@styledby.kim?_t=8W0ys9wWE3u&_r=1 30 Day Content Challenge: https://mailchi.mp/e8e2942f83be/style-your-content-30-days --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theelevatedhairstylist/support

In this episode, Kim talks about fun & different types of content you can use this month to attract new clients into your chair! Follow us on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/styledby.Kim Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@styledby.kim?_t=8W0ys9wWE3u&_r=1 30 Day Content Challenge: https://mailchi.mp/e8e2942f83be/style-your-content-30-days --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theelevatedhairstylist/support

Join The 5 Day Content Challenge https://5daycontent.com To join Power Unit Coaching visit http://chastinjmiles.com

Yep.  All this morning.  The landing page, the workflow, the email, the worksheets and I recorded the podcast.  I know right? So it's a fun little experimental challenge designed to get you thinking and creating original content, incorporating it in different areas of your website and using the Search Console to see if you get ranked for it and if your website traffic increases.  One phrase a day...that's it.  And the worksheet has an area for brainstorming and tracking your results.  See? Fun right? Now I can't guarantee any results at all.  Again it's just an experiment so you can see what content and placement works and doesn't work on your website.  To get your worksheet click here: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6267fe5e1e8046b22025388b  I used Flodesk and Canva to do this. If you have any questions, click on the link below to leave me a voice message.  Thanks for listening! Enjoy the Challenge and Happy Website-ing! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mistie-smith/message

A blog is a really great entry point into the world of online business. It's got a low barrier to get started, and literally anyone with internet access can do it. But you're not just anyone. You're a teacher. And if you're going to do something, damn it, you're going to do it right. And this is exactly what keeps so many teachers from starting their blog. There's an expression of unknown origin that Gretchen Rubin popularized in her book, The Happiness Project, that is quite apt for this situation; The perfect is the enemy of the good.  No doubt you've read about blogging (hello!), watched YouTube videos, or listened to podcasts, and you've discovered that there's more to a blog than slapping up a website and shoving out content. In fact, learning about blogging can take you down quite a rabbit hole… It can lead to procrastilearning or educrastination and prevent you from ever getting started. I wrote about that a while back, and you can read Why Teacherprenuers Should Stop Learning and Start Doing here. But that still leaves you in a bind. You still have all this information and according to internet expert A and blog guru B, it's all important. Well, it is.  But it doesn't all need to be done right now.  It took me years to get my first blog to a place where I felt like all the pieces were in place and working in concert. But even though it was far from perfect, it was good enough to start making money for my family. Instead of trying to do everything, focus on the things that are going to become the foundation of your blogging business. Worry about the rest when these pieces are not only solid, but systematized. So, what are the three things you should focus on?  Let's dig in! Content Pillars If your blog niche is kind of like the subject you teach, your content pillars are the 4-6 units you'd break that subject down into for a particular course.  Content pillars are a great way to narrow your focus so that you can become a go-to resource for one specific niche.  For example, you might be a certified family consumer science teacher (home ec to us golden oldies). You can teach a variety of subjects, but if your course is an intro to cooking class, you're not going to be teaching sewing patterns, money management, or even how to keep your souffle from falling. Because those things are what students in that course are looking for. Similarly, your blog may be about gardening and your niche is people who want to learn how to grow their own food. Your content pillars would reflect the 4-6 big ideas that that audience would be interested in.  The important thing to keep in mind is that aaaaaaallllllll your content, especially at first, needs to fit clearly into one of your pillars. When you stray from your pillars, you confuse your audience. And as Donald Miller says, “When you confuse, you lose.” Read more about content pillars here. Purpose If your blog's purpose is to make money, then the content you create needs to be developed with that purpose in mind.  While your blog can, itself, make money (through ads, affiliate links, etc.), it's also your biggest marketing channel. This is true whether you're selling products, services, or digital downloads. It's also true if you don't sell anything yet and you're just trying to build up readership.  Your blog is a marketing channel for your blog. It's very meta. Create your content to do one of three things: Build authority. Help your readers see you as a go-to source for your topic.  Strengthen relationships. Get to know your audience, and let them get to know you as a real person. Actively sell. Done least often, your content can be a direct conduit into your sales funnel or an affiliate sale. For more on the primary purposes of your content check out 3 Content Purposes: Making Your Content Work for You.  Email List Many beginning bloggers neglect this step and regret it later. Your email list is the lifeblood of your business. It is not controlled by an algorithm. It is not subject to being closed at the whim of a giant corporation.  It is yours.  And that is a very special thing in the world of online business. To get people on your list you're going to have to offer something in exchange, but it doesn't have to be anything huge. In fact, if you offer something too big as your email optin, it can scare people off.  So think simple, straight-forward, and something that will give your new email list member a quick win. I did a Facebook Live on this a while back, which I encourage you to check out. It's 5 Types of Freebies You Can Offer in Exchange for an Email Address. To manage reader emails (and not violate FFC regulations) you're going to need to sign up with an email service provider. The one I use and recommend is ConvertKit. They even have a free plan for those not quite ready to invest.  Once you get someone - yes, even one person - signed up, you want to send out emails weekly. It doesn't have to be much. Just a quick, “Hey, did you see the new blog post? It's about X and you can read it by clicking here,” is enough at first. If you focus on these three things, your blog will grow.  Spend your time creating great purposeful content that clearly fits in your content pillars, and include a call to action to join your email list in every. single. post.  Blogging can be complicated, but it doesn't have to be. That's a choice. Don't let your desire for your blog to be perfect, and have all the bells and whistles, prevent it from being good. And now you can generate 6 months worth of blog post ideas in the FREE 5-Day Content Challenge. Never be stuck for what to write about, and publish great content with purpose every week. Click here to enroll for free!

As a teacher, you may be sick of hearing about data. But as a blogger and business owner, you can't ignore the numbers. If you want to know if your efforts are paying off, you need to track your numbers.  If you want to know what people are responding to, you need to track your numbers. If you want help determining where to reinforce your efforts, you need to track your numbers. You know this. The good news is that, thanks to Google Analytics, gathering data for your blog is much easier than it is in your classroom. You can literally just log in and find out what you need to know! If you've not set up your Google Analytics account, you can find the instructions on how to do so here. Once you set up your account, Google will track your site's activity and you can check on it at any time. It's a beautiful thing! The not so good news is that Google Analytics gives you a ton of data, and it can be overwhelming.  So let's dig into the numbers you really need to know to track your progress. What Are Key Performance Indicators? Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the data points that are going to help you evaluate whether your blog is growing in the way you want it to.  Over time, these KPIs will also help you  identify trends, like whether or not it's normal for your traffic to drop after Christmas, or that your bounce rate drops when you include at least 3 internal links in your posts. This knowledge will give you insight, inspiration, and peace of mind when you're going through the ups and downs of blogging. Page Views Your page views represent the total number of pages people have viewed on your blog. This is a great number to know as a basic overview of your site's performance. Page views are tallied each time someone views a page on your site. So if a visitor reads a blog post, follows an internal link to another blog post, then clicks to go to a page to sign up for your freebie, that would count as 3 page views. Another data point you can look at are Sessions, which is counted as a single visit, regardless of how many pages the reader views. The example above would be 1 session. There's also Users, which counts the number of unique visitors to your site. The example above would be a single user, and if they returned to your site on another day, it wouldn't add another user to your count. Generally speaking, you want your page views to go up, but don't obsess over them. Your readership is going to have natural peaks and valleys. For example, a health and wellness blog might see a big jump in page views around the first of the year, but November might be a bit of a lull. As long as the numbers are trending up over time, it's all good. Pages Per Session To calculate this number Google takes the total number of page views and divides it by the number of sessions over the same time period. The higher this number is, the more your readers are interacting with your site. Shopping sites tend to have higher average pages per session because people click around looking at different items. Sites that attract more cold traffic, like blogs, have lower pages per session. To increase this indicator provide more opportunities for readers to click to other content on your blog. You might add more internal links to your posts, add a stronger call to action, use a related posts plugin, or add a sidebar that entices readers to click on your opt-ins. Bounce Rate Your bounce rate is the percentage of sessions that include a single page. It indicates that people are coming to your site for whatever content drew them there, but are not engaging past that post. Of all your KPIs, this is the number you want to see decrease. A lower bounce rate means more people are sticking around and clicking through your site. Like above, to improve this focus on encouraging your readers to do something or click somewhere in each of your posts. Inbound Traffic Sources Your blog can get traffic (visitors) from lots of different sources. In Analytics, Google breaks it down into 6 basic categories in the Acquisition Overview: Direct: people who click on a link in an email or just type in your web address Referral: people who find you through a link on someone else's website Organic Search: anyone who finds you through entering a search term in Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc. Organic Social: those who get to your page via any social media network Organic Video: people who find you through YouTube and click over to your site Unassigned: anyone who finds you in a way that doesn't fit one of the other categories But here's a little tip; In the bottom left corner of this page is a box called Sessions. This box will show you where your traffic came from based on the 6 default categories. But… you can choose to dig a little deeper.  The graphic below shows the Sessions box with the default categories (on the left) and by session source (on the right). I prefer to look at the session source because it tells me exactly where my visitors are coming from.  [sessions image] My focuses for acquiring new traffic are email and Facebook. This information confirms that my efforts are paying off. You can see that direct traffic tops my report, and Facebook (mobile and standard) make up another large chunk. I can also see that my SEO game is on point because I'm getting a very nice amount of traffic via Google. I could also use information about my inbound traffic to determine if a new campaign is working or not. For example, if I had just implemented a new Instagram strategy I'd be pretty disappointed because I have literally no traffic from Instagram. I could then decide to revamp my efforts or just stick with what I can see is already working. Top Posts and Pages This KPI tells you what your most popular posts and pages were over the selected time period, based on page views.  Beyond just feeling good about yourself, there are some big benefits to knowing what posts are driving your blog traffic. First, once you know what type of posts your readers are engaging with most, you can create more of this content. Write a part 2 or follow to that post, or just craft more posts geared to that specific segment of your audience. (This may be part of niching down even further.) This data can also help you decide which older posts to promote in your email newsletter or on social media. If it's something your audience has already told you they liked through high engagement or page views, it can't hurt to put it out there again. Since you originally published the post you've likely gained new followers, and there's a better than decent chance not everyone in your audience didn't see it the first time you shared it. Finally, once you know which posts are your top performers, you can take a bit of time to optimize them. Make sure those posts have lots of internal links in them (we talked about this in the previous post 17 Essential Dos & Don'ts to Get More Traffic to Your Blog), have a really strong call to action, and that you've checked that these posts are well formatted for mobile. New Email Subscribers This is the only metric that you won't find in Google Analytics. Instead, you need to go to your email service provider (I use ConvertKit), to see how many subscribers you've gained in the month. As I mentioned above, my email list is one of my best, and most consistent marketing channels. In order to get the most value from it I need to make sure it's continually growing, with new people being added. Here's what my report looks like for the last 5 weeks. [email image] It's important to note here, that when you check this report you're also going to see the number of people who are unsubscribing from your list.In the image here they're shown in light gray. Don't get discouraged by unsubscribes. As long as over time you're gaining more subscribers than you're losing, it's all good.  New subscribers are a good indication that your opt-in is connecting with your audience. If you want this number to go up faster, there are some things you can do. While you might be tempted to scrap your current opt-in and create a new one, first play around with your call to action, and the placement of your opt-ins. You might even want to try a pop-up if you don't have one. Yes, they're annoying, but they work! (I use OptinMonster, which you can try here.) Once you know the KPIs you want to track, set a date in your calendar every month to review them. You can make a spreadsheet to record month over month, or just write it in a notebook. You don't need a complicated system, especially at first.  Instead, simply make an appointment with yourself once a month to review your numbers and don't be afraid of them. They're just numbers. They're indicators of your blog's growth, not it's success or failure (or yours). Just like your students' standardized test scores or the number you see when you step on the scale, it's just data you can use to continue to grow. And what's the most important thing when it comes to growing your blog? Consistently putting out great content. Now you can enroll in the 5-Day Content Challenge and never be stuck for what to write about. Click here to enroll for free!

You work hard on writing helpful, easy to read posts that your audience will love. So it's frustrating when it feels like no one is paying any attention. I get it. If you want to get more eyes on your content, there are a few things you can do to accelerate your growth. Here 17 dos and don'ts to maximize your blog traffic, even if you're brand new. 1. Do stay true to your niche It can be tempting to cast a wide net with your content, and write about everything connected to a particular topic. However, when your posts are too broad it's difficult to grow your audience because people don't know what to expect from post to post. Maybe last week you wrote about a DIY birdhouse and this week you gave a gluten-free pizza recipe. They're technically both “home” related, but different people are going to be interested in each, with perhaps a little overlap.  You might think that getting different people to your site is a positive, but if someone comes to your site for a specific post, but it's the only one of its kind, they won't be back. You want to keep people who find you coming back AND attracting new people, too. That's much easier to do with a clearly defined niche. If you want to know more about niching down, check this post. 2. Don't forget about your old content One mistake people make when it comes to promoting your content is thinking of promotion as one-and-done. Remember that if you're writing evergreen posts, they're useful to your audience any time, so you can keep sharing them over and over. Make sure there's some space in between when you share the same content. I recommend resharing each evergreen blog post about once a month. You can do this most easily by using a scheduler, like CinchShare, or creating a spreadsheet of each post that includes a link and description. If you want to try CinchShare free for 14 days, click here. 3. Do guest post strategically Guest posting - writing for other people's blogs - can be a great way to expand your audience.  Essentially, when you publish on someone else's site, you're borrowing their clout and getting exposure to more people who can then follow your blog. When writing guest posts, it's important to choose the sites you write for carefully. Find bloggers who would have an overlapping audience with you, but who aren't in the exact same niche. For example, an artist might do a guest post on an interior design blog, or vice versa. Check the guidelines for each site and, if possible, include a link to one of your self-hosted posts within the post you share on their site. And of course maximize the bio at the bottom of the post with a clear description of your blog and a link to find it. 4. Do use internal links An internal link is a link that you include within a blog post that leads to another piece of content you've written. The benefit of internal links is that while someone is reading one post, happily devouring it and discovering your genius, they are naturally led to another post they may find helpful. If done correctly, this can help people stay on your site longer, going from post to post, and increasing your time on page average while decreasing your bounce rate. (More on those later.) 5. Don't spam groups your in with your links I encourage my clients and students to join Facebook groups that contain your ideal audience to build relationships. However, going into these groups and simply dropping links in every thread is not going to help you.  In fact, it can do the opposite. When you use the spray and pray method - spamming groups and pages with your links - can not only get you removed and blocked from groups you want to be in. It can also lead to a reputation as one of *those* people that no one wants to build a relationship with. 7. Do make it easy to share your posts When I read a great blog post, the first thing I do is look for a button to press so I can share it with others. But I'm not going to spend forever looking for it. At the absolute least, you should have sharing buttons at the bottom of each post, but I also recommend installing a plugin like Social Warfare that will display a floating bar on the side of each post. A floating bar follows readers as they scroll down the page, always in view, so they can share with the least amount of effort.  8. Don't try to be everywhere You have a limited amount of time, and trying to post on every platform and network is just going to drain your time and energy. And to be honest, you're going to see very limited returns. Instead, decide on a primary platform (your blog), and one social network on which to focus.  I suggest starting with the social media platform you already use the most and are most familiar with, with a few things to think about:  Since new social media platforms pop up every 6 months or so (remember Clubhouse), choose one that's more established.  Consider the content you want to create. If you love watching TikTok videos, but don't want to make them, don't feel like you have to because it's your favorite platform. Go where your people are looking for you. People are everywhere online, but if your ideal audience group is using Instagram to watch videos of people making cakes and cats riding Roombas, you may have to test the waters to see if they also want to consume your content there. 9. Do get to know SEO According to Search Engine Land, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines. The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business. I recommend using a free plugin called Yoast to help manage your SEO. It allows you to set a keyword for each post, as well as a meta-description (a summary of your post that web crawlers read as they index your site). It also gives you feedback on how to improve your post's SEO. 10. Don't stuff your content full of keywords Not to state the obvious, but keywords are important. You might say they're *key* (see what I did there?). Keywords are what people enter into a search engine when they are looking for something online. As I mentioned previously, you can set a keyword for your posts, but since Google, Bing, and other search engines read your whole post to determine its subject and value, you can also include related keywords in the body of your post.  When done naturally, this works well to boost your searchability. However, when you simply use all the related phrases in your post without regard for readability or, you know… making sense, search engines don't like that (and neither do your readers). 11. Do email your list Whenever you publish a new post, email your list. Anyone on your email list is already primed to want to read more of your content. You're not bugging them. You're letting them know that you just wrote a new kick-ass post that they're going to love. This is, hands down, the easiest way to get people to return to your page week after week and build your authority with your list. You can even start for free with ConvertKit's free plan! 12. Do put effort into your post titles Your post titles are what people see in big print when they search for something, so they're your best chance to convince people to click on your post as opposed to someone else's. A great post title should clearly state what your post is about. Fight the urge to be clever or wordsmithy.  Not only does your title play a role in SEO, a person who searches for how to save money at Disney is going to click on a post with a title that says “X Ways to Save Money on Your Disney Vacation in 2022,” not, “Save Your Mickeys!” Use a free browser extension called Headline Analyzer to help. 13. Don't be afraid of the competition My philosophy is that other bloggers - even those in my niche - aren't competition. The idea of competition is based on the belief that blogging is a zero-sum game, which it's not. Just because someone follows another person that writes about what I do, doesn't mean they won't read my blog, too. In fact, they're more likely to read my blog because they're interested in what I write about. When it comes down to it, other bloggers are your colleagues. You don't have to crush them. You can collaborate with them, get to know them, and support them! Comment on their posts. join their groups and post helpful responses with no links to your own content or courses, and reach out to them on social media.  14. Do make and follow an editorial calendar An editorial calendar is essentially your blog's scope and sequence. It organizes the topics you plan to cover, and the order in which you plan to do it. Keep in mind one key difference - when you're blogging, you don't have to order your posts like you're sequentially teaching something. In fact, if you're planning on creating a course at some point in the future, you probably don't want your free content to be structured that way. Your editorial calendar is a way for you to make sure that your content is touching upon all your content pillars. It also allows you to plan posts around things you may want to promote (whether they're your own or affiliate products/ services), and tease upcoming content to your readers. And, it takes the pressure off you each week if you know what to write about. Bonus! 15. Do track your blogs key performance indicators When you're getting started it's tempting to sit at your computer and hit refresh over and over to see how many people have read your blog, but it's not particularly productive. (Ask me how I know.) Instead, dedicate one day a month to check in on your key performance indicators (KPIs) to see how things are going. This will let you have enough data in between checks to see progress and set new goals or adjust your old ones. Some things to check on during this monthly appointment are page views, sessions, pages per session, bounce rate, new email subscribers, top posts and pages. Stay tuned for an upcoming episode all about KPIs (which I can tell you about because I use an editorial calendar). 16. Don't copy other people's content This one is obvious, right? It's not okay to copy other people's work. On top of that, it's not going to help your blog traffic (or your reputation) either. It's okay to be inspired by other posts and it's okay to curate ideas, tips, tricks, etc. from other posts. But you must create your own work, in your own words. Otherwise the post is missing what makes your blog posts different - YOU!  Also, if Google has already read and indexed their post, your copycat post will never, ever rank higher than the one you copied. 17. Do be patient Growth takes time. It's tempting to look at people who've got tons of page views and think you're falling behind, but I promise you, you're not. Even the big names started at nothing and had to grow their audience slowly.  In fact, growing slowly is positive in many ways. You can get to know your readers personally, you have a chance to find your blogging voice, and you can work out the technical kinks in your systems all while your audience is small. Take your time, give yourself the same grace and patience you provide your students, and look for progress, not perfection. Ready to jump into your blog? Enroll in my now-free 5-Day Content Challenge! In it I'll show you how to come up with 6 months worth of blog topics in just 20 minutes a day! Click here to join.

Every few months or so something happens and just seems to take over every media outlet and social feed. Betty White's unfortunate passing springs to mind. Inevitably, smaller publishers like bloggers start to jump in on it, too. If you've ever thought about trying to relate your content to a trending topic or event, but thought that your niche just doesn't work that way, think again. What's the point? The benefit to tying your content to what's already being talked about is that you get to ride the wave of public interest. People are interested in this topic and it may introduce new people to your blog You also can use related hashtags and find that people are more apt to share your posts with others. Stories tied to popular events tend to be shared more because people see others in their networks sharing and follow suit. My niche just doesn't connect… Running and the Queen of England. Those are 2 topics you'd probably imagine couldn't possibly be connected, right? But really, those 2 completely unrelated topics are what inspired this post. A few weeks ago, while on a trip to visit my sister a few hours away, my husband started reading a blog post on one of his go-to running blogs. I was driving, so he thought he'd “entertain” me.  I'll be totally honest; I don't care about running. But this caught my attention anyway, and I knew I had to share why. The post was about what world record running times were when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.  Ummm… what? Exactly. The post shared what times were for popular running events in 1952, and then went on to analyze the changes the sport has gone through in the 70 years since.  There was even a loose tie-in to the Olympics, because the summer games were held in 1952, and the post was published just before the 2022 winter games. If this blog can make a connection between running and the Queen's 70th jubilee, there's no limit to how you can connect trending topics to your blog. With that, let's talk about how you can tap into trending topic traffic. Look for obvious connections Before you go looking for roundabout ways to connect your blog to something on the news or trending on social media, look for natural connections. Even though it inspired this post, there's no prize for most unexpected unrelated-but-related blog post. If your blog is education based, there's plenty of news you can tap into that you can riff on naturally.  If you write about travel, did Kim Kardashian's vacation just make news? If you're a food blogger, maybe the new season of Top Chef is starting. Think about what people who are interested in your niche might be following, and see how you can fill in some blanks. How does x impact y? Another type of association you can make between your blog and trending topics is through impact. In other words, how does something happening in the news affect your audience? Kind of like that old school Weekend Update on SNL with Al Franken, when he would give some news and say, “I bet you're wondering how this affects me, Al Franken.” Maybe you help busy parents, and meal planning is one of your content pillars. You can talk about the impact of food shortages and supply chain issues on meal prepping. Photography blogs can talk about the effect the movements to include more diversity in art are having on your own creative process. Oh how times have changed Like the post about running that tied into the Queen's jubilee, these posts can highlight how things have changed over time. This works best with things like with anniversaries, birthdays, reunions, or long-running events. For example, I recently read that the characters on Golden Girls and And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot, were the same age! (It took a minute for that to sink in.) However, there are lots of directions a blogger could go with this: A fashion blogger could talk about the difference in expected wardrobes for 50-somethings from the 80s to today. Interior design could do the same. A financial blogger could discuss how retirement and retirement planning has changed. Someone who writes about politics could write about the political environment for women in the 80s vs now. The downside While using current trends can be a great way to get more people to your blog in the short term, it's not a long-term strategy (unless you're writing a current events blog). Once the buzz of a topic is over, all the attention goes with it, and all the work you put into your post is no longer serving you. This is especially true if you don't jump a trend right away and catch it on its way out. You also run the risk of turning people off because they're sick to death of hearing about Kate and Meghan or this year's Superbowl ads. So while there are some benefits, you don't need to turn your blog into a current events blog, or even attempt to connect to trending topics. And if you're going to, remember to strike a balance between seasonal (time-bound) content and evergreen. You can check out this post on what the difference is, and how to balance them. But perhaps next time you find yourself struggling for what to write about, try searching the headlines to see what's going on out in the big wide world. Of course, if you're struggling to come up with ideas for your blog, you can enroll in my now-free 5-Day Content Challenge! In it I'll show you how to come up with 6 months worth of blog topics in just 20 minutes a day! Click here to join.

When trying to monetize a blog, affiliate marketing is one of the fastest ways to start making money from your site. Affiliate marketing is selling other people's products or services in exchange for a commission on the sale. For more on the basics of affiliate marketing, check out this post. As you get started with using your blog to make recommendations to others, there are a couple of terms you need to know. Affiliate Program vs Affiliate Network There are typically 2 types of options for affiliate marketers. Affiliate programs and affiliate networks.  An affiliate program is when a company manages its own affiliate recruitment, tracking, and payouts. Some large companies, like Amazon, do this. However, this type of affiliate marketing is more commonly used by small businesses and solopreneurs, like Side Hustle Teachers. On the other hand, an affiliate network is a company that manages the affiliate programs for multiple organizations. The networks act as an intermediary and filter for their merchants, as well as managing all the link tracking and payouts. With networks there is often a secondary layer of applying because you will have to apply for the network, then again to each merchant within the network you'd like partner with.   So with that in mind, let's dig in to the 5 affiliate programs or networks all new bloggers should join. 1. Amazon Affiliate Program Amazon is one of the oldest and largest affiliate programs on the web. Because Amazon is so ubiquitous in our 21st century lives, it makes sense for bloggers to join this program. To join, simply click here and then the sign up button. If you already have an Amazon account, you can sign in using that information. If you don't, or you want to keep your personal and affiliate account separate, create a new account. Honestly, part of the benefit of using an affiliate program like Amazon is the ease of use, so I recommend using your existing account, if you have one. Once approved, a gray bar will appear at the top of the screen when you sign into Amazon. There you can check your earnings and easily get affiliate links to share on your blog. Amazon cookies last for 24 hours and apply to anything purchased, whether it was the product you suggested or not. So, if a reader follows a link to a $3 product, but ends up buying a $600 product, you get the affiliate commission on the entire sale. I can tell you from experience! Pros: Amazon sells literally billions of products, so if you want to recommend something… it's probably on Amazon The name Amazon is well known and people feel secure buying from them Easy, free signup Cons: Relatively low commission rates Bank or check payouts only, no PayPal Short cookie life of 24 hours 2. ShareASale Affiliate Program   ShareASale is an affiliate network with more than 16,000 merchants that you can recommend to your readers, and it's wildly popular among bloggers. To join, click here to create an account. Follow the steps provided and then search for merchants you'd like to promote. ShareASale tends to work with small-to-medium businesses, so while you won't find Fortune 500 companies on this platform, there are lots of smaller, highly niched merchants to choose from. Once accepted, you will need to search ShareASale's database and apply separately for each merchant you want to be an affiliate for.  Pros: High acceptance rate for merchants Detailed analytics on each merchant on the platform Great user support for those just getting started Cons: Payout threshold of $50 means it takes longer to get paid Limited links available for each merchant 3. Impact Affiliate Program Like ShareASale, Impact is an affiliate network that was formed by former employees of other affiliate networks, and is quickly becoming a favorite for anyone looking to get started in affiliate marketing. To join, click here. The process to join takes a bit longer than it does on other platforms, but once you're in, getting accepted to a merchant's affiliate program is less cumbersome.  Impact, formerly called Impact Radius, includes many large companies like Best Buy and Home Depot, which is great for building trust with potential buyers. Again, since Impact is an affiliate network, you will need to apply separately for each merchant. When you first join, you may not be eligible to apply for larger merchants, but as you earn commissions, more will open up. Pros: Many large companies work with Impact  $25 payout threshold so you get paid faster Excellent reporting and analytics to track your progress Cons: Many of the larger, more well known merchants are not available to new affiliates Platform navigation is not intuitive 4. Commission Junction Affiliate Program Also known as CJ Affiliate, Commission Junction is another well-established affiliate network that can connect bloggers to numerous companies and products. To join, click here and select “publisher” to let CJ Affiliates know you are a blogger. The application process is relatively straight-forward, however, to become an affiliate (or publisher) you have to apply for each merchant's (advertiser) program separately. CJ makes it easy to find companies that are related to your business by allowing you to search by niche, keyword, or specific business name. When you find a company you'd like to work with, complete their application process. Some will respond instantly, some review each application manually, so it takes a few days, others will never respond. Pros: Well-known, trusted companies are part of CJ Affiliates They serve just about every niche Cons: You have to apply for each company's affiliate program separately, and some are quick tricky to get into Accounts can be cut off for low or no sales Difficult to track payouts for each advertiser 5. Your Personal Choice I know, I know. Insert eyeroll, here, right? But the fact is, the most successful way to make money from any affiliate program is to recommend products or services that are highly specific to your niche and something you use and recommend. To find these programs think about what you use to make life easier, automate tasks, make life more enjoyable, or that are must haves for people in your niche. Go to the websites of those products or services you want to recommend and scroll all the way down to the footer. If they offer a public affiliate program, there will likely be a link to click and register. (This link will often lead to a larger affiliate network, like those we've already discussed… but not always.) If there's no affiliate program available on their website, and it's a product or service you know you want to recommend, reach out to the company or entrepreneur directly and ask. Tell them you love what they do and recommend it to everyone you know. Mention you're starting a blog and would love to partner together to promote their product/service. Pros: Highly niched affiliate programs are less likely to have major competition Your audience is primed to buy these products or services, so sales are often stronger than more general products Working with smaller businesses can often lead to other business partnerships Cons: Not everyone you ask is going to be open to an affiliate relationship Private agreements can be harder to track You're responsible for your own contracts, terms, etc. Putting it All Together There are a gajillion affiliate marketing options out there, and honestly, you can't really go wrong with any of them. In fact, I suggest you join multiple affiliate programs and networks as you learn about how it works.  You will find that some merchants work with more than one network and then you can decide which network fits your goals best. 3 Final Tips: When you join an affiliate network take the time to fill in your profile completely. This will give you the best chance of being accepted to merchants you apply to and help merchants find and reach out to you. Only recommend products or services you truly find useful. Your audience needs to trust that when you tell them to invest in something, it's going to be good. Once that trust is broken, it's hard to get it back. Always disclose that you're an affiliate. This includes affiliate links you share on your blog, in emails, and on social media. Ready to take the next step? Get started with my new free mini-course, the 5-Day Content Challenge. Come up with 6 months worth of post ideas to share your affiliate links in just 20-minutes a day! Enroll for free here!

“Entrepreneurs should always aim to play the long game. Instant gratification cannot build a legacy.” ― Andrena Sawyer. When launch day doesn't work out - a perspective about your book's long game. My 10 Day Content Challenge workbook to get your started: https://christine-ink.com/content-challenge Join the author conversation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/inkauthors/ Learn more about YDWH and catch up on old episodes: www.yourdailywritinghabit.com

As a new blogger, you likely have a lot of questions, many of which revolve around getting more eyes on your blog. One of the questions I hear a lot is; What's the best day to publish a new post? What they're really asking is; Is there a day of the week that's better, so if I post on that day, my page views will skyrocket? Sadly, the answer to that is no. The day you publish is not likely to have a massive impact on the success or failure of your post, but there are some things you should consider before you choose a day. So, let's talk about that. Consistency is Key The difference between people who have hugely successful blogs and those who don't isn't a mystery. Successful bloggers show up. Every week. No excuses. That's it. Consistency helps your blog in many ways, including how search engines read, rank, and recommend your blog. When you post sporadically, it's hard to build up a library of posts, which in turn makes it difficult for Google and other search engines to know what your site is about, and get to know you as a trusted source.  With the latest algorithm changes, Google is favoring trustworthy, fact-based sites, and they're now less likely to serve up inconsistent posters in their search results. Consistency is also important to building trust with your audience. When you craft a great blog post, your readers are going to want more. So when you don't show up next week with more quality content, they're going to be disappointed. It's the digital content equivalent of going on a great first date, then ghosting the person. It's also important to remember that people today are inundated with information all day every day… and we as a society have the attention span of goldfish (no offense intended to the goldfish community). You may have the most helpful, creative, inspiring blog on the planet, but the minute you stop showing up, your audience will stop thinking about you. All that is to say that when you're choosing your publishing day, consistency must be front and center in your mind. When to Publish Initially, I suggest new bloggers simply pick a day, and go with it.  The fact is, that there's no perfect day to share new content. This is both good and bad news for you. The bad news is that, if you're looking for a magic bullet shortcut to massive page views, you're out of luck. But the good news is that you can make your blog schedule work for you, and it's not going to impact your success. So how should you pick the day you're going to schedule your posts?  First take a look at your weekly schedule.  As much as people tell you that you need to batch your content, get ahead and write your posts well in advance, there are going to be times you're going to be finishing your post the night before it goes live. (I may or may not be writing this post on Saturday night before it gets shared on Sunday.) If you know that every Monday you've got personal, professional, or family obligations that keep you busy, don't choose Tuesday as your publish date.  And, if you know that by Thursday evening you're too exhausted to put together coherent sentences, Friday's probably not a great choice either. Ideally you want to publish on a day when you've got a relatively duty-free evening prior, and when you've still got the mental capacity to write good well. Remember that even if your post is written, you still need to make the graphics, upload everything into WordPress, schedule social media posts, and write your email to let your subscribers know about your new post. If you're struggling to find any time during your week when you're not bogged down with class work, check out this post on how to make your blog a priority. Other Considerations One of the best things about blogging is that your posts don't have to be read the day you publish them. In fact, some posts I shared years ago are still some of my most popular pages month after month. There's also no law that says you have to email your list or share on social media the same day that your post goes live. Here's where analytics can be really useful to you.  By knowing when your audience interacts with your content (on each platform) you can push out reminders to check out your new post when it suits them. Here are some examples: I can see from my Google Analytics that last week's post got the most views on Sunday, which is the day it went live. However, I can also see that Saturday is popular amongst my readers, even though I hadn't posted anything new for 6 days. When I look at my data from my podcast, there's no clear winner in terms of days people listen. I'm guessing that's because people who subscribe to my podcast listen to it as it comes up in their queue.  On Facebook, it's clear that Wednesday is the most popular day of the week for engagement. Just about every platform provides analytics if you opt for a business account, so if you're focusing on Instagram or Pinterest, you can find the same information there. I can also see when people open my weekly email, but that data is skewed because if an email isn't opened within 24 hours, it most likely won't be opened, sooo… With this information I can choose when to share and promote my post with my audience, so here's how I am choosing to share my posts. Sunday: New post is published on blog and podcast at 4am, email sent to list at 6am. The podcast is automatically shared to my Facebook page, Twitter, and YouTube. Monday: Pin for new post is published in Pinterest Wednesday: Share new post on Facebook Friday: New post is shared on Instagram After a few months I can reevaluate my analytics and see if this schedule is working. Okay, let's recap the basics of how to pick a day to publish your blog posts: Find a day that works for you Publish a new post every. single. week. on that day Share your post via email and social media throughout the week Use analytics to assess and rework your sharing schedule Remember that this is a process that's going to take some time. What's important right now is that you pick a day and commit to publishing new content on that day every week for at least 6 months. Posting consistently - no matter what day of the week - is the fastest, easiest way to grow your audience. If you're looking for more assistance, here's a great resource: The newest offering from Ultimate Bundles, Create, Launch, Convert, includes 41 resources to help you with blogging, email marketing, social media, video content, and creating digital courses. Inside you'll even find my 5-Day Content Challenge that will show you how to come up with 6 months worth of post ideas in just 20 minutes a day! The bundle goes on sale this Thursday, Feb 17 and is only available for 7 days. Click here to get the bundle or to be notified when the bundle is available. There are some amazing bonuses if you buy by Friday!

In our latest podcast episode, we spoke with Josh Austin, Director Of Technology at InnovateMR. In late 2021, Austin completed a Brand30 30 Day Content Challenge, producing a month's worth of API-related content for the world. Austin's goal is to introduce the rest of the world, non-technical folks and business leaders alike, to the greatness of APIs. He shared with me two of his main takeaways from the content challenge. The first focuses on encouraging those who aren't your average developer to be as jazzed about APIs as the rest of us are and creates a little more clarity around the API space. The second piece centers around advice for API fanatics looking to create an API program of their own. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a nontechnical enthusiast looking to learn more about APIs, Austin provides a wide array of content on the world of APIs that you can check out on his LinkedIn. The Stoplight API design blog also caters to many of the topics we discussed in our latest podcast with Austin.Do you have a question you'd like answered, or a topic you want to see in a future episode? Let us know here:https://stoplight.io/question/

We all want to have a website that shows up as the top searched result and is seen by all the right people. But, unless you're in a super niched business, that's not likely to happen. There are a multitude of factors that impact whether you're on page 1 of a search or page 83, and a surefire way to better your position is to improve your SEO.   Many practice owners give little thought to the structure of their website or how well the copy speaks to their target audience. But these are the exact factors, among many others, that can raise your website ranking and are where we start when trying to improve your SEO. It used to be that a website was a luxury, afforded only to those who could spend the dollars to invest in one, but not anymore!   In today's digital age, it's more important than ever to have a beautifully designed and fully optimized website that conveys exactly what you do, who you serve, and the transformation you're providing. This increases your digital relevance and helps you show up for the people you most want to serve.   This podcast provides the down and dirty details about the seven key items your website needs in order to be seen by the right people at the right time. There's a looooooot of fish in the wellness pond so-to-speak, but your patients need to see your caviar and not your competitor's imitation crab.   Optimizing your page and improving your SEO isn't something that has to be done by the experts, at least when you're getting started. So join me today for how to DIY your SEO starting today!   Gold Nuggets (1:21) How Search Engine Optimization works on the back end. (5:10) 7 ways to drive more traffic to your website. (9:00) How to find out if your website is optimized for mobile. (13:30) Using backlinks is an easy way to keep your audience in your ecosystem.   Links Mentioned In This Episode Tool to compress your images Tool to compress your videos Clinical Catalyst Marketing Solution Join my 4-Day Content Challenge! More tips to fine-tune your website   Get Today's Show Notes To get access to today's show notes and connect with Ronda, visit RondaNelson.com/73   Rate, Review, and Subscribe If you enjoyed today's episode, hit the subscribe button so future episodes are automatically downloaded to your device! We'd love it if you left an honest review. They go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can support even more clinicians build profitable practices - just like you!

I started blogging in 2013, I had no idea what I was doing.  I made a lot of mistakes. A lot. My mistakes cost me a lot of time and money, and slowed the growth of my business in ways I can't even measure. Last week a client asked what I would do differently if I could go back and start over… and it got me thinking. So here are 8 things I suggest all new bloggers do to avoid my beginner mistakes. 1. Start Before You're Ready No matter how long you wait, how much you learn, how many checklists or spreadsheets you make, you'll never feel ready. The first time you hit publish is going to be scary. Do it anyway. Learning and growth moves much faster when you have a real, live blog. Instead of theorizing about what you need to do, you can put your ideas into practice, see what works and what doesn't, and adapt as needed. When I started my first blog, I hesitated to put myself out there. Even when I finally published a post I wanted to keep it to myself. I was worried about what people would think… what they would say about me…  In the end, it was no big deal. A few people said they liked my posts, some others said they were happy for me, and more often than anything else, they wanted to know how I was doing it. Lesson: Just hit publish. You'll never be ready. 2. Quality Over Quantity One of the most intimidating things when you're starting a blog is when you look at the volume of content that more established bloggers have. It's easy to think that you need to pump out as much as possible to “catch up” with them. Content, however, is a quality craft.  At the beginning of my blogging journey I posted a new blog post every day.  I was trying to show that I was a “real” blogger by having a library full of content to share.  What actually happened was that I started approaching burnout incredibly fast, and, even worse, my content was mediocre. I felt frustrated because I was working all the time and my posts were getting any traction. (It's no wonder… they weren't that great.) Gradually I started to slow down my content production, and spend more time on quality. I went back and upgraded some of my old, blah posts and republished them as new, too. Lo and behold, my page views started to tick up, people started spending more time on my site, and my income went way up. Lesson: More is not better. Put out the best content you can and don't worry about anyone else. 3. Start Your Email List As Soon As Possible Your email list is your most precious commodity. Period. The sooner you start getting people to join your email list, the better.  Your email list is the best way to get in touch with your audience. (Email has an average open rate of 20%, whereas social media posts will only reach 3-5% of your followers.) So, to paraphrase a common expression, you should always be list building. I heard this advice when I started out, and I ignored it. I thought Facebook and my daily blog posts would be enough to get people to my site.  I was wrong. The fact is that people are busy and they won't just go check out your site because it's awesome. They need you not only to remind them, but to make it as easy as possible to see what you're doing.  When I started collecting emails, and sending out weekly messages, I saw a massive jump in my page views. Readers appreciated knowing about my new posts, and I made it easy for them to get there by including a link. ConvertKit, the email service provider I use and recommend, even has a free plan now! So there's no excuse to put it off. Lesson: Put a call to action to get people on your email list in every post, and email them regularly. 4. Stay Within Your Niche When you start a blog it's important to choose a niche. This clarifies the purpose of your blog to your readers and helps you stay on topic when writing your posts.  However, a common mistake new bloggers make - including yours truly - is going off topic or following a new trend that doesn't fit your niche.  My blog was for busy moms who wanted simple ideas for things to do with their kids, meals to make for their kids, and ways to organize their lives to make them easier. But I was so excited about everything I was learning about blogging, I added a new category to my site. The posts didn't bomb, but they also didn't get a lot of attention. Basically, I spent a lot of time and energy on posts my audience didn't care about. In the best possible scenario, a blog post that doesn't fit your niche will just sit there on your site, and no one will read it. On the other hand, random, off topic posts can tank your SEO and confuse your readers, leading them to not follow your future links because they don't have time to go see if you're back to giving them what they want. Lesson: Keep giving your audience what they signed up for. Pick a niche and stick with it. 5. Engage Your Small Audience One of the biggest benefits of having a small audience is that you can really get to know them and what they need. Oftentimes these early supporters will become your most loyal readers and devoted fans… IF you engage with them. When they comment on a post, respond. If they reply back to your email, consider that an invitation to continue the conversation. Ask for their opinions, then go with what they say they want. As your blog grows, you won't have the time to engage on this level, so take advantage of it while you can, In my first year I was so busy creating content. Every. Single. Day. that I didn't allow myself to talk to my followers. I know I missed out on a huge opportunity to build relationships and to develop a solid base of go-to fans that I could always rely on for support, polls, and to spread the word about my blog. Lesson: Embrace your small audience and let them help you make your blog even better. 6. Plan Your Posts in Advance Most blogging gurus will tell you that you should write your blog posts well in advance - many suggest batching weeks of content at once - but that advice is often unreasonable for teachers. It may even prevent some people from getting started because it seems overwhelming. Total honesty: I'm writing this post on Saturday to be published on Sunday. That's the life of a teacher. Sometimes I'm able to batch and get ahead. Sometimes it's a scramble the night before. What you should do, though, is plan your posts in advance. Knowing what you're going to write about for the next 3-6 months is not only good practice, it makes life easier. Having a content plan enables you to make sure your posts are aligned with your business goals, and it takes the pressure off when you sit down to start writing when you know where to start. If I had a content plan when I started blogging, I wouldn't have started writing about blogging and business. Lesson: Even if you don't have time to write posts in advance, create a plan to make life easier and stay on track. Check out the 5-Day Content Challenge to get your content plan together. 7. Ignore the Haters Trolls are a part of life on the internet. While you can use plugins like Akismet to block spam comments on your blog, there's no way to keep 100% of haters out of your hair. The fact is that once you put anything on the internet, someone is going to not like it, take it wrong, or just say mean things because they're sad little people who are deeply dissatisfied with themselves.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't post. It just means that you have to have a thick skin. When I got my first hater, I very nearly quit blogging. They really know how to push buttons. But just like the kids in your class who say horrible things because they are so desperate for attention, I learned not to take their words personally. (And unlike the kid in my class, I don't have to engage with trolls at all. Just delete and move on.) Lesson: Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate. Let it go… let it go…  8. Focus on Action, Not Analytics I believe you need to know your numbers. You need to know what posts are doing well, and which aren't. You need to know if the action you're taking is working. But before you can know if what you're doing is effective, you need to take action. In fact, the vast majority of your time should be spent doing things that will actively grow your blog and business. There were days in the beginning when I would just sit and hit refresh on my blog stats page. I'd go start the dishwasher. Refresh the page. I'd grade some papers. Refresh the page. It was kind of pathetic. And all that time wasn't doing anything to grow my blog. Sure, I knew 2 more people had viewed my blog, but I hadn't done anything to help any more people find me. Instead, set a date on your calendar each week or month to review your key performance indicators, and stay off the stats page otherwise. Lesson: There's a fine line between knowing your numbers and obsessing over them. At the end of the day, everyone is going to make mistakes along the way to becoming a blogger. It's normal, and it's how we grow.  But you don't have to make all the mistakes. Now that you know some of my biggest mistakes… go out and make your own!

A personal brand statement is a 3 to 4 sentence statement that explains you and your brand. But it's more than just a quick 30 second elevator pitch used to introduce yourself.You may have done an exercise where you practiced what you would say if you walked into an elevator and only had 30 seconds to explain what it was you did for work. And that's a great skill to have. It's important to quickly and concisely explain who you are and what you do.Here's a direct example from indeed.com:“Hi, my name is Sara. It's so nice to meet you! I'm a PR manager, specializing in overseeing successful initiative launches from beginning to end. Along with my 7 years of professional experience, I recently received my MBA with a focus on consumer trust and retention. I find the work your PR team does to be innovating and refreshing—I'd love the opportunity to put my expertise to work for your company. Would you mind if I set up a quick call next week for us to talk about any upcoming opportunities on your team?”Get it? You are telling someone what you do and kind of pitching your ideas or offer to them.  But a personal brand statement goes deeper than that. A personal branding statement is a guide to everything you do in your business.A personal branding statement is what you will look back on and reference for everything you create. From content to offers, to articles, to social media, to podcasts, to what you wear and where you speak, who you network with and more. It's THAT important. Why do you need one?So why do you even need one? Remember that I said a personal branding statement is a guide to everything you do in your business? This is different from just telling someone that you are a stylist or a designer. A personal branding statement showcases the personal aspect that you bring to what you do. It says who you are, what you do, who you serve, or what problem you solve, and what makes you unique.A personal branding statement is your guiding compass. If you don't have one, you will probably make a wrong turn and then waste time scrambling to get back on the right road.How many times have you said, “Yes” to a project or client that just didn't work out for you? I know that I'm guilty of that. It makes everything you do so much harder because it isn't in alignment with your mission and goal. But if you have a brand mission statement, you can always refer back to it to guide what you should say yes to, what you should say no to, what you create, what you offer, and how you serve.Where to use one?As an entrepreneur, you most likely aren't sending out resumes to various corporations. That's one place that many people think a personal branding statement should be used. Instead, you will most likely be using it as a guide for what you are creating and offering in your products or services. You may even use it to introduce yourselves at networking events or meeting others to collaborate with. What about pitching yourself for a podcast or as a guest speaker at a summit or conference? This is a fast and easy way to grab the attention of people you want to work with. It's a concise way to qualify if an opportunity is the right fit for you. But the most important place to use a personal brand statement is in your daily business. How do you create one?Check out this post for more info....Join the Branded Business Collective. Join us for the FREE 3-Day Content Challenge!

I recently had a conversation with a student I wanted to share. She had just finished the 5 Day Content Challenge and had a long list of blog post topics she wanted to write about. She was so excited about this list and was just about to enroll in Content Made Simple, but… She hesitated in enrolling because she was worried about signing up and making the official decision to start her blog because she had a sudden burst of anxiety about having to create tons and tons of content.  In the blink of an eye she had convinced herself that in order to be a “real blogger” she'd need to write a thousand blog posts, spend all day on social media, and be chained to her computer all day, every day. This is a common fear among people who want to start a content channel. When we look at the “big names” in our areas of expertise we find content going back years and a huge social media presence. Naturally, we feel that in order to “compete,” we have to match their volume of work, which would be, to say the least, intimidating. I will freely admit that I fell victim to this trap when I was a new content creator, too.  When I first started my mom-lifestyle blog, I posted every day. Yes, you read that right. I wrote a blog post every day. For months.  It didn't take long to realize that creating that much content was unsustainable. But, it wasn't just unsustainable, it wasn't the most efficient way to grow my blog. More Isn't Better When first starting out, it's common to want to fill out your content library so that your website looks more impressive. However, just like with chocolate, pizza, and tequila, oftentimes more is just… more. Instead, focus your efforts on creating high quality content that your audience will find value in and that makes people want to like, comment, and share.  When you spend your time trying to pump out new blog posts, podcasts, or videos, you typically end up with a large bank of mediocre content. This doesn't serve your audience or your business.  Actually, it can hurt your standing as a go-to authority on your subject to publish half-baked content. You'll also rank lower in search engines, making it more difficult for people to discover your site. If you think of my original blog schedule - also known as the fast track to burnout city - I was drafting 5 blog posts per week. That's 5 posts, plus graphics, plus social shares, plus SEO and meta descriptions, plus… the list goes on. If instead of publishing 5 posts per week, including all the additional tasks above (and more I've likely forgotten about), I had published a single post I would have not only saved myself a ton of time, the post I put out would have been of a much higher quality, and I would have had the time and energy to do other tasks that would have benefited my business. Promote Your Content When you spend all your time creating new content, you leave no time to promote your posts or episodes, which is essential to growing your audience. After all, your content could be fantastic, but if no one knows about it, it's not helping anyone. The generally accepted rule is that you should spend 20% of your time creating your content and 80% of your time promoting that content. So why do many of us focus so much of our attention on creation when promotion is where it's at? To a certain extent creating less feels counterintuitive, right? I mean, how can we promote our content if we don't have a lot of content to promote? Well, for one thing, we don't have to take the 80/20 rule completely on its face. Start by rebalancing your time so that, even if you're not spending 4 times as much of your time on promotion, you're at least spending slightly more time promoting than on creating. This will help develop the mindset of promotion, and you can gradually increase your promotion:creation ratio. According to Derek Halpern; “If you spend time writing a piece of content, and that content only gets 1,000 readers, chances are there are one million other people in the world who can benefit from what you wrote. Why, then, would you spend more time creating content when you already have something that your ideal customers can benefit from?” And he has a point. It's far easier to find 10,000 more people who are interested in what you've already published than it is to write 10 more posts and get 1,000 people to read each of them.  At the end of the day it comes down to 2 essential ideas: Quality over quantity. A single piece of content that is fully flushed out, well researched, and thoughtfully composed is more valuable than multiple thrown together pieces - to both business owner and audience. The 80/20 rule rules. Finding new people who can benefit from your high-quality, proven content is easier than trying to draft new compelling content.

What is the #1 thing stopping you from getting your branding photos done?When I ask my audience this, a surprising number of you say that you want to lose 10 pounds before you get your photos done. Or some version of that:You aren't comfortable in your skinYou don't like the way you lookWe are living in a world that generally associates success with a certain look. However, we need to acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of people look nothing like that. Let's break those stereotypes and start normalizing what we, as female entrepreneurs, actually look like. But I do hear you. I see that you aren't sure of this whole branding thing because you want to be that confident business owner and can't get over that mental block - that you have to lose those stubborn pounds we've all gained during the pandemic in order to get your photos done.So I've got a secret for you: You don't have to actually lose those ten pounds in order to look like you've lost it in photos. Because these tips and tricks will help you in every aspect of your business. From branding photos to video to speaking engagements...even to your iphone selfies. Let's dive in. Find Clothing That Fits and Complements YouYou'd be surprised how an ill-fitting blouse or shapeless dress will add ten pounds to your image.  While you may want to hide with outfits that are looser, I want you to start with something a little more fitted. V-necks or a long necklace are a great option to compliment your neckline and make you look leaner.And don't be afraid to use shapewear. It doesn't matter what size or shape you are, shapewear helps your clothing lay better and lifts and tucks away everything. Now if you want to slim up your figure, stay away from large patterns or horizontal stripes. Vertical is the way to go! Stick with solid colors or layer your clothing to add dimension to your outfit.Focus on Your PosingPosing does wonders to emphasize your best features and hide what you hate. So what techniques do you need to know to pose like a pro?Whatever is closest to the camera looks bigger and whatever is further away looks smaller. I have wider hips and smaller shoulders, so I always push my hips back and my shoulders forward when taking pictures. A little lean isn't noticeable in the camera and keeps the focus on your face. I always tell my clients to give me a little hinge at the waist and it totally changes the look and feel of the imageSit up straight and suck it in. A little bit of good posture does wonders...plus, it makes you look and feel more confident!If it bends, try bending it. This breaks up your body from looking like a block and adds some "white space" around you. Hands on hips or a popped knee creates spaces between your body and helps your shape look more naturalOut and DownTo learn what this means and more, check out the rest of the show notes at www.britbennion.com/episode83And don't forget to grab my guided cheatsheet while you're there!Join the Branded Business Collective. Join us for the FREE 3-Day Content Challenge!

Have you ever felt like you are competing in an oversaturated market? The problem isn't that the market is oversaturated, it's just that you're still trying to fit in with everyone else doing the same thing as each other. You haven't done anything different to make people start to notice you. So what can you do to stand out?Focus on what makes you uniqueIt may be hard to figure out what makes you unique when you don't think you're unique. But how much harder is it for your potential client to think you are unique when you're doing everything the same as everyone else? SO HARD. I promise, you don't want to make it hard for your clients to figure out what sets you apart.If you're struggling with this, ask your close family and friends. A little distance allows them a different perspective. Sometimes we don't know what is unique about us because it comes so naturally to us. Think of things that come easily to you, because I guarantee that it doesn't come that easily for everyone else.No one can do what you do exactly like you do it. So let people know that you do things differently or that you have a strength that is well suited for what you do. Infuse your personality into everythingYou need to put the YOU into your brand.Maybe you think that if you are a certain way that you'll get more clients or people will like you better. All that does is keep your potential clients on the fence. They don't like you enough to be dying to work with you and they don't dislike you enough to move on. The goal is to get them off of the fence. It doesn't matter which way they go. Some will go one way and others will go the other way. But if everyone says on the fence, your business won't go anywhere. That's where you end up being stuck in the oversaturated market. That's when people start competing with you over price. And you really don't want that to happen.So infuse your personality into everything. Some people will love you and some people will not. And that's okay. I know plenty of people who can't stand Beyonce, but you'd better believe that she couldn't care less about them because there are so many people who know she is Queen B. And when people are off the fence you can really start to focus on serving the ones that are on your side of the fence. The biggest reason you want to infuse your personality is that you can just be yourself. And that's significantly less exhausting than trying to be someone else or suppressing who it is that you really are.  Just show up as you!Find out the rest by clicking here.Links MentionedPierced By MacBrand Builder's BootcampPodcaster's KitJoin the Branded Business Collective. Join us for the FREE 3-Day Content Challenge!

Do you want to know how to make social media not suck the life out of you? When you are growing a business you hear all sorts of opinions about how you should be posting every single day or that if you don't have a large enough following that you won't be taken seriously, or that the algorithm is out to get you, so there's no point in even trying. Trust me, I've heard it all. And honestly, you can throw all of that advice out the window. After years and years of trying to crack the code, find the secret formula, and unravel the mysteries of social media, I've found that there is only one true trick. Consistency. Just be consistent. Consistency looks different for everyone and every industry. But if you truly want to gain traction on social media, then you need to be consistent. We may think that because the “experts” say we should be posting every day, that we have to be perfect and never miss or we will have failed. And that just isn't true.You do need to be consistent. Because that builds trust. That builds connection. That builds the relationship that you want to have with your clients, customers, and audience. When you are bouncing around, with no consistency, it will make it so much more difficult to establish those patterns on which we as human beings so heavily rely. Have you ever signed up for someone's email list and then never heard from them again? And then a year later, they all of a sudden send you an email? It's jarring. It's confusing. And if you're like me, I immediately delete and unsubscribe. Because they don't have my trust, they didn't take the time to nurture and develop a relationship with me. So, let me say this again. Consistency matters!Here are 3 simple steps to being consistent on social media:1. Know who you are talking toBefore you start off with creating bucket-loads of content, you need to be really clear about who you are talking to with your posts. Before I sit down to do any batch work, I take a few minutes to refresh myself, or redefine who it is that I'm speaking to. I think about their wants and desires. I get really focused on my ideal community so that when I do get to writing, recording, or creating, they are top of mind.Learn more at www.britbennion.com/episode81Join the Branded Business Collective. Join us for the FREE 3-Day Content Challenge!

Brooke Jefferson is a family photographer, podcast host of the Book More Photography Clients Podcast, and business coach, who thrives on helping photographers book more clients through marketing their businesses on social media and building relationships with their local communities. Her focus is helping others maximize their potential by creating a profitable, sustainable, and most importantly, a fulfilling photography business. She's built a 6-figure photography business and teaches photographers how to grow their own thriving business. Brooke knows that the best way to increase your growth is through client experience. In fact, she is a known expert on mapping out a client experience and unleveling it. Allowing business owners to both increase their client numbers and retention. Here are some of her powerful tips.FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHINGIn business you only get one chance and then people have a deep opinion of you. Whether you're online or have a physical store, you need to focus on your client experience. This means, how are you showing up and how are you making your client feel? Start by asking yourself:Do I have a streamlined and professional way of presenting myself and my services?Do I respond in a timely manner? (Do I greet my customers at the door?)How can I make myself/product/service the obvious choiceGetting real honest with yourself about these questions allows you to see the holes in your processes and how to improve the client experience.Speaking of processes, Brooke tells us that your systems and processes are the key to an amazing client experience.Learn more at www.britbennion.com/episode80Join the Branded Business Collective. Join us for the FREE 3-Day Content Challenge!

Join my 30 Day Content Challenge: bit.ly/30DAYBOSS --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/businessrechargedrad/message

In today's episode of the Get Up & Get It Show, I discuss how quarantine week 2 is going, how today has been the hardest day of the 100 Day Content Challenge, and what to do if you don't have an entrepreneurial mindset but don't want to have a “job” forever! Hope you guys enjoy!

Today's podcast is part of my 29 Day Content Challenge at www.29days.club but also reflecting on Alex and Taneisha's wedding that got rained out at the end this afternoon just outside of Melbourne --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/therebelsguide/message

Stories are the latest trend on social media platforms. They're great for getting the word out about what is going on in your business and your personal life. In fact, engagement rates on Instagram stories are just as high as they are on Instagram Live! That's why Karen and Kathleen sat down with Brock Johnson, a master storyteller who tells exceptional stories on Instagram. What are stories? When do I post them? What do I post?! This episode answers all the basics on everything you need to know to get started doing your own stories on Instagram and other social media platforms. In this episode we talk about… The best way to get started doing stories on social media The top tips and best practices to set your stories apart on social media What kind of content works best on stories The best times to post on your Instagram stories and how often to post Growing your following on Instagram and what techniques work well using Instastories   Links to resources: Brock's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brock11johnson/ Brock's Snapchat - Brock11johnson Brock's 7 Day Content Challenge - https://www.unwrapstories.com/store/Qe3cJj55 Video editing/clipping app - The Cut Story app is available on iOS and Android Karen's  Facebook Group  - https://www.facebook.com/groups/emaillistbuildingforcoaches/ Kathleen's  Facebook Group  - https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthcoachpeers/ Karen's  Step Into  More Profits  Program – https://www.karenpattock.com/step-into-profits-program/ Kathleen's  Coach with Confidence  Program - https://www.healthcoachsolutions.net/cwcprogram/