Monetize Your Platform

Have you ever felt like repurposing content was kind of like…cheating? As new bloggers, we have this idea that everything we post needs to be 100% original or it “doesn’t count.” We think people will call us for rehashing old ideas. We worry people are scrutinizing every word we write, scanning line by line to see if what we’re writing is something we’ve already written before (“Wait a minute… I’ve read this line before! This was in a blog post from three years ago! So unoriginal.”). But here’s the truth of the matter — no one (and I mean no one) is paying that much attention. I promise. Isn’t that liberating? And even if they were paying attention that closely, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with repurposing content! Think about itRead More

Humor me for just a sec, and take a minute to picture the following scenario. Let’s say enrollment for Elite Blog Academy has opened, and you are a potential EBA student looking at two different sales pages for our course. The first sales page has listed in painstaking detail all the basic features of what’s included in EBA: “EBA has 12 units, 12 Q+A sessions, 36 assignments in your workbook, 20+ hours of content, 500 pages of workbook notes and templates, and weekly emails to keep you motivated. This course was shot on an HD camera and is hosted on a secure server….” And so on. The other sales page mentions most of those details too, but in the course of focusing on where youRead More

In my experience, if there’s one thing bloggers are most afraid of, it’s selling. I can totally relate! Selling is hard. And it can be scary! There are so many fears that come along with sales. There’s the fear that if we start selling on our blog, all of a sudden we will transform into a pushy, slimy used-car salesman. Or the fear that asking our readers to buy something from us will cause a full-on revolt. Or the fear that what we’re selling isn’t good enough, or the fear that we’re not good enough to sell it. And if we buy into all of those fears, then yes — sales is terrifying. Those limiting thoughts and beliefs will play over and over in a loop inRead More

Let’s face it–failure is never fun to think about.  And when it comes to blogging or running an online business, most of us are constantly keeping score. Have a post go viral? It’s a win. Get those page views up? Another win. Secure a sponsorship, get invited to a guest post on a popular site, or get a mention in the media? Win, win, win. Launch a successful product? Huge win. But what happens when we lose? What if our product doesn’t do as well as we’d hoped — or, worst-case scenario, crashes and burns? Believe it or not, we still win. The truth is that some of the most valuable lessons we’ll get in our businesses come directly from our “failures”. Those lessons we learn and theRead More

Here at Elite Blog Academy, we are focused on helping bloggers eliminate overwhelm and create successful, profitable, and sustainable online businesses. And I truly believe that there’s no better time than now to be in the business of blogging. We live in the land of opportunity. People start their own businesses every day – and that’s amazing! But the sad truth is that most of those businesses fail. In fact, half of all businesses fail within their first five years. And within 10 years, 75% of businesses will have shut their doors. Not exactly promising statistics! But those statistics don’t apply to bloggers. Blogging turns the traditional business model on its head, and we have the unique opportunity to succeed in much greater numbers — andRead More

Whether you just started out in the blogosphere or you’ve been blogging for a while, at some point, you’ve probably thought about launching a product. But if you’re like most people, you may have thought, “Me? Launch a product?! That seems impossible!” And I totally get it. I felt the exact same way before I launched my first product. I struggled with not feeling ready, not feeling like my blog was ready, and worrying that my product would launch to crickets… and zero sales. But here’s the thing: there’s no “magic time” to launch a product. And if we wait around for that “magic time” to roll around — then when will we feel 100% prepared and ready? Well, let’s just say we’ll be waitingRead More

Tell me if this sounds familiar… In a rare moment of alone time—probably in the bi-monthly shower you manage to squeeze in between lunch and the endless stream of poopy diapers—the stars align, lightning strikes, an apple falls (where’d THAT come from?), and you have an idea. You’ve been around the block long enough to know that a great idea needs actual customers to be successful. You press a bunch of buttons and ask your tribe for feedback, and even ask them if they’d buy something like that. They respond with over-the-moon enthusiasm, and you know you’ve got a surefire hit on your hands. Next, you pour yourself into writing, filming, or manufacturing the perfect product. In addition to pouring all of your time andRead More

Ad networks can be a very effective and relatively low-effort way to monetize your blog. But, when you are just getting started, trying to figure out the ins and outs can also be a little bit confusing. Thus, today I thought I’d put together a quick & easy tutorial. For starters, Ad networks are companies that sell ad space on any sort of internet real estate, like a blog or a website. You supply the real estate, the ad network sells that real estate to a company that wants to place an ad, and you get a percentage of the sale. Think of it like renting a room in your house, but all you have to worry about is providing the room. The ad networkRead More

I‘ve never been shy about sharing what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to my own business. I’ve been blogging since 2010, and in the seven years since I first founded Living Well Spending Less®, I’ve somehow managed to build a thriving 7-figure business, as well as become the New York Times bestselling author of five books, create an online course called Elite Blog Academy™, and create the Living Well Planner®. And while saying it like that, all in one quick sentence, makes it sound like it was all easy, and even like I knew exactly what I was doing all along the way, the reality is anything but! You see, when I first started my blog, it couldn’t even be considered an onlineRead More