Secret Bloggers' Business magazine (Issue 6)

Editor’s Notes

Kate McKibbin I was killing some time in my friendly local second had book store the other day.

And do you know what I saw?

I saw a really "old" looking book (you know the ones that kind of smell like dust, and the pages are all yellow?).

And it was about a blogger!

Let me say that again. I saw a really OLD book... about blogging.

Sorry, I am still in shock.

Because it seemed like only yesterday that blogging was being described as a bit of a "crazy new fad!”

A fad that I have actually been spending most of my waking (and sleeping) hours dedicated to for the last.. hang on... oh shit... 10 years.

Oh god, I need a drink…

And while I am off doing that (it might be a while), feel free to read all about some of the new cool things for this not-so-new blogging thing.

There is some amazing advice in the following pages (most of which I wish someone could have told me all the way back in... oh dear...

Carly Jacobs Well hello there gorgeous #sbbmag readers!

I do hope you’re feeling refreshed and invigorated after the holidays. The lead up to Christmas is always so hectic and by comparison the few days around the New Year are so deliciously slow. The perfect antidote to a busy year.

Kate and I went nuts on this issue - It’s the What’s New In Blogging edition. We wanted to put something together to inspire and excite everyone for the 2017 blogging year - which is going to be huge AF by the way.

My advice? Don’t waste January. January is the deadest month of the year and is the perfect time to plan, batch content and prepare launches. Trust me - no one is booking advertising or hiring freelancers in January so use this time to get ahead in your blogging. You’ll thank me in April when everyone starts hounding you all at once!

Having said that, do take a break. Post some fun content, read other blogs and relax a little on your daily content grind. Sometimes a little break can be the best thing for you. Also don’t forget to check in with your favourite blogs in the New Year - comment and let them know you’re still reading.

They will love it, I promise!

Have a fabulous start to the year - let’s kick 2017’s butt!

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CONTENTS

40

FIRE AND FLOW

3 GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER

Our new favourite blog and g-damn genius idea for a blogging biz.

A few things to think about this January/February..

4 BLOG SNIPPET My nine biggest lessons from nine years of blogging - by Kate McKibbin.

WE LOVE Planner, planner, po-pana, banana-fana, fo-mana, mi-mi-momana… PLANNER! We really like planners.

9 RIP

PRO BLOGGER Want to be one? Read this interview with the original Problogger, Darren Rowse

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Things That Used To Be A Thing That Are No Longer A Thing.

10 28 BRAIN PICKINGS

18 THEN AND NOW Vintage VS Modern blogging or How To Blog Without Facebook. I know right?

20 SQUIRREL! Do you have trouble concentrating?

Read this.

23 URGH! SEO! Oi! Quit your whinging. SEO is very necessary and we have SEO genius Rand Fishkin in the mag this month to help you rock at it.

We chat to Christina and Madeleine from the Blog Squad about what’s working for them in blogging right now.

30 SERIOUSLY SOCIAL We talk with Donna Moritz about how to get socially sorted in 2017.

37 MAKE SERIOUS BANK How to ACTUALLY make money with blogging online courses. For real. With Teachable.

45 DON’T BE A DOOFUS Get into a batching. You are SERIOUSLY wasting your time if you don’t.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING?

jan + feb

FEBRUARY 13 GRAMMY AWARDS FEBRUARY 26 ACADEMY AWARDS

DECEMBER 31 NEW YEARS EVE 2017

FEBRUARY 14 VALENTINE’S DAY

JANUARY 1 NEW YEARS DAY JANUARY 20-23 ALT DESIGN SUMMIT, USA JANUARY 26 AUSTRALIA DAY JANUARY 28 CHINESE NEW YEAR FEBRUARY 2 GROUND HOG DAY

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MY NINE BIGGEST LESSONS FROM NINE YEARS OF BLOGGING Kate McKibbin Guess what?

A couple of days from now will actually be my ninth Blog-aversary (I think Blog years are like dog years though, because it feels more like forever). And considering the longest I have ever really stuck at something before was three months of piano lessons when I was eight (I can still play Chopsticks and The Simpson's theme pretty well by the way), that's a pretty massive milestone for me.

Also considering that when I first started my "Blog" (which actually wasn't even a Blog, it was an email newsletter) back in 2007, I thought it would be just a little side-project that might take up an hour or so and hopefully make me a few extra hundred dollars a month. And now it's grown into a full-time-plussome job (which I adore) that pays way better than my "real job" ever could, with five to seven staff members, an office off Chapel Street in Melbourne.

Well lets just say, it has way surpassed even what I dreamt could happen with it.

And I dream big!

But of course it hasn't all been runway shows and free lipsticks (although it's been a lot of those too... particularly the lipsticks!). It has also been a LOT of hard work, a lot of stuffing things up (and then stuffing them up some more), a lot of feeling like you're just running on the spot and not getting anywhere, and a whole huge pile of self-doubt. And yep, there have been some tears as well.

And also of course with the highs and the low, comes an awful lot of lesson-learning.

So on my almost nine-year Blog-aversery I just wanted to share my nine biggest hard-learned lessons with you now (because... well... they might help you out as well!).

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1 - It's a marathon, not a sprint One thing that still surprises me about blogging is that nothing takes as long as you think it will. Some things happen much, much quicker than expected, but most happen much slower (a LOT slower). And you have to be prepared to just keep going, step-by-step, because if you want to build up a successful anything, it is going to take some time (and a whole lot of persistence!)

You also need to make sure you get your basics down right, so to keep with the running analogy you need good shoes (or a good blog theme/host), you need to train (you need to post, share and interact regularly), and you need a good coach and cheer squad (more on that later).

2 - The New Rule Of Thirds This applies to anything that you rely on really on your blog, but it was a lesson that it took me a little too long to figure out. It is just crazy to rely on getting either all (or most) of your traffic or all your income from only one (or even two) sources. Because most of those can change or disappear pretty much overnight.

I mean look at Facebook? I know lots of people that built up a huge following on Facebook (and they spent a lot of time and money doing it), and they used to get so much traffic from it, and then within the space of six-months their Facebook traffic dropped by about 90% (not kidding) and now it's like they are right back at the start.

The same goes for only relying on one type of income.

If you rely solely on sponsored posts or banners, it's a pretty stressful way to make a living (for example the price of banners is now less than a 10th of what it used to be, again because of Facebook... damn you Zuckerberg!).

Advertising is not a reliable income source at all. And there are so many other ways to earn money blogging that you do have more control over (we cover all of this in the Bloggers MBA by the way), but most people don't start looking at those until they've been blogging for years.

3- Get help... as early as you can When I started out blogging, there really weren't that many people doing it really well yet (or at all). It was still an industry finding it's feet, and so I had to learn a lot of things by trial and error.

And while there is nothing wrong with that, if I could have skipped over some of those mistakes (especially the ones that meant I wasted a whole bunch of time or money) then I definitely would have.

And that is why I created Secret Bloggers' Business because I wanted to help people stop wasting their precious time, and just get straight down to doing the stuff that needed to be done to get them where they needed to go. And I've seen the amazing difference it can make even in a few short months with some of the awesome results my SBBers have been getting (I'm like a super proud Mama bear right now!).

So Yep, don't waste time slogging it out

on your own, particularly when so many people are willing to help you.

4 - It's all about community One of my favourite things about being a Blogger is the awesome people I have gotten to meet. I have made some amazing friends through the blogosphere, and the Facebook group for the SBB Community is now one of my favourite places on the Internet to hang out.

Also one of the best ways to build a loyal readership is to nurture a community on your own site, and off it.

Through commenting, sharing and interacting with your readers and with other bloggers as much as you can.

At the end of the day.

Actually making the decision was the hardest part.

5 - Make your own rules One of the biggest ah-ha moments I had in my life was when my business coach (yep, I am still learning and getting help too!), said to me "You need to build a business that works around your life, and not a life that works around your business".

Hello, light-bulb moment!

And the same goes for blogging.

You need to build a blog that helps you have the life that you want, and not just do what you think you are supposed to be doing.

So if you only want to, or only have time to, blog once a week. Do it (just do it really well!). And if you hate Instagram and don't won't to be on there, then don't do it (social media only works when you really enjoy it anyway).

It's your blog, so it's your rules!

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7 - Never stop learning OK, so nine-years in and I am STILL figuring things out (Podcasting is my next frontier to conquer, watch this space for updates!). But I think that is what has kept me interested in my "little side project" for all this time.

And you can bet that I will be getting some help from the pros, and learning from the best as I go (I don't want to take another nine-years to figure this next bit out, that's crazy talk!).

8 - Sometimes making the decision is worse than the doing!

Over the last two years I've had to put my big-girl business pants on more than a few times.

I've had to fire some people.

I've had to close down one of my blogs.

I've had to leave my marriage (it wasn't a business decision, but the decision definitely affected my business!).

I've had to re-structure, re-launch and reassess pretty much everything.

And I've kept myself up at nights worrying about all of it.

I've tossed and turned, bored my friends and family stupid, and given myself my first grey hairs over deciding what to do.

And you know what?

At the end of the day. Actually making the decision was the hardest part.

Once the decision was made (and the tricky conversations had), everything that came after that was just so much easier than just making the damn decisions ever was.

So moral to this story is peeps, if you are driving yourself nuts with a decision about your business (yourself and your loved ones), you have three choices.

Choice one - Just pick one already!!

Doesn't matter which, you'll make the best of it either way, trust me!

Choice two - Leave it for a set period of time. If you can. Give yourself a "worry deadline" and whichever seems best at that deadline is the way you go.

Choice three - Flip a coin. I shit you not.

This is actually a brilliant decision making tool. Because if you flip the coin and you are either relieved or upset by its result... that gives you a pretty good indicator of what you really want to do, doesn't it?

9 - No blog is an island!

So this might come as a shock to some of you, but I currently have a team of um... let me count... seven people who help me out on SBB... plus myself.

And I STILL struggle to get my damn fortnightly blog posts done on time.

I am not kidding.

It doesn't seem to matter what stage your blog is at, there is

always more stuff you could be doing.

But the trick of it is, that to get to that next stage is pretty darn hard if you are trying to do it all totally solo.

So whether this means enrolling a family member to help you upload your posts or take your photos, or getting a Virtual Assistant (VA) for 3-4 hours a week to help with the more fiddly repetitive things (this would cost you about $20-25 a week btw).

Or even joining a blogger support network or group where you can share ideas, get support and encouragement, cross-promote each other etc..

Basically the more hands the better, and the sooner the better.

Just imagine if you could outsource even four hours a week of the "less important" stuff on your blog to someone else, and could then spend those four hours doing things like creating products, building advertiser relationships, improving your content, guest posting... basically anything that will help to grow your blog.

Imagine how much faster you could grow??? â?–

So there you have it, seven nine years of ah-has and oh-nos. Personally I can't wait to see what the next nine-years bring.

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You’ve got to love a planner with sass ▶ ◀ For those of us with some matching OCD tendencies, this complete organisational package is perfect!

Copper & Chrome Collection

by Copper & Chrome Design $79.95, copperandchromedesign.com MiGoals 2017 Diary $34.95, etsy.com/au

The Busy Bitch Planner by That Effortless Bitch $32, thateffortlessbitch.com.au The Conquer Kit by Natalie MacNeil FREE EXCERPT! theconquerkit.com

Leather Time Planner from Kikki K $84.95, kikki-k.com

▲ MiGoals are classic – simple, easy to use and not cluttered full of stuff you’ll never need.

We have massive girl crushes of Natalie MacNeil The Conquer Kit is a must have for savvy business #girlbosses. Kate and I each have one if that helps solidify your decision ▶

PLANNERS It’s not too late to grab yourself a pretty planner for 2017… or if you’re anything like Kate, 5 planners for 2017. I swear that woman buys a planner every week. Here are our top picks - or rather Kate’s top picks because she’s such a planner junkie.

Write Your Own Adventure Planner from Emma Kate Co $59.00, shop.emmakateco.com

We’ve been mates with Emma Kate for a few years now and couldn’t wait to get our hands on this.

They come in grey and blush. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Fan of Danielle La Porte? Want a business with purpose and heart? The desire map is perfect for you ▶ Danielle La Porte’s Desire Map Planner $44.00 USD, daniellelaporte.com/ store/shop

The Purpose Journal by Jack DeLosa $35.00, kickstarter.com /projects/2970 68909/purpos e-journal

or better yet, want a free planner?

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#bestyearever 2017 BLOG PLANNING PARTY

ready to make 2017 your most epic blog + biz year yet?

Learn my simple, step-bystep process to plan & set up your blog + biz for it's best year yet!

JOIN TODAY AND GET OUR #BLOGYEAH PLANNER (WORTH $29)

FREE! www.secretbloggersbusiness.com

DARREN ROWSE Darren Rowse is the grand daddy of blogging.

He founded Problogger 14 years ago and has stayed relevant and ahead of the curve the entire time. He’s like the Sean Connery of blogging. Here he gives us advice on what to expect in 2017.

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When you were a kid could you have predicted that one day you’d work for yourself and the internet would be the vehicle in which you share your work?

Firstly - I love how it continues to give normal ordinary people a way to amplify their voice and connect with others who share their world views and interests.

When I was a kid - in the 1970’s and 80’s my dream was to ‘be a business man’ but I don’t think I really had too many firm ideas of what that actually meant. I suspect some of my aspirations in the field came from my love of Monopoly and my idolising of Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties.

Secondly - I love that blogging is giving people the ability to earn an income that they may never have expected to have.

While not everyone makes a full time (or even a part time) income from blogging there’s a growing number of people around the world who put ‘blogger’ on their tax returns as their occupation which is pretty cool.

It wasn’t until I got to my mid-teens that I began to be drawn more to the idea of communications, media and marketing and began to have a hunch that I might end up doing something vaguely in those fields. But the idea of something like the internet didn’t ever cross my mind - and even when it did start to go mainstream I could never have imagined I’d be building anything on it!

You are the head honcho at Problogger - one of the original and most prolific blogger education websites - what is it about blogging and blogger education that gets you springing out of bed in the morning?

I saw my first blog in 2002 and it was love at first sight. I intuitively knew I was looking at something that had incredible power to amplify normal people’s voices beyond anything else and I just knew I had to be a part of it. I had no idea where it would lead but loved the medium and found myself telling all my friends about it and recommending to so many people to start blogging. So to start ProBlogger really was an extension of that I guess.

Today - 14 years after I started blogging I am still very passionate about the medium for a few reasons.

Lastly - I’m a firm believer that blogging makes the world a better place. While there are times where it can get a little snarky I do believe we all benefit when we have avenues to share our stories, experiences, world views and knowledge!

So I guess for all those reasons (and the fact that I have 3 young boys who insist on it) I am normally pretty quick to get up in the morning!

I love that blogging is giving people the ability to earn an income that they may never have expected to have.

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I wish I’d started collecting emails from my readers earlier.

How do you decide what to publish on your blog/social media platforms? Do you pre-plan or just write whatever pops into your head?

When I started it was all very spontaneous and I would come up with most of my blog post ideas minutes before writing them and publish them shortly after writing them. Today it’s a little more considered. I have become a bit more thoughtful about the overall journey I’m trying to take my readers on. I have in mind who my reader is, what their needs are and where I’m trying to take them. Knowing this I try to map out content ahead of time - content that builds some momentum and builds from one post to another.

This means sometimes I’m thinking a month ahead about the posts I want to write and particularly about the podcasts I’m wanting to record. Having said that - I do get spontaneous at times too. There’s nothing better than a topic that springs into your mind that you’re passionate

about in the moment and just have to get out there so from time to time I’ve been known to rearrange my planned schedule to get something spontaneous into the mix.

Being the leader of a team, how do you stay motivated and keep energy levels high?

Energy levels are something that I do struggle to keep up at times - I’m a pretty low energy person. So I tend to try to hire people who have good energy levels and who are self motivated and organised.

My style of management is to try to empower my team so that they know what our goals are, what they need to do and to then let them get to it. Having said that I also think it’s important to communicate your values (and to hire people who share them) and to keep in everyone’s mind the goals of what we’re doing with the blog and how we’re trying to change our readers’ lives.

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Ultimately I’ve learnt that I am most motivated (and my team are too) if the work I’m doing is meaningful to me and to those I’m trying to serve. So do something that makes the world better and keep that in your focus as it’ll energise you.

What big changes do you see in the blogging world for 2017? What should we be keeping our eyes on? Any problogging tips we should be tucking into our tool belts?

Over the last few years there’s been a lot of people talking about how blogging is dead and that things like Facebook, or Snapchat, or Instagram, or Podcast are the new blogging. I agree that all of these amazing mediums are wonderful forms of communication but I still think there’s a place for blogging - it’s just that what we are now able to use blogs for has changed. For me the blog is now the home for all our content. It’s the place we can embed our podcasts, our Youtube Clips, our visual content and our written work so that our network can find it all in the one place.

When I started blogging in 2002 it was 99% written content that appeared on blogs. The other 1% was visual with small images that we’d add to our posts to make them look a little more visually appealing. Today we live in a multi-media world and blogs are increasingly reflecting this.

The danger though is that with all these social networks calling us to play on them is that we create all our content and keep it on other people’s land and as a result we need to play by their rules forever.

Facebook in the last few years has changed the rules so many times on those who use it. Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter have changed their algorithms too. They have their agenda.

They will show your content to those who they wish to show it to and while all of these networks are well worth having a presence on I strongly recommend also keeping as much of the content you create for these platforms also on your blog.

Smart bloggers are leveraging the networks to build their home base and they’re repurposing their content to appear on multiple networks as well as their blog. As a result blogs are starting to act more and more as multi-media portals than traditional blogs.

When I make decisions about new products to make - I’m thinking about the readers I’ve met.

How do you like to start the new year as the leader of your team? Do you set goals? Plan content? Plan products?

We generally get together in the last month of the year to plan the following year.

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We set some and strategies in areas like:

I wish I’d started collecting emails from my readers earlier.

• Content - I recently recorded this podcast (problogger.com/podcast/166/ 301 ) with 11 questions we ask ourselves to help shape our content strategy for the coming year.

I wish I’d started creating my own products to sell earlier and not just relied upon advertising/sponsor revenue for many years.

• Traffic - we do a bit of a review on where our traffic has been coming from and how we want to increase traffic from different sources. For example last year we put a lot more work into SEO.

I wish I’d hired people to work with me earlier.

• Engagement - we do a bit of a review on our social and lay out plans for where we want to focus on building community with our readers.

• Monetization - we generally map out the next year in terms of when we want to create and launch different products.

What are the top three apps you use on your phone every day?

I wish I’d started podcasting earlier.

I wish I’d niched down from my multitopic blog earlier.

I wish I’d had more confidence in myself (every day) Having said all this - most of the mistakes I’ve made have led to a lot of learning and despite me being a procrastinator I’ve muddled my way through and am very grateful to have the life I’ve got today. I’ve been lucky at times and have some amazing people around me in my personal and professional life that should really take a lot of the credit.

Snapchat - this is how our team communicates 95% of the time

If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting a blog in 2017 what would you say?

Gmail - I’m still amazed they don’t charge us for this amazing service

Create something meaningful to you and to others every day.

Google Analytics - I monitor our real time traffic during the day

Despite all the things I said I wish I did in the last question the reason I was able to build a business around this blogging medium is that every day since 2002 I’ve tried to create and publish something that I believe in and that I hope will make someone else’s life better.

If you could go back and start your blog again what would you do differently?

Many things.

Get into the rhythm of creating great meaningful content and a lot of the other stuff will fall in place around that.

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The key is to find ways to have one on one interactions with your readers that help you to ‘know them’.

Not ‘know about them’ but to ‘know them’.

One of the best things I ever did with ProBlogger was to start our event 7 years ago. I didn’t know it at the time but the event we run has fuelled a lot of the rest of what I do.

The things my readers tell me about at our event shape the content I produce over the next 12 months. I base my content on the challenges I see my readers having and the dreams that they tell me about.

When I’m recording podcasts - I’m picturing my readers because I’ve met them. It makes my content more personal and relevant.

When I make decisions about new products to make - I’m thinking about the readers I’ve met.

When I’m engaging with readers on social I’m talking to them differently because we shared an experience together at the event (or I shared an experience with people like them).

If you could give one piece of advice to someone continuing to grow their blog in 2017 what would you say?

If you already have a blog and hopefully an audience (big or small) - one of the best things you can do is to meet your readers. If you have the ability to do this in person then that’s fantastic but virtually can work too. Email them, get on a call with them, have private DMs with them on social.

So meeting and getting to know my readers has been a very powerful thing.

I know not everyone can run an in person event for their readers but any personal connection you can make with them can pay off. For example I know Pat Flynn randomly rings some of his readers to connect with them.

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QUICKIES My favourite movie ever is…

My boys are into Star Wars at the moment so I’m rewatching some of those. Not high quality - but they take me back.

If I go to a restaurant I’ll usually order…

I often end up with a burger.

If I had just $5 left in the world I’d spend it on…

Twisties (probably a pack of cheese and a pack of chicken). Any left over money would go on chocolate.

If I could interview one major blogger it would be….

Seth Godin Anything from the 80’s… is my favourite song to dance to at weddings

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NEVER

AMBITION secretbloggersbusiness.com 18

BLOGGING THEN VS. NOW Carly Jacobs

Did you know that Kate and I have been blogging for the same amount of time? Almost ten years each. That’s a long time to do anything. Not surprisingly the blogging landscape has changed a lot since then. For example there was once a time back in 2007, when I would write a blog post, publish it and then thousands of people would read it without me so much as tweeting the damn thing. Isn’t that completely ludicrous?

Just for shits and giggles here’s a little table that outlines how blogging has changed in the past few years.

THEN

NOW

Wondering whether or not it’s ‘appropriate’ to share a blog post on this new Facebook thing.

Deliberately trying to outsmart the Facebook algorithm to make sure your blog gets seen in as many feeds as possible.

Patiently waiting a full 45 minutes to download one photo from your plug-in-to-your-computer point and shoot camera.

Getting seriously frangry (frustrated and angry) when the cloud takes longer than a nano second to find the 67 photos you just took.

Asking any old chump with arms to take your photo.

Requiring a full resume of photography credentials and at least 100k of their own Instagram followers before letting anyone take your photo.

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THEN

NOW

Using a pseudonym to protect your privacy.

Using your full name as your brand (so ‘on brand’), including altering your personal style so it’s ‘on brand’ and making sure your partner, house, car and dog are also ‘on brand’. Say ‘on brand’ again. On brand.

Commenting on blogs.

Commenting on Facebook.

Only ever blogging from your desktop computer and usually at home.

Blogging from anywhere, any time with your phone, laptop or tablet.

Blogging about whatever you felt like.

Blogging strategically to get more followers or customers.

Finding blogs through other blogs, Blogs finding you through weird online forums or community advertising and re-targeting. groups on photo sharing websites.

Legitimately not know how many followers you have. What’s Google Analytics?

Genuinely caring about and trying to reduce your bounce rate.

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5 TOOLS TO HELP YOU STICK TO

your goals!

Carly Jacobs Have you ever been to a conference or business planning day and come away with a billion ideas only to get home and promptly not follow through with any of them? Story of every blogger’s life right?

It’s sounds super easy to do things like track engagement at certain times on Facebook but if you don’t commit to doing it every single week, you’ll never get the results you want. I’ve popped together a little list of the things I use to help me stick to my goals and keep long term projects chugging away effectively.

Asana Recurring Tasks There’s a bit of a steep learning curve with Asana but it’s pretty ace. For example if you want to write a blog post every Monday you can set that task to

pop up every Monday in your Asana.

You just have to go to the calendar when you set the task and set it as a reassuring task. There’s also unicorns and monkeys and things that act as rewards when you tick off tasks. It’s very excellent.

Trello Copy and Paste Boards I use Asana for timed tasks but for check lists, I use Trello. For example if you want to make sure you do all the right things whenever you write a blog post, you can set up a checklist in Trello that has tasks like clickable heading, pinnable images, email contributors and then you just have to copy and paste the board each time you need a new checklist. This works really well for launches or any kind of task where you have actions that need to be completed each time you do the project.

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Recurpost Recurpost is a cheaper, less annoying version of Edgar and it allows you to share content to your social media profiles. I have conversation starter questions, memes and other community building posts all scheduled to go so I don’t forget to keep my Facebook updated.

Grum Grum is used for Instagram scheduling. I don’t schedule all of my Instagram posts through Grum but there are a few themed ones I do each week and it makes a huge difference to my life so I don’t forget to Instagram. It’s also great for growth. You need to Instagram regularly to get traction and Grum can

take the daily slog out of that - it just posts straight to Instragram without you having to pause your day and think about what you’re going to post next.

Co-Schedule Co-schedule is a life saver. I just pay for the cheapest plan and I can schedule all my social media posts at the time I schedule my blog posts. It’s awesome.

That way I don’t have to waste time at the start of every day faffing around sharing that days blog post - it just gets shared automatically. Also I’ve done some experimenting and my reach is usually higher if I post through CoSchedule. Keep an eye on your reach when you first start using it but may well increase your Facebook engagement.

Bonus. ❖

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Out yourself secretbloggersbusiness.com 23

The Wonderful Wizard of Moz Meet Rand Fishkin Rand is the co-founder of Moz - they started as an SEO consulting company in 2004 and today they’re SEO software developers. What does all this mean?

Basically Rand is an SEO ninja. Do everything he tells you to do.

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When you were a kid could you have predicted that one day you’d work for yourself and the internet would be the vehicle in which you share your work?

Since the Internet didn't even exist for most of my childhood, I'd have to say definitely no! And even later in life, I thought I'd get a regular job working for a stable company like my Dad who retired on exactly his 30th anniversary at Boeing with his full pension.

You are the head at Moz and you’re like the SEO whisperer of the internet - what is it about SEO that’s get you springing out of bed in the morning?

I love the constant change, the mystery, the optimization process, and the ability to learn, test, and benefit. It's the perfect ecosystem for a kid who grew up loving video games and getting just the right configuration of Tetris blocks.

How do you decide what to publish on your blog/social media platforms?

Do you pre-plan or just write whatever pops into your head?

A little of both, but more planned than unplanned these days. I usually have a lot of conversations with folks at conferences and events, in social networks, and via email, then turn those conversation topics into content ideas. That helps me stay relevant and up-to-date with the real problems real people are facing in their digital marketing work.

Being the leader of a tech team, how do you stay motivated and keep energy levels high?

I'm not Moz's CEO anymore (I stepped down a few years back), but I do still lead some of our product and marketing efforts. For me, motivation has never been a big challenge, but energy can be.

I need lots of sleep, a solid amount of daily exercise, and a relatively healthy diet. To do that, I've configured my days around those items. I walk to work and back (about 30 minutes down and up a steep hill each way), I have physical therapy I do for my back, I wear a Fitbit to help me track exercise, weight, and sleep, and I try to be mostly healthy with what I eat :-) What big changes do you see in the blogging/online business world for 2017? What should we be keeping our eyes on? Any SEO tips we should be tucking into our tool belts?

We're seeing more and more types of search results and testing of new types from Google all the time. One of my biggest pieces of advice is to consider how those features affect both clickthrough-rate on classic rankings and how they impact which types of features you should optimize for (e.g. news, images, local, knowledge graph, instant answers, etc).

Focus very specifically on the one thing you do better than anyone else.

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I'd urge anyone investing in blogging or content creation of any kind to consider whether you're producing truly high value stuff and earning lots of engagement.

A good keyword research tool like KW Explorer will show those features and the estimates CTR (via the "Opportunity Score"). I'd say it's essential to bake that into your process for choosing keywords.

As far as other big changes; there's a nasty challenge of signal:noise ratio that's overwhelming a lot of sites that invest in content creation and promotion. If you can't stand out from the crowd and earn a loyal audience, content marketing is not going to produce high ROI for you. I'd urge anyone investing in blogging or content creation of any kind to consider whether you're producing truly high value stuff and earning lots of engagement. If not, you probably want to reconsider your strategy -- better to put time and energy into other forms of marketing if content isn't your passion and competitive advantage.

How do you like to start the new year as tech start up leader? Do you set goals? Plan content? Plan products?

Moz does do quarterly and annual planning to set goals and determine focus. We've recently made this a much lighter process (it used to be overwhelmingly heavy), but it's still valuable to do. I like to use this visionbased framework for how we determine where to invest.

What are the top three apps you use on your phone every day?

Gmail, Twitter, and Calendar, but those are pretty boring. The more unique ones I use regularly are Pocket (for saving and reading content free from advertising and even without a web connection, as on long flights), Lyft (vastly better than Uber, and much less sexism/misogyny on their leadership team, too), and Fitbit.

If you could go back and start your business again what would you do differently?

So many things... I actually wrote an entire blog post about just this topic.

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If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting a blog in 2017 what would you say?

Focus very specifically on the one thing you do better than anyone else. Find that niche where you can be known as the big fish, even if it's a small pond, and work to build a reputation centered around that area where you give unique value.

Blogging about travel is almost definitely a mistake -- it's too broad and too hard to stand out. Blogging about traveling with kids is more niche, but still an enormous challenge. Blogging about traveling with vegetarian kids or kids with special dietary needs? Now we're talking. It's a small audience, sure, but a hugely passionate one in need of advice and help.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone continuing to grow their blog in 2017 what would you say?

QUICKIES My favourite place to travel is… somewhere new. I love the exploration process.

You’ll never catch me eating… deli sandwiches. I'm just not into them.

If I had a spare $100 I’d spend it on… probably a new shirt. I'm a bit of a fashion-addict.

My perfect birthday would be…. spent with Geraldine, maybe a couple close friends, visiting some amazing new place together.

Come on Eileen (obviously)… is my favourite song to dance to at weddings.

Before you publish anything, or even plan to create something, ask: "Who will help amplify this and why?" If you don't have a great, specific answer to that question, don't bother. Find another subject or angle.

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Madeleine

Christina

ASK THE EXPERTS Carly Jacobs CHRISTINA

This month I asked two of our Blog Squad experts for their thoughts on blogging in 2017. Christina Butcher from Hair Romance (total internet stalker, trend forecaster, photographer extraordinare and all round legend) and Madeleine Borgenson from The Daily Mark (SEO goddess, wordpress whisperer, branding genius and time management legend seriously she wrote these answers almost on the way to the hospital to have her first baby!). Here’s what these two have to say about blogging in 2017.

One thing that's really working for you right now...

Facebook live and Youtube are my fave places to hang out online and they're bringing in the best engagement for me.

One thing that's really not working for you right now...

Wasting time on social media. I am spending too long scrolling when I should be creating.

One app you used to use all the time that you no longer use...

PicFx - I used to love this photo editing app in the early days of Instagram but now those overlays seem so dated 28

Your latest favourite app that you don't know how you survived without for so long...

Timepage - the best calendar app ever that helps me manage my daily and weekly schedule

lot of bloggers I’ve chatted with.

Growing a few in following and then going back down, it can be disheartening but I try and just focus on being consistent and riding with the tides.

One app you used to use all the time that you no longer use…

MADELEINE One thing that's really working for you right now…

My biggest traffic generator, other than SEO at the moment is re-sharing evergreen posts. Spending 30 minutes a week scheduling some social posts for popular posts from a month or two ago or even from the year before is upping my traffic by 30% and without writing any new content.

One thing that's really not working for you right now…

Instagram growth seems to be a bit of a cha cha at the moment for myself and a

I’ve slowed down my emails using Campaign Monitor. I think this time of year, everyone’s inboxes can be busy enough so I’m culling my email send outs to reduce the risk of losing too many subscribers from email exhaustion.

Your latest favourite app that you don't know how you survived without for so long…

I’m using the default Camera app on the iPhone a lot more, being more aware of switching to HDR mode and getting a great exposure level before taking the snap means less time editing! ❖

psst...want to learn more blogging awesomeness from these very awesome ladies?

What are you waiting for?

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looking for real help with your blog?

SBB’s Blog Squad is a unique online mastermind and community for bloggers who are serious about growing their blogs & businesses.

With exclusive access to a panel of full-time blogging experts, monthly blog training plus an amazing community of like-minded blog bosses, events, templates, tools and much more!

access to your new crew of hard-working, big-dreaming, world-conquering, boss-blogging besties! and… ✓ monthly live training

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Socially Sorted Meet Donna Moritz She’s the genius behind Socially Sorted – a one stop shop or all things social. If you need someone to tell you exactly why your Facebook strategy sucks... and the best ways to improve it, Donna is your gal.

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When you were a kid could you have predicted that one day you’d work for yourself and the internet would be the vehicle in which you share your work?

As a young kid I wanted to be dozens of things including an author and a comic book artist so it's kind of funny to be now writing about visual content on a blog. But I could never have imagined the thing that is the internet - it still blows my mind!

I don't think I'd ever trade the freedom and unplugged life of a child in the 70s and 80s but I can't help but think how much easier business is now. Years ago I started an agency with a friend, helping therapists to go on a working holiday to the UK. We were "travel blogging" on our website before we knew what the word "blog" was, and it was before the days of PDFs and Skype and social media. Oh to have what we have now! It’s so much easier to grow a business with a global reach through blogging or content creation.

If someone had told me back in 1985 that Marty McFly would be having video calls in 2015 I would not have believed it!

and content strategy (specifically visual content).

Rather than “manage” their social media marketing, my goal is to empower my clients to use content to get results in their business. This includes helping them to create visual content by using cool tools and apps – even if they have no design skills!

I started out with a few Facebook Marketing clients in 2010 and originally focused on 1:1 clients, but it changed when I started a blog. A top Aussie blogger (you may know her: Nikki Parkinson from Styling You) advised me to start blogging one day in 2011, while we were at soccer practice watching our sons. I dutifully obliged!

My blog has become the driving force of my business, which I didn't expect at all! It gave me the opportunity to sell programs and services to people all over the world, become a paid speaker, and monetize in ways I could not have imagined. So I now serve clients in a different way - through online programs, training and webinars. I still do some 1:1 strategy sessions when I get the chance, but my main focus is my online program members.

But I did wholeheartedly believe we would have hoverboards in Kmart by now. What's with that?

You are a social media strategist - can you tell us exactly what that is and what you do for your clients?

I help small business owners, bloggers and entrepreneurs get more traffic, shares and sales using social media

My blog has become the driving force of my business, which I didn't expect at all!

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It's definitely a rollercoaster.

Some days are easy and other days you just really don't want to look at a computer!

How do you decide what to publish on your blog/social media platforms?

Do you pre-plan or just write whatever pops into your head?

It's a mix of both! I wish I could say that I have an extensive content calendar planned months ahead but I don't always pull that off. It's something I am working on.

Generally, I plan ahead with posts where I can, especially if we are leading up to a launch or a series of webinars (or going on a holiday and I want to unplug!). Other than that, it's very flexible.

Sometimes the post I have scheduled to write just doesn't work out. Other times, I get an idea and I just have to stop and write about it. I have an everchanging list of ideas on my phone because the inspiration for a post can strike at any time (and usually in unusual places!).

Working for yourself, how do you stay motivated and stop yourself from rejoining the rat race?

It's definitely a rollercoaster. Some days are easy and other days you just really don't want to look at a computer! But I wouldn't change the freedom of being able to take time out with my kids or husband or to grab a swim or walk on the beach.

I do miss the office banter, but I try to make up for it with online groups, masterminds, or skype calls with other bloggers that I speak with around the world. I think I’m more productive away from the temptation to chat, if I was completely honest!

Another thing that helps to feel connected is to work on projects with real people, online or in person. So I try to meet with my team members in person or on Skype or Slack to work on content or webinars. Getting shizz 33

done with another person or group of people can be rewarding. so I try not to just do solitary projects.

And I'll occasionally meet with another blogger or online business owner to work in a cafe or workspace. Or I just talk to my cat!

What big changes do you see in the blogging/online business world for 2017? What should we be keeping our eyes on?

My mind boggles with where this is all going as we are surrounded by so much change and innovation. As I write this Instagram has announced a new feature with live video on their platform too, so it’s ever-changing.

There's no doubt that live video will continue to be huge. People want to connect with the person behind the blog, so if you can make that connection with video or live video (on Facebook, Periscope, YouTube or Instagram) it will help to engage with your audience in a way that has never been possible before. And let’s face it, Facebook will continue to favour video for a while, so embrace it while you can!

I also think we should keep our eyes firmly on our email list - more than ever. There are few places that algorithms are not dictating who sees your content. Your "owned real estate" matters. Subscribers matter.

And then there’s Facebook Ads. Just like video, they can help you to grow faster. Organic traffic is still possible but if you can boost your posts with some basic Facebook Advertising it can really help. Bloggers that take the time to learn and understand Facebook ads, custom audiences and retargeting of blog visitors will be rewarded. It's a skill that you’ll be glad you learned.

How do you like to start the new year as a full time blogger/online business owner? Do you set goals? Plan content?

I am getting better at this and I’m making friends with goal-setting. My other friend, "procrastination", is not so happy about this.

The last two years I have found it helpful to "unpack" in December and look at what has worked, what I am grateful for and what hasn't worked in the year just gone.

When it comes to content, we are getting swamped with so much “stuff”.

If you can find a niche in a particular area and provide quality, useful blog content that helps or entertains your readers, you can't go wrong. I think it’s becoming more important than ever to get to know what your audience needs and wants from you, and use that intel to create content that matters to them. Don’t fly blind!

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Then I set about planning for the next year and I like to set goals for the year as well as to set quarterly goals and benchmarks to focus on.

So yes, this includes content, any launches or webinars I will be running, JV webinar promotions with other bloggers that I partner with and any new projects (like a podcast or new program). I’m starting this process now for 2017 and throwing lots of these balls in the air!

I used to do the goal-setting process in January but now I am finding that I need to start as early as November or December. I feel so much better starting the year out with a rough plan. It’s not set in stone, and often I change direction during the year. That’s why I love the idea of quarterly goals or "focus periods".

I used to do the goalsetting process in January but now I am finding that I need to start as early as November or December.

What are the top three apps you use on your phone every day?

I have too many apps on my phone (especially visual content creation apps) but the ones I use the most at the moment are: 1 Agorapulse – this is my main social media app. I use it for engagement on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Since using Agorapulse, I rarely miss a tweet! You can schedule posts and do so much more with it, but I mainly use it for engagement. I heart Agorapulse.

2 Instagram - I try to stay off Facebook on my phone to avoid getting sucked into a rabbit hole. Instagram, on the other hand, is still "fun" for me, so I tend to be on this more than any other social platform. It's likely to increase with Instagram Stories and Instagram Live. I use Later link to: www.later.com to schedule some of my posts on Instagram too.

3 Adobe Spark Post - I love Adobe Post for making quick images or animated images. I also use Canva for iPhone and tools like Ripl but I find Adobe Post to be really user-friendly and I love that I can switch between desktop and phone.

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If you could go back and start your blog again what you do differently?

I’d learn more about basic SEO! I know it doesn’t sound very sexy, but I didn’t know anything about SEO when I started blogging. If you can learn some basic SEO tips and tricks, you will be grateful down the track when you don’t have to go back in to your blog and review old posts and make corrections like I am doing now.

Saying that, my blog did well and won awards before I even knew what SEO was, so don’t let anything technical hold you back. Start writing, install a plugin like Yoast SEO (which helped me a lot when I started to pay attention to SEO) and learn as you go!

If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting a blog in 2017 what would you say?

Don't hold off on starting your blog because you think it will be crappy!

Nobody starts out with perfect blog posts, so rip off the band-aid and start writing.

I see a lot of people give up when they are at 1,000 readers a month when they are most likely about to hit a tipping point and a big jump in readers, which is a shame.

Also, ASK your audience what they want from you. Sometimes we do this when starting out, then forget to do it again! Ask them what their pain points are, what they need help with, what their challenges are, and what inspires them. Their responses might surprise you and will fire up content for your blog!

QUICKIES My favourite breakfast food is… ..any sort of fritters with avocado, tomato relish and poached eggs.

I’m loving… the fact that my blog and speaking allows my children to see the world.

Be consistent and look for the content that resonates with your audience (and that you also love writing) – then find out where the two match up. Then do more of that. When I pivoted my blog to focus more on visual content, it changed everything.

You couldn’t pay me enough money to… go bungee jumping!

If you could give one piece of advice to someone continuing to grow their blog in 2017 what would you say?

If I won the lottery the first thing I would do… probably book some flights! And I'd chat with my kids about donating or helping a cause that means something to them.

There's also a risk we'd take off and travel for a year...and maybe even 36 blog about it!

Don't give up! Blogging is a long term gig and every day your blog is growing an audience of people who are invested in what you have to share.

My perfect evening includes… fish and chips on the beach with a bottle of red. The kids can run around, and hubby and I can finish sentences.

A VERY COOL THING THAT MIGHT HELP YOU MAKE SERIOUS BANK WITH YOUR BLOG Carly Jacobs We usually have an article every month outlining a bunch of different useful tools but I’m thoroughly obsessed with Teachable at the moment so I thought I’d ditch the list of tools article and just interview the rad dudes at Teachable instead. Here’s what they had to say.

Teachable is a platform that helps that bloggers deliver quality course content - can you tell us what kind of bloggers use teachable and what kind of content is published through your service?

We have bloggers in every niche and genre hosting courses on Teachable.

There are business bloggers pulling in

six-figures teaching blogging, fashion bloggers teaching other fashion bloggers how to rock Instagram, and mommy bloggers teaching different parenting hacks. Honestly, if you can think it, there is probably somebody who has created a course on it.

Why should a blogger use Teachable instead of self publishing?

Using Teachable makes everything so intuitive and gives you so much more control. Teachable makes creating a beautiful sales page easy, we take care of payments and make the process stress free for the course creator. All that they have to do is create the course, we take care of everything else.

Tell us three must have tools for

37

Teachable bloggers and business owners.

Tell us three really cool things teachable does for content creators.

This is a good one! I'm actually creating my first course now and here are the tools I've found to be super helpful:

1. We give creators the tools they need to create a full-time income. Since starting at Teachable I've seen people who go from having a blog that might be making a thousand dollars or so a month to creating an online course that consistently brings in tens of thousands of dollars a month.

1. A Yeti Mic. My laptop is ancient and makes a ton of terrible noises so an external microphone is essential and results in professional sound quality.

2. Camtasia or Screenflow. Depending on whether you're on PC or Mac, Camtasia and Screenflow make recording your course really easy.

These tools take a lot of headache out of video creation.

3. Adobe Suite. You definitely don't need Adobe Suite, but it does make creating workbooks and marketing materials a breeze. If you've got it I'd definitely take advantage of it, otherwise Canva is a great alternative.

2. My favorite thing is we feature content creators in Make Change Weekly every Friday. We search the web for people who are killiing it in the online entrepreneurial space, interview them, and promote them to our entire audience.

3. We host weekly webinars for free to help people get started on their course creation journey. We walk them through everything from setting up their online course to launching with our signature Crazy 8 Email Sequence. These webinars really help people hit the ground running so they can find success as quickly as possible.

What’s your favourite success story from the Teachable community?

Yeti by Blue Microphones $186.00, kogan.com/au

I love the course creators who are doing big things teaching creative skills!

Angela Fehr stands out in my mind as an incredible success story - she teaches water color painting and had an established audience online but wasn't making any money from it. When she got started on Teachable, though, she started making a consistent 8k a month teaching what she was happy doing for free. It's great when people's passions collide with business and they are able to make a living doing what they love.

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Who are your three favourite Teachable teachers and what courses to they run?

As a blogger, I've taken more blogging + biz courses than I can count, here are my favorites: 1. Melyssa Griffin's Blog Hive - this is the first course I ever took (way before I was even working at Teachable!) and it was a game changer for me. Not only was it a wealth of information, but this is the course that put online courses on my radar.

2. Regina Anaejionu - Blog Like a Magazine. This course really breaks down how to create beautiful blog posts that people want to read and

promote them to an excited audience.

3. As a non-blogging bonus course: Buttercream Flowers Class by Darlene of Make Fabulous Cakes was a really fun course to take!

What advice would you give to a new course content creator wanting to launch a course in 2017?

Start building your email list today! Your email list is where the money is, and on average 2% of your list will convert. The larger your list, the more customers you'll have. There are a ton of resources for list building (and course creation in general) on the Teachable Blog. It's a great place in general to refer to when you're creating an online course! â?–

39

fireandflow.com.au

5 THINGS

we love

ABOUT

FIRE AND FLOW Each month we review a blog we love.

A blog that’s doing cool and interesting stuff. A blog that deserves your attention. This month we've chosen our very own Blog Squad buddy Chavon Livvy.

Chavon has taken her love of yoga and fitness and combined them into a killer idea - Fire and Flow yoga. It’s half cardio, half yoga for wellness loving fitness fanatics.

1) Her product is genius Chavon’s actual product is a yoga class called Fire & Flow that she licenses to yoga studios. So it’s kind of like Les Mills classes. She invented the class and the concept and she ‘rents’ the class out to studios and instructors.

So every time they teach one of her classes, she makes bank. So boss.

2) She has a killer opt in Not only is Chavon targeting instructors as clients of her Fire & Flow method she’s also directly targeting potential customers for these instructors with her free 21 day reset opt in. Fans of her work will turn into loyal customers for her instructors. It’s targeting people from all different levels.

3) Her business is multi-layered There’s so much potential for huge growth in Chavon’s industry. She can license the classes to studios but she can also create a DIY version for people who prefer to do their yoga at home. She’s already nurturing a

community of loyal users who will be primed for future upgrades of her services.

instagram.com/fireandflowmethod

4) She blogs to compliment her business (her blog isn’t her actual business) You may have noticed this but Kate is trying to steer bloggers away from the sponsorship monetisation model of blogging. It’s definitely something bloggers should try and have available but it’s not a steady income revenue by any means and should try to be accompanied by a product your readers can actually purchase - like a yoga class!

You get all the benefits of stretching and flexibility with yoga but also some hard core exercise at the same time.

5) She has a filled a gap in the market Well it’s a gap I wanted filled in the market. I’ve always loved the idea of yoga but I also love more hard core exercise and I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that yoga classes aren’t enough ‘work’ for me. Chavon has totally fixed this issue with her combination of yoga and cardio fitness. You get all the benefits of stretching and flexibility with yoga but also some hard core exercise at the same time. ❖

Will it be easy?

Probably not.

Will it be worth it?

ABSOLUTELY! secretbloggersbusiness.com 42

RIP

THINGS THAT USED TO BE A THING THAT ARE NO LONGER A THING

Carly Jacobs This edition is turning into a bit of a trip down memory lane but seeing as I’m a dinosaur in this industry (My blog is only a teeny bit younger than Facebook!) I thought I’d honour the memory of websites and tools that used to be an essential part of everyone’s day that now barely even thought of.

MySpace Full disclosure - I never actually joined MySpace but lots of my friends did and there are some seriously successful people who owe their buckets of millions to this social media monster.

Sophia Amoruso built Nasty Gal by befriending trendy girls on My Space.

Lily Allen and Katy Perry owe their initial fan base to the site as well. Its user

interface was clunky AF and it was a shit storm of terrible design and animated GIFs but it was a whacky wonderland for the alternative set and honestly…

MySpace… we miss you. MySpace technically still exists but it will never be the same.

Mode Media These guys very recently closed their doors and it was a sad day in the blogging world. Mode had always been a pretty solid way for bloggers to earn some pocket money in an already unstable industry.

Google Reader I actually can’t talk about Google Reader without tearing up. I LOVED 43

Google Reader. Every morning I’d get an update of my favourite blogs and the most important thing is that I wouldn’t get updates from blogs I didn’t care about, like on Facebook. I miss my little Google Reader bubble.

2007 she just stopped blogging and no one knew why. She popped up again a few years later, no longer fashion blogging but I’ll always miss her incredible authenticity and getting a look at her mad little life in Oslo.

RSS

Passionfruit Ads

Yep… gone. Do we care??? I’m not sure. I don’t think I ever really understood what RSS was. I know it was friends with Google Reader so maybe it was better that they went together.

Another little gem keeping bloggers on top of their hosting fees - bye Passionfruit Ads! I bought a lot of nice shoes because of you.

Blog Rolls

Flickr For us oldies, Flickr was Instagram. I grew my blog Smaggle through a group in Flickr called wardrobe_remix where women all over the world would share their outfits. Kind of like using a hashtag on Instagram. It was awesome. I really miss it.

Making Shit Loads Of Money from Sidebar Advertising We all miss these days. Mega mummy blogger Dooce once made $60,000 in one month from side bar advertising alone. Those days are well and truly gone my friends.

Back in the day, bloggers would have a ‘blog roll’ on their website where they’d link to other blogs they like and that was kind of the Facebook of it’s day. It’s how you discovered other blogs and if you were on the blog roll of a ‘big’ blogger it was a BIG deal. Back when Susie Bubble had a blog roll, I was on it. *smug*

Getting close to your expiry date: Twitter Soz Twitter. It’s just not happening over there any more.

Periscope You’re the less cool younger brother of Twitter and we like you less.

StyleBytes I had to include StyleBytes - she was one of the first style bloggers to do magazine style shoots in her Oslo apartment and she was MASSIVE! She had a pet pig and an uber hipster husband and was achingly cool. All of a sudden in April

Tumblr Do people still do Tumblr?

Typepad Kate started her blog on Typepad.

44 Bwahhahaha. ❖

how to...

BATCH YOUR CONTENT

If you’re a long time reader of #sbbmag you’ll know I’m a crazy fan of batching. I’m so crazy about it, I often put off doing things until I have a pile of things to do all at once. I look at it like this - you wouldn’t wash your clothes one article at a time so why would you write your blog posts one at a time? Here are a few tips for batching every day items.

Facebook updates If you post two to three conversation starters on your Facebook blog page per week you’re probably wasting a lot of time sitting there trying to think of something to say. Sit down and write out 50 of them and schedule them either directly into Facebook or into a planner like Recurpost or Edgar.

Don’t have time to do this? Hire a VA through Upwork. It’s much cheaper than doing it yourself and totally worth the investment on the time you save.

Instagram Part of the beauty of Instagram is that it’s supposed to be instant but that’s what stories are for now. For you main feed, you can take twenty photos of cute flat lays, outfits, food posts, fitness posts - whatever your niche is

and schedule them in Grum to upload to Instagram. By all means add spontaneous posts as well but this way you’re sharing the content you want to share without wasting all day every day on Instagram.

Blog Posts I used to write 5 blog posts every Monday as my way of batching but I’ve recently taken it one step further.

I now batch themes as well. I’ll write 5 self improvement posts or five fashion posts, so my brain stays in the same subject rather than jumping

around from one blog category to the next. Try to keep your brain on the same theme for as long as you can it’s a much more productive way of working rather than jumping around all over the place trying to go from writing about food to fashion.

Email Writing Give yourself email check times - like morning and evening - and only go into your account if you fully intend on writing your emails. I’ve also been using gmail Inbox and it’s amazing. It has auto replies that are surprisingly useful too .

I love them and I use them all the time such a big time saver.

Videos Never, ever shoot one video in a day. The set up is too painful - if you’re going to shoot say a leg workout video, shoot ten videos all at once - do abs, arms and butt.

Never waste a set up. You may not need to use that content for a long time but at least it will be sitting there ready to go. The same principle applies to photography. If you’re shooting, shoot heaps of stuff. That way you have a bank of great content to draw on whenever you need. ❖

are you ready to become a full-time blogger?

Almost 8-years ago I started my first blog, Drop Dead Gorgeous Daily from scratch. I was exactly where you are right now. 12-months later I was able to quit my job and blog full time.

Today I have two 6-figure blogs, 4 staff, and I have earned over $1million from blogging.

Want to know exactly how I did it? Exactly step-bystep how I created two multi-6-figure blogs?

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE

I’ve turned my biggest blogging and business lessons into the online 6-week Bloggers MBA eCourse, that I know will help any blogger, old or new, to go pro with their blog, and start turn their hobby into their career.

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