Sometimes we do have constraints that bump right up against our lack of skills. Common for many in this business is lack of technical skills. And this is often coupled with the habit of comparing yourself to others where you see other good look

Shiny Objects

Nov 28th, 2018 7m 32s

In our last issue, we met Bob. Bob set out to start up his own online business, but ended up drowning in information and left himself overwhelmed and confused on what to do next. And when we left Bob last time, I talked about how Bob needed str

Information Overload & Confusion

Nov 27th, 2018 6m 43s

Information overload and overwhelm are two of the biggest constraints to people looking to build their online business. But, here’s the rub… Most people are doing it to themselves voluntarily! Let’s look at a typical person who is trying to sta

Weekly Update - Thanksgiving Edition!

Nov 21st, 2018 24m 55s

For #ASKBMA this week, I'm talking about what to do when you've been blogging for awhile, but it isn't working. Carl is in the personal development niche and is having a problem figuring out his unique selling proposition (USP). Also on the age

The Painter Of Your Own Life

Nov 16th, 2018 5m 28s

When we focus on what we don’t have, it will often lead to more of that. See… You get what you validate. And, when you validate your shortcomings by focusing on them, you’ll just magnify them. I’m about to get a little “woo woo” on you here, bu

Comparing Yourself to Others, The Folly Of Selfies

Nov 15th, 2018 7m 9s

Man, they appear to be doing so well. What’s wrong with me?” This is a pretty common thought to a lot of people. You may see somebody in a bigger house than you have… then look at your own and wonder what went wrong. You may see somebody else w

Prison Rules And The Ease Of Having A Job

Nov 14th, 2018 4m 54s

You ever seen the movie Shawshank Redemption? FANTASTIC movie. Hard to believe it was made 24 years ago now. Anyway… If you recall, Morgan Freeman’s character was in prison and he was afraid to leave prison. He saw what happened to some of his

Re-thinking Podcast Norms

Nov 13th, 2018 7m 23s

One thing I know from all my time in the business is that there are a lot of things that people just do. Almost out of habit. Because it is considered normal and they see everybody else do it. They might not ever question whether it makes much

Selling From Your Heels And The Fear Of Selling

Nov 12th, 2018 6m 12s

The other day, I was reviewing somebody’s front-end offer. The central portion of the landing page for it was a video of him talking. And I noticed something… He was not portraying any confidence in his offer. In fact, he was practically apolog

Using Twitter in 2018

Nov 9th, 2018 8m 15s

My relationship with Twitter has changed a few times. Like a lot of bloggers, I used it. Built up a following, and used it to interact with others in my marketplace. But, like a lot of people, I felt Twitter got to be super noisy. And my enthus

List Building Challenge #10 – Building a Quiz

Nov 8th, 2018 7m 23s

A quiz is a unique type of lead magnet to grow your list. Typically, creating an online quiz has been a real technical challenge. But, one of the more recent tools offered from Thrive Themes is the Thrive Quiz Builder. With Quiz Builder, you ca

List Building Challenge #9 – Mobile opt-in forms

Nov 7th, 2018 8m 3s

Mobile traffic is a really big deal these days. So many people are browsing our sites on mobile devices so it is VERY important that your site is mobile responsive to work on smaller screens. When I look at my own stats as of this writing, abou

List Building Challenge #8 – Opt-in form placement

Nov 6th, 2018 8m 12s

Today, let’s talk about placement of your opt-in forms. We’ve already talked about running split tests on your opt-in forms. But, one of the things you definitely should be testing is placement of your opt-in forms. Most blogs have a primary le

Blog Marketing Academy Weekly Update - 11/1/2018

Nov 5th, 2018 16m 27s

For #ASKBMA this week, I'm answering: - Using other people's Youtube videos in your content. Is it OK? - Her email list isn't growing. What's she missing? - Offering private discounts to people who ask? Also on the agenda... - The latest on The

List Building Challenge #7 - Reaching people who left your blog

Nov 2nd, 2018 4m 47s

All of us – and yes, you – have people who come to our blog who end up leaving without opting into our list. Sometimes it is because they’re not interested. Sometimes they just never saw your lead magnet. Sometimes, they’ve got such short atten

List Building Challenge #6: Giving your list a big boost

Nov 1st, 2018 7m 6s

Today, I’m going to share another strategy to build your list much more effectively. In fact, it works very, VERY well. It will, however, cost you a bit of money. But, the way I see it, if you’re one that is seeking to avoid any form of spendin

List Building Challenge #5: A Strategy For Using Your Squeeze Pages

Oct 31st, 2018 7m 55s

A lead magnet squeeze page is like an island unto itself. It won’t have any top nav menu. No sidebar. No links to social media profiles. At most, it will have the typical boring links to your privacy policy and terms of service in the footer. A

List Building Challenge #4: 10X Better Opt-in Conversions

Oct 30th, 2018 9m

In case you’re wondering, here’s some fairly typical opt-in rates for various types of forms: Typical blog sidebar opt-in form will typically not convert much better than 1%-2%. A contextual opt-in form inside a blog post (aka content upgrade)

Blog Marketing Academy Weekly Update - 10/25/2018

Oct 29th, 2018 22m 49s

Here's our weekly update for 10/25/2018. For #ASKBMA this week, I'm answering: Transitioning from single products to a membership Daily blogging and building up to 25k subscribers BEFORE you monetize? Whuh?! How many blog posts do you need to

List Building Challenge #3: Split Testing Opt-in Forms

Oct 26th, 2018 7m 16s

Building your email list is always a marathon, not a race. It is a constant effort and something that you’re always doing. And, if all you do it throw up an opt-in form with a single lead magnet and then waiting it out, you’re just not doing it

List Building Challenge #2 - Content Upgrades

Oct 25th, 2018 6m 26s

If you’ve not yet read my flagship blog post on The Redwood Strategy, I recommend you do now. It should be very clear that I’m big on the long-term use of a blog post. I like to build leverage… not a hamster wheel. In that post, too, you will s

Blog Marketing Academy Weekly Update - 10/18/2018

Oct 24th, 2018 22m 8s

This week's (and the first) Weekly Update. :) On the docket this week... The latest on The Daily An update on the Coffee Break Blogging podcast. Is it coming back? What's new inside THE LAB #AskBMA For #ASKBMA this week, I'm answering: Third

List Building Challenge – Action #1

Oct 23rd, 2018 5m 29s

“Subscribe to our Newsletter” is quite possibly the dumbest call to action ever to litter the internet. It might have worked back in the 90’s when “You got Mail!” made people feel special. But, today? Ha! Today, you need to give people a damn c

Here's What's Coming With This Podcast

Oct 22nd, 2018 5m 51s

It has been a long time since we've done a new episode of Coffee Break Blogging. I've had many people ask if I had any plans on bringing it back. With this short episode, I explain what happened. And, what's coming.

7 Tips For Turning A Service Offer Into A Product And Scaling

Mar 14th, 2017 26m 11s

Do you run a service business? Are you a consultant or a coach? If so, then you’ve likely thought about the issue of how to scale. The idea of trading time for money is something many people grow allergic to. There’s nothing wrong with it at al