Month: October 2023

10 Minute Micro Habits for Online Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur who is working in a solo situation, the most precious commodity you have is that of time. Many men and women who work for themselves find it difficult to achieve all of their goals and cross off items on their task list simply because they feel overwhelmed and disorganized.

Instead of trying to overhaul your entire life in one go, it's often better to integrate a series of micro habits that can gradually improve your systems as a whole and move you further toward achieving the success you have always dreamed of.

There are many different types of habits people need to embrace, and those needs will vary from person to person. For example, one person may suffer from extreme distractions while another is able to fully focus, yet they struggle with disorganization or lower levels of energy.

By learning how to apply micro habits to whatever area of your personal and professional life needs changing, you will be building momentum and seeing consistent improvements over time.

You may think you need to devote hours each day to changing one thing in particular. But even 10 minutes of focus on one area can have a major impact over the course of many weeks.

Have 10 Minute Morning Routine

Many online entrepreneurs are sluggish when it comes to getting started in the morning. After all, there s no boss to answer to, no commute or traffic to fight. You just leisurely wake up and browse the Internet before gradually getting coffee in your pajamas and sitting down to work when you feel like it.

While this may indeed feel like a perk to being your own boss, for many people, it can be an inhibiting factor to their ultimate success. Instead of starting your day off with energy and momentum, you are easing into it slowly and without enthusiasm.

One thing you can do is give yourself 10 minutes to get yourself ready for your work day. This may include putting on comfortable clothes, brushing your teeth and hair, getting coffee, and sitting down to map out your day.

With the previous routine, you may have woken up at 7:00 AM, but not made it to your desk until 8:30. When you wake up and get a fresh start to your day, you still don't have to rush, but you are allowing yourself an adequate amount of time to begin the work process.

If you have no problem with this particular process, then your morning routine might be just the work part. For example, after you sit down at your desk, you can spend 10 minutes getting your day organized and checking in on things so that you will hit the ground running when it's time to bring out your to do list.

You might sit down and open up your email account so that you can reply to any pressing emails. You might open up your bank account and balance your business check register.

Depending on what business model you are following, you may want to check in on your ads or social media statistics quickly before you get started with the rest of your work task list.

Just 10 Minutes Can Recharge Your Energy Levels

Whether it's at the beginning of the day, the middle, or the end, there will be times as a solo entrepreneur when you just need to recharge your batteries and get a boost of energy.

If you are a work at home parent, on top of being a solo entrepreneur, then you will have even more moments when you need to find that surge of energy to handle both your work and home life.

Whenever you start to feel like your energy is waning, you want to take a few moments, even 10 minutes at a time, and give your body and mind the relaxation it needs to reset. This can be done in many different ways.

Some people take a 10 minute refresher nap. Other people may want to engage in guided meditation. For some, getting out of their seat and doing some exercise can provide a boost of energy.

Practice different things to know what can help you shake off the lethargy that is plaguing you and reenergize your mind and body so that you can continue to work toward your goals.

Spend 10 Minutes Furthering Your Knowledge

As a niche leader online, it will be your responsibility to guide your subscribers and followers with good information. In order to do that, you have to consistently conduct research in your niche.

You can spend 10 minutes a day increasing your knowledge as an expert by reading as little as one page of a book, flipping through a trade or consumer magazine, watching a simple 10 minute YouTube video, etc.

There are also things that you will need to know for your business that are not necessarily conveyed to your target audience. For example, there may be times when you buy a tool, such as a page builder, and the learning process requires you to devote a certain amount of time.

Instead of stressing yourself out and trying to do it all in one day, give yourself just 10 minutes at a time to apply to the process. You will consistently make progress toward your goal of being able to use your new tool and it won't detract from the rest of your to do list.

Create Content for 10 Minutes at a Time

Content creation is a huge part of all online entrepreneurial business models. Whether you are operating as a digital info product vendor, an affiliate marketer, a PLR creator, or something else, you will need to create text, audio, image, and video content.

Some people get overwhelmed at the thought of sitting down for hours at a time to churn out relevant content for their site and social media accounts. You don't have to do it all at once.

In fact, many people work better when they divvy their content creation up into 10 minute increments here and there. Instead of having to focus for 60 minutes at a time, you have a shorter period of time to gather your thoughts and convey them.

Of course, depending on how much content you need and how fast you can create it, you can duplicate your 10 minute content creation micro habit if you need to throughout the day. But that may depend on your niche and business model as well.

Set Aside 10 Minutes for Networking with Others

Another thing you will need to do as an online entrepreneur is network with others in an effort to help grow your business. There are three main types of people you will be networking with.

The first are your customers. You want to be able to build a rapport with the men and women who are following you as their niche expert. The networking you do here may be in the comments on your blog, in direct emails, or on social media comments.

You don't have to spend all day interacting with people. Just 10 minutes here and there will do the job just fine. Another type of person you need to network with are colleagues who are also online entrepreneurs.

These are the people who will be your friends and acquaintances, who can answer questions whenever you have any about your business, tools, courses, strategies, etc. They say that no man is an island, and this is especially true when you're working for yourself in a new type of career.

Another type of individual you will want to network with are affiliates. If you have products of your own, you will want to spend some time recruiting and catering to the needs of your affiliates to get them onboard for future launches.

It doesn't take much time to reach out to someone in a private message and share a link to your joint venture page, write a brief one paragraph explanation about the product, and let them know why it may be a good fit for their list.

Organize Your Workspace for 10 Minutes Every Day

As a work at home man or woman, you may find yourself struggling with the right way to separate your workspace from the rest of your home. Not everyone has a separate office where they conduct business.

Some people have a small space set up in the living room, some work from their couch and coffee table, and some just carry their laptop around and work from wherever they happen to sit, whether it's on their bed or at the kitchen table, or even on the porch.

While some solo entrepreneurs may have everything they need online in their laptop, others have things like a pad of paper and pen, notebooks, printed papers, books, and more.

If you are working in a space that is frequently cluttered and disorganized, it will help you strategically and mentally if you spend 10 minutes a day clearing up the clutter so that you are working in a clean environment.

Sometimes, people who work from home tend to eat and drink at their desk. Your children may wander over to your desk and leave a toy or two behind. You need a few minutes each day to remove what doesn't belong in your workspace so that your focus is not interrupted whenever you sit down to do your job.

Give Yourself 10 Minutes of Freestyle Brainstorming

It's important that not everything you do in business is structured. As an online entrepreneur, you are already showing signs of being creative in your endeavors. Therefore, you need a certain amount of time to free your mind and let it explore the possibilities ahead of you.

For example, you can set a timer for 10 minutes and allow yourself to freely brainstorm info product ideas, business models, niche slants, and more. During this time, you can use tools such as a mind map, or even a simple pad of paper and a pen that you can doodle on as you explore ideas.

You can make lists, brainstorm titles, consider what a hybrid business model or niche would look like, and more. When you engage in focused, freestyle brainstorming, make sure you are not spending that time analyzing your thoughts, but instead simply getting them down on paper.

Carve Out 10 Minutes Daily for Planning and Prioritizing

Whether it's at the beginning of the day or the end, you'll need to carve out 10 minutes a day for you to plan your business. You may be planning the next day's tasks, a new business model, or an entire year s worth of projects.

Once you have an overview of your plans in place, make sure you take the time to prioritize them as well. If you need an additional 10 minutes to do this, take it. But you may also be able to do both the planning and prioritizing all at once.

The planning and prioritization process can take place on pen and paper or digitally. You just need to have a way to track what the next steps are for your goals so that you don't veer off in another direction.

Use 10 Minutes Every Day to Handle Menial Admin Tasks

There are many tasks you'll have as an online entrepreneur that may not seem as if they help your business grow. However, these are things that are necessary and tedious.

For example, you may need to go into each of your online blogs and update the plugins. This can help with security for your website and ensures that the end user s experience will be one that is flawless.

It doesn't take much time to ensure the proper running of your site. You can tackle things like making sure there are no broken links, and other tasks that aren t urgent, but which need to be done at some point.

Allow 10 Minutes for You to Take Decisive Measures

The decision making process is one that paralyzes many online entrepreneurs. You can get lost in a number of hours sitting there feeling conflicted with your choices. You may second guess the niche you have chosen, the business model you want to pursue, and other strategies you are considering.

Instead of allowing yourself to feel consumed by the decision making process, set a strict amount of time for it instead. For example, when you have narrowed down your business models or niches to the final two options, give yourself 10 minutes to weigh your choices before making a decision.

The same can be said for all of the different decisions you are making as an entrepreneur - from which font you will use on your header to the color pattern of your sales page - you should never let yourself sit with indecision for too long.

30 Day Multi Media Blueprint

In today’s world of online marketing, content does not solely revolve around the written word. It used to be prevalent, but not more consumers are showing their preference for audio and video consumption, so you need to meet the needs of that demographic, too.

Some marketers are intimidated at the thought of creating audio and video files. Usually, this comes down to either a lack of knowledge about the process or a lack of confidence about how they look or sound.

The fact is, seeing and hearing you can help your followers create a stronger bond with you than static text can. You can even bypass the requirement of being on camera for video if you use slide presentations, which allows you to be competitive with the use of multi media formats.

Day 1: Grab Your Video Platform Profiles

Video channels are something you can create an entire brand around. So you want to stake claim to your channel name as soon as you can. There are many video platforms, like Vimeo – but YouTube is one of the most popular, and also the second biggest search engine in existence.

You also want to grab the profile on any other social site that allows video, live or recorded, such as TikTok, Instagram, SnapChat and Facebook. You can use your real name, a keyword phrase or a brand name but make sure it’s the same on all platforms.

Day 2: Go to a Pro for Video Channel Branding

Branding will be an important part of building a following. Like an eCover is for a book, the branding for your video channels helps people recognize your work and see at a glance what your videos are all about.

If you’re not comfortable creating graphics yourself, hire someone on Fiverr or UpWork who can create a channel header, thumbnails and other brand elements you need for your video channel.

Day 3: Set Up Space for Recording Videos

Video recordings don’t have to be produced by a professional, but there are some minimal expectations your audience will have. For example, when they’re watching your videos, they expect you to have good lighting where they can see you.

They don’t want to watch a video where there is clutter and a mess behind you or all around you. So create a special place in your home where you record that looks nice and allows for good lighting.

Day 4: Invest in Lighting and Recording Gear

Sometimes, your home’s lighting isn’t enough to create a well-lit environment. So you may need to purchase some inexpensive gear that helps illuminate your surroundings whenever you plan to record.

Sometimes, all it takes is picking the right time of day to record, when natural lighting is at its strongest. To record, you can use a smart phone camera or any type of recording device, as long as it delivers a clear picture that isn’t grainy.

Day 5: Download or Create a Template Slide Series

For those who opt not to be on screen, you can use slide presentations or capture your online screen instead. If you’re teaching people how to do something, like how to set up a blog, then you can use screen capture software.

If you’re wanting to talk about a topic, but don’t want to record a blank screen, you can use a PowerPoint or Canva slide template to type out some main points and talk in the background as you go through the slides your viewer will be watching.

Day 6: Choose a Tool to Edit Your Videos

Regardless of how you’re recording or what’s on the screen, you’ll want to edit it after the draft is complete. You can either buy a tool like Camtasia, or download the free version called CamStudio.

Using this tool, you can add an intro and outro video clip, add text on the screen, transitions from one part to another, and even highlight the cursor to show what you’re doing better.

Day 7: Map Out the Content for Your Video

Start today with an idea of what your first video is going to be about. You can get a general idea or outline as you would the chapters for a book. Sometimes, it helps to outline so that you have something to reference and keep you from getting offtrack or forgetting where you were going.

You can create an informative video that educates your audience, entertain them, answer questions, conduct a product review and more. You can even create a response video to someone else’s video where you share your thoughts about something.

Day 8: Make Your First Video and Edit It

Once your outline is ready, start the recording process! Don’t worry about doing any retakes. Just keep recording at each point if you mess up because you can go in and remove the parts that have errors in them.

A few things to keep in mind are that, while your space is neat and tidy, you need to be, too. Be presentable onscreen. A niche leader should look clean – not disheveled like they just rolled out of bed. Save the video you create as an MP4.

Day 9: Create a Call to Action and Choose a Thumbnail

Just as your eye is drawn to an eCover that looks professional on Amazon, the same rings true for thumbnails on YouTube. Whenever people search for a topic on this social media site, they look for a thumbnail that looks promising.

Learn how to create thumbnails with text and don’t just choose whatever pre-filled image looks best from the options they give you from the video stills. You also want to make sure that when you upload your video, you have some sort of call to action included.

Do you want them to download their free gift? Click to read more? Buy something? Leave a comment? Share the video with others? Have a call to action that gives them directions on what to do and have it written at the end of the video for clarity.

Day 10: Make Sure Your Video Is Search Engine Optimized

Optimization of your video content is a great way to help make sure it gets chosen to be presented to consumers who are searching for that information over the content of your peers.

Make sure your video file name includes a keyword or phrase, like ketotips.mp4. In addition to that, use keywords in your description effectively (not like spam) and in the title of your upload, too.

Search engines also like for video content to have captions enabled for those who can’t hear well, and they want your upload to be placed in the right category, to help people navigate to your content better.

Day 11: Choose the Option to Let Others Share Your Videos

Because YouTube is a social network, it’s important that you honor the social sharing abilities it’s giving you access to. Some people who create videos are stingy in allowing people to share their content.

You want to enable sharing and embedding options. If you have your branding in place within the video, both verbally and written, you’ll be able to enjoy the traffic perks of letting your competition use your videos to educate and inform their audience.

Day 12: Put Your Video in the Feeds of Social Media Followers

Start the sharing process yourself once your video is published. Start by embedding it on your own blog. You can add your own commentary to go along with it and then share the link to your blog post on other social sites like Facebook.

Some social sites will allow you to share the link directly to the video itself, so if you’re not trying to get them to your site, but instead get them to subscribe to your channel, you can use that option.

Day 13: Conduct an Analysis on Your Videos

You never want to ignore the effectiveness of your video marketing efforts. It does you no good to create and publish video content unless you see how it benefits your business.

Look at the analytics today to see which videos are working well for you in terms of getting people to watch longer and engage in the comments section. Look to see when people are watching, so you can upload at the right time, too.

Day 14: Put Yourself on a Video Creation Schedule

A content creation publishing schedule will help you manage your tasks and time better. Look at how long it takes you from start to finish – from brainstorming the idea to final upload – and then make a publishing plan that fits in with your daily or weekly schedule.

You can create videos one at a time or record in batches to make the process easier. It all depends on your surroundings, your family schedule and other factors. Make sure your content is varied for your channel, unless you need it to all be one type of recording or slant.

Once you’re ready, you can use an automation tool to publish the videos for you on a schedule you decide. That way you don’t have to constantly log in and publish them every time.

Day 15: Turn Your Video Into Other Forms of Media

Your video has great potential as is, but why not make it go further? You have it uploaded to YouTube. But you can extract the audio portion and turn it into a podcast episode, too.

Another thing you can do is turn it into a text-based transcript and use that content as a written blog post or post on your various social media accounts. You can also chop it up into smaller snippets for social media, like 60-second soundbites for TikTok.

Day 16: Get Good Gear for Recording Podcasts

Video isn’t the only hot media format making inroads with consumers. Audio is just as popular. People love listening to audio files on the go, and it’s a relief for many not to have to be glued to the screen as with text or video.

To start using audio in your marketing efforts, start with some decent recording gear. If people are listening only, you need to have good recording equipment, like a Blue Yeti microphone and a stand – or even one that’s cheaper, but of good quality.

You may want to hunt down some royalty-free music you can use for intro and outro clips, just like a radio station uses for talk radio channels. You also may want to get a pop filter to eliminate any extra recording noises from the way you speak.

Day 17: Make Sure You Have a Soundproof Recording Area

Having background noise can ruin an otherwise wonderful recording. You can ask people in your house to be quiet, but it never sounds quite as good as making sure your recording space is somewhat soundproofed.

Don’t worry – you don’t have to have an entire room professionally soundproofed into a studio. You can strategically place things like cushions and flooring in your room to absorb echoes.

You can also buy a foam stand that surrounds your microphone area but that’s small enough to sit on your desktop, so that distracting sounds are eliminated from being picked up by your mic.

Day 18: Choose a Show Topic Based on Your Niche

Today, you want to map out a topic for your podcast channel. You can go broad or narrow. For example, you can do a show on relationships in general or dating for millennials.

Your show can be all about gardening or just about container gardening. Come up with an overall idea for a podcast. This should be broad enough so that each week, or whenever you upload a new show, you’ll have something to talk about without a struggle.

Day 19: Create Bulletpoints for Your First Show

Once your main idea is ready, outline the notes for your first show. You can jot down a few reminders like bulletpoints to keep you on track with your topic and help the show flow smoothly.

You want to aim for approximately 20-30 minutes, but there are shows that are more or less than that amount, so don’t worry if yours falls outside those parameters. Don’t write a script because it will be obvious that you’re reading.

Day 20: Go Through the Draft Recording Process

Before you hit the record button, you want to double check that your space is set up correctly to filter out noise. Make sure you have your notes in front of you and a glass of water to keep your mouth hydrated while doing a lot of talking.

Give it a little test run for a minute and play it back to see if there’s anything you need to fix before you start recording in its entirety. Remember – you don’t have to start over if you make a blunder. Just be quiet for a couple of seconds so you’ll know where to edit that part out and resume recording.

Day 21: Edit Your Episode to Perfection

Even though you may feel as if you recorded a flawless presentation, chances are it needs to be cleaned up a bit. You can use audio editing tools like Audacity to do things like clean up places where you said “um” too often or “uh.”

You can also use it to insert any promos as well as an intro and outro recording to help brand your podcast for your listening audience. Learn how to use the tool you’re working with and bring your podcast to perfection.

Day 22: Choose a Podcast Platform and Upload Your Episode

You’ll need to choose where you want to host your podcast and then upload it. There are so many different platforms, and many of them have built-in monetization options so you can start profiting from your subscriber list.

Consider some of the most popular ones, like Anchor.fm, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Spotify. Working with a platform like Anchor, they’ll ensure your podcast is syndicated on other platforms for you.

Day 23: Employ the Use of SEO for Your Podcast

Just like text content, your audio files need to be optimized for search engines, too. You’ll be able to do this by using keywords and phrases in the episode titles, file names and description area, too.

Day 24: Make the Most of Your Description Area

In your description area, not only do you want to make sure you have keywords and hashtags included, but you want to really let the audience know what the show is about. Your show notes can include other things, too.

You can link to anything you specifically discussed, like websites and products (including your own or someone else’s). Any time you mention in the podcast that you’ll include a link to something, make sure you add that in the notes so you don’t forget.

Day 25: Use Snippets of Your Podcast as Teasers

You can use portions of your audio show to bring listeners onboard. Pick some really interesting moments and extract them for teasers and trailers. If you use Anchor, they have this feature built in.

But instead of just a snippet of audio, they put the words to a slide presentation and turn it into a video you can share on social networking sites. They only grab up to 60 seconds, so choose carefully.

Day 26: Create a Guest List of Potential Co-Hosts

Sometimes, you don’t want to shoulder the burden of carrying the entire show on your own back. It helps to have someone else to banter with, and if you don’t have a call-in audience yet, then a co-host can alleviate the pressure you feel.

They also bring another level of expertise and opinions, which makes for a more interesting podcast. Look for people in your niche who have experience with podcasts or who don’t mind being recorded for one.

Day 27: Transcribe Your Episodes Into Blog Posts

You started your podcast with some bulletpoints to remind you of what to say. Once your podcast recording is complete, you can transcribe it word for word (extracting any awkward pauses like “um” or “uh,” and turn it into a traffic-pulling blog post.

You’re basically repurposing your audio content into text. You can also include the link to the episode in the blog post. Another thing you can do to repurpose it is use the transcript to paste it into a series of slides and record a video presentation of it for your video channels.

Day 28: Learn How to Use Microcasts for Audience Building

Small bits of audio are growing in popularity. Some people use microcasts, which are anywhere from 0-10 minutes in length, instead of longer podcasts. These are perfect for people who want bite-sized tips or inspiration, so see if you can create something like this, too.

Day 29: Bring on Sponsors for Monetization

While you may be using podcasts to broaden your exposure to your target audience, you probably wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to make money from those efforts. You can monetize your audio recordings by finding sponsors to support your show.

They’ll want to know how many subscribers (listeners) you have, your topic, the length of the show, and more details. Let them know what you charge and for what placement – like the beginning of the show, middle or end.

Day 30: Analyze Your Podcast Data and Make Improvements

As you record more, don’t forget to stop periodically and check the stats for your podcast so that you can make improvements wherever necessary. Spotify will show you analytics for your episodes.

You’re going to find out whether they listen to the entire episode or leave midway through. Go back and listen to where they dropped off so you can remedy future episodes.

Using multi media in your online marketing efforts is a smart way to expand your reach, brand your business better and ultimately increase traffic and sales. If you’re intent on sticking with a text-only approach, don’t be surprised when the competition soars ahead of you because they were willing to put themselves out there and try something new.

30 Day Content Marketing Blueprint

Content marketing is an integral part of almost every business model in the world of online marketing. You need content to represent your brand, communicate ideas and expertise with your audience and encourage them to take action.

But you can’t just create and slap content up on the Internet and expect to get great results. You have to know how to use it strategically, which means understanding what kind of content to use – when to use it, and where.

Below, you’ll find a list of daily tasks that should last you a full month with your content marketing efforts. You’ll be able to build a brand and a list, engage with your audience and see an increase in traffic and sales.

Day 1: Know Exactly Who You're Targeting

Pinpointing your demographic is something many marketers fail to do. They cast a wide net with broad, generic content, hoping someone will eventually spend money with them.

There’s a better way to do this. You want to choose an audience to cater to. It might be by age group, gender, or some other criteria like interests or experience levels, finances and more.

You want your content to cater to a specific audience, so your messaging can be on point. Create a customer avatar, which is a representation of who you plan to target with your online efforts, and this will be something you can refer to when you create content to ensure it meets their needs.

Day 2: Put Yourself on a Workable Schedule

Content creation can be exhausting. If you’re doing it all yourself, or even outsourcing and editing it to your liking, it can absorb many hours of your day. Instead of trying to do too much, you want to be selective with what you create, for which platform.

A few stellar pieces that have viral potential are better than dozens of pieces of content your readers will yawn at. Think of how long it takes you to put together a content piece that you’re proud of and set a schedule for the week based on your other tasks.

Use tools and automate content creation if possible, such as having templates to work off of. There are free and paid tools that will shorten the creation and publishing process for your content.

Day 3: Make a Decision About DIY Versus Outsourcing

There’s no shame in handing over some of your online marketing tasks to others who can specialize in this for you. Because of the sheer volume of content needed, it makes sense to hand some of it over to a pro.

Pick the content you struggle with most, whether it’s graphics, video or audio, and allow someone to step in and deliver a readymade version for you to upload. You can find freelancers for graphics, videos and writing on sites like Fiverr or Upwork.

If you do want full control over the creation of your content, then you need to learn how to master the production of it so that both your speed and quality improve over time. You don’t want to be releasing subpar content that could have been flawless with a little extra knowledge and polishing up of the draft.

Day 4: Learn SEO for Your Site Content

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical to your site’s success if you plan on relying on any organic traffic measures. This is especially important for those without a steep budget for paid ads.

Every piece of content that you create, whether it’s written or recorded, needs to be optimized for search bots. When these bots crawl your site, they look at everything to see how to index it for their users.

They also look for leadership qualities such as how often you post to your site, how relevant the content piece is, and its quality. Some people mistakenly aim for a certain length, but it’s more about the value you bring to your audience.

Learn how to effectively use keywords and phrases with your content, including weaving it into your posts as well as using it to tag your content or categorize it for easy navigation.

Day 5: Master Motivating and Inspiring Content

You always want to ensure your audience feels gratified when they land on your site and consume content. There’s an easy way to do this when you realize they’re there seeking a solution to a problem or pain point.

All you have to do is make sure your content inspires and motivates your readers. They need to feel like their obstacles aren’t insurmountable, and that they have what it takes to succeed or overcome a struggle.

Day 6: Brainstorm and Create a No Brainer Lead Magnet

Your lead magnet can be a report or email series (among other option), but if it’s not something that makes the visitor feel it’s irresistible, they may click out without handing over their content information.

Many people think any freebie is a good freebie, but that’s not true. There is so much free information already on the Internet, that your lead magnet has to be something they feel a strong desire to know more about.

Create one that caters to their biggest needs or struggles, so they can experience your guidance and see if you’re the kind of expert who will lead them to great achievements in their life.

Day 7: Monetize Your Content Pieces

One of the main reasons you’re building a business online is to make money. But oddly enough, many marketers are so focused on the tasks they have to complete, that they forget to monetize their content.

Make sure, before publishing anything, that you have a final step where you analyze if and how you can monetize the content you’re about to post. It might be something direct like using a link to your product or someone else’s as an affiliate – or it could be indirect, such as building a list where you’ll monetize later.

Day 8: Come Up with a Product Review Template

Templates are such a great tool to have at your disposal when it comes to content creation. You want to quickly and easily pump out good content such as articles, product reviews, and images.

You can download some templates (or use them in tools like Canva). Or, you can make your own template to work from every time to sit down to create something new. With product reviews, your template might include the order in which you cover aspects like features, benefits and drawbacks – and it could also include positioning of clickable product images.

Day 9: Start Amassing a Swipe File of Copy Headlines

Another great shortcut you can use is a swipe file. Whenever you’re creating sales copy, which is a specific type of content you’ll use for your own digital products, it helps to open a swipe file for examples of effective, high-converting headlines.

You can download existing swipe files of headline copy. But you should also focus on creating one yourself. Pull from sales pages that you felt were effective at converting you into a buyer, and from pages you create that end up converting high so you’ll know what worked (and what didn’t).

Day 10: Brainstorm Some Low Content Pieces for Your Brand

Length of content is not an indicator of effectiveness. Sometimes, the short content, also know as low content, can be a great tool to serve your audience. There are many forms of low content you can choose to create, too.

These include journals, checklists, templates, cheat sheets and printables like trackers for certain goals or habits. You can use templates for these, create them from scratch or even buy low content pieces with private label rights.

Day 11: Inform, Inspire and Amuse Your Audience

The best forms of content are able to affect your audience in different ways. Sometimes, you need to teach them something that helps them achieve a goal or better their personal or professional life.

Other times, your content needs to simply inspire or motivate people to take action. There are many instances where they know what needs to be done, but need the extra mindset fortification to push through.

And there are times when your content goal should be nothing more than to amuse or entertain your audience. Moments of levity, where you make your readers relax and smile are much appreciated even in niches where the content is usually very serious.

Day 12: Add Socialization Measures to Your Content

Social sharing is an important part of seeing your content succeed. You want something measurable – more than just guessing whether or not people appreciated what you published.

By installing a social share plugin on your blog, you’ll be able to see how many people are liking and sharing your content, and where they’re sharing it to – such as Facebook, Pinterest, email and more.

Day 13: Become a Master of Storytelling

Creating content isn’t just a matter of regurgitating facts to your target audience. Instead, you need to be able to put your opinions into the content, and guide them with some attention-grabbing storytelling.

Stories that you share might be those of your own life in terms of being relevant to the niche topic. It might be someone you know, like an experience a loved one had. It can even be something you make up as a hypothetical.

The key is to paint a picture of what’s happening by tapping into their emotions and getting them to see how the story pertains to their own efforts to succeed with a goal or overcome an obstacle.

Day 14: Create Content Goals to Achieve

Goal setting isn’t just for income or productivity with a massive to do list. It’s for all of your strategic efforts, including content marketing. Each piece of content that you publish should have a goal that you can track to see if it worked.

Give it a job. Do you want it to help build your list? Should it convert into a number of sales for you? Do you want it to go viral and help spread awareness about your brand? Be specific with your goals.

Give it a number, such as adding 100 new subscribers, earning you $1,000 or something else like being shared 500 times on social media. You might even double up on the goals you set, but be sure to analyze the results later to see if what you aimed for really happened.

Day 15: Go to Facebook and Add a Link to Your Site Content

Facebook is great for almost any niche. You definitely want to be publishing content there, either on your profile, page or in a group that you created and control for your target audience.

You can share links to your blog posts, create content specific to your Facebook audience, share text or video, and more. You can even go live if it’s applicable for your niche, which creates a more engaging form of content.

Day 16: Hashtag Your Content for Other Social Sites

Using hashtags is a big part of getting your content found on social media. Hashtags are trending keywords and phrases that people use to search for information they want on sites and apps like TikTok and Instagram.

Make sure you include a list of hashtags for your niche that is relevant to the exact piece of content you’re sharing. That way, whenever someone searches for a specific hashtag, your post will show up for them.

Day 17: Have an Outsourcing Budget for Your Content Needs

If content creation is taking too much time away from your day, consider creating a budget for your outsourcing needs. You don’t have to spend a fortune. You can spend it on tools or services such as for a good freelancer or editor.

Some tools like software editors can do the work that a person would normally handle, at a fraction of the cost. Other tools might seem pricey at first, but you’ll quickly get your money’s worth by being able to perfect your content.

Day 18: Try to Create Content Using Online Tools

Online tools can not only spiff up the content that you create, but they can help you create it from scratch, too. Camtasia can capture your screen and record for you before the editing process.

Canva has tons of templates, images and fonts you can use to create graphics. You can make eCovers, banner ads, headers and more using this free or paid version of the tool. Audio tools like Audacity are good for helping you generate better content, too.

Day 19: Analyze the Success of Your Online Content

At some point after you’ve been sharing content online, you want to log in and look at the exact metrics to see how each piece is performing. You want to check certain things, such as whether or not people engaged with it or shared it.

It’s not all about numbers, though. The comments themselves will tell you how your message is being received. You can also get ideas about content performance from things like your site’s bounce rate.

Day 20: Create a Publishing Plan for Your Content Releases

Having a publishing schedule isn’t just about time. It’s about knowing what types of content, what slants and other specifics you’ll be releasing – as well as where. You want to put yourself on a publishing schedule for things like product reviews, informative pieces, product releases, subscriber gifts and more.

You want to make sure you’re rotating the topics a bit and not hammering the same narrow topics for several times in a row. For example, if you’re doing a gardening blog, you don’t want a dozen posts in a row about tomatoes with no other focus.

Day 21: Go Through the Editing Process of Your Content

Editing content is something that may seem like a bore, but it actually shows your audience that you care about presenting yourself as an expert in your niche. You can use tools for proofing your content for typos and grammar.

But you also want to edit for accuracy. Don’t just assume something is a fact before researching it. Spend time verifying things and citing sources if needed to assure your audience that everything is factual.

Day 22: Learn How to Curate Content from Others

Content curation can help alleviate the pressure you feel to churn out large pieces of content, yet they still deliver a lot of value to your readers. Curating is akin to being head a museum, where you gather exhibits for a themed presentation.

You’ll be pulling in all kinds of content snippets (not the entire thing) and linking out to where the reader can find more on that item. You want to give full credit to the original creator, but you also want to give your own insight and opinion about the content snippets you’ve pulled into your blog post.

Day 23: Add a Dash of Personality to Your Content

Never forget that when you’re creating content for your audience, you want to put in a piece of you so that your content is different from everyone else’s. Your stories are specific to you, your way of sharing the information is unique, etc.

The personality you weave into your content pieces will endear them to you – make them feel a close connection. This makes them want to stay on your list and buy things through your link.

Day 24: Discover the Importance of Split Testing Content

Sometimes, you’ll want to create two versions of a piece of content, such as sales copy, and pit them against one another to see which one comes out on top. This is known as split testing, and you’ll often test one small variant against another until you have a high-performing content piece.

Day 25: Eliminate Ineffective Content Efforts

Not everything is going to work well for you. It might be the way you create content (such as media format), the slants you use, the platform or even the topics. You want to weed out what’s not working so you have time for more high-performing pieces.

Take time today to look for anything that does poorly and make note of it so you can either tweak it or stop using it entirely. If it’s a social media platform, check to see if your audience is even there and if not, scratch it off your list.

Day 26: Work on Audience Engagement for Your Content

Are your content pieces getting any reaction from those who see it? If not, make sure you have a strong call to action. Does the piece stand out among others in a feed on social media?

Look for ways you can get the audience to comment, like and share your content with their own followers. Try different strategies to see if it gets people engaging, such as humor or serious questions.

Day 27: Purchase and Use a Private Label Rights Content Pack

PLR (private label rights) is a great way to get content published in your niche without you having to create it yourself. While freelance ghostwriters can be expensive, PLR can be as little as $0.50 to a $1 per page or piece.

You just want to make sure the quality is good, so be careful who you buy from. With PLR, you can use it as is or edit it and put your own name on it. This gives you a lot of flexibility and it can be used on your blog, in emails, on social sites, and even as info products or lead magnets.

Day 28: Repurpose a Piece of Content You've Created

The concept of repurposing is a way of making sure you get more benefits from your original efforts. When you create content, don’t just think about where else you can share it.

Think about what you can turn it into as well. For example, a video can be transcribed and used as a blog post. You can extract the audio and turn it into a podcast episode, and vice versa!

Day 29: Check the Mobile View of Your Content

You want your content to be absorbed by everyone who wishes to view it. If you fail to make sure it works on various platforms, then you’ll be missing out on subscribers, sales and engagement.

One thing you really have to be careful with is making sure your content is easily viewed on mobile devices. Whether it’s a sales letter or blog post, you need to access it from a smart phone and check to make sure the viewer sees it accurately and not in a distorted manner.

Day 30: Take Stock of Your Current Content Strategy and Tweak It

Once a month, you’ll want to sit down and see what’s working as a whole so you can tweak your next month’s efforts. Your publishing schedule might need to be improved with more content, or fewer, but better pieces.

You might see that competitors are getting more engagement by focusing on trending or newsworthy information, while you were bogged down in more evergreen data. Or, you could see that your video content is doing very well, while text is struggling to get any reaction from your audience.

Try going more in depth or finding other ways to improve your content marketing strategy. It will always be evolving, such as the way attention spans have gone from lengthy to short, making short form videos one of the more popular content strategies you can employ.

30 Day Website Traffic Blueprint

Regardless of what kind of budget you have for your online business efforts, you’ll want to learn how to push and pull visitors to your website strategically so that you beat out the competition who is vying for their attention.

Traffic generation is an ongoing task you’ll need to carry out, and instead of getting overwhelmed with enormous projects, you can do it in bite-sized, frequent increments spread out over the course of one month.

Day 1: Use Search Engine Optimization for Increased Organic Traffic

Organic traffic begins with mastery of search engine optimization (SEO). Learning what the search engines want from you on your site is the best way to gain traction and take preventative measures from allowing others to beat you in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEO can be simple or complex, and it’s constantly changing or evolving to keep scammers from getting an unfair advantage. So you’ll need to stay abreast of changes and implement them on your site.

Search bots who visit your site need to be able to quickly and easily navigate it and determine what each page is about so they can index it as a possible result for people who use their search engine.

Day 2: Let YouTube Send Traffic to Your Site for In-Depth Information

Many people don’t think of YouTube as a search engine, but many people, when they want answers, head straight there over Google or other search engines. You want to use videos on your YouTube channel to send targeted traffic to your domain.

You can embed these videos on your blog, allow others to embed it on theirs, and share the links to them on social media platforms so they can watch it right in their feed. Whenever you make a YouTube video, be sure to brand it with your URL both visually and verbally in both the intro and outro.

Day 3: Use Long-Tail Keyword Phrases to Bring Visitors to Your Blog

Keywords are a great way to bring visitors to your site. When you use keywords in your content, it tells search engines and humans what to expect. Long-tail keywords, which are composed of three or more words, are even easier to rank for than broad, shorter ones.

You need to conduct some research into long-tail keywords for your niche topics and weave those into your blog posts. Free and paid keywords, or even search engines will show you a variety of long-tail phrases you can use.

Day 4: Allow Pinterest Images to Funnel Traffic to Your Domain

Pinterest has grown into a powerhouse for traffic generation. Many consumers use it to pin ideas they find useful to boards where others can access them and visit the links to the information they’ve shared.

You want to create eye-catching, vertical pins to put on this social media site and consider joining groups where people share one another’s pins to help everyone get more exposure.

Day 5: Review Hot Products to Generate Interest in Your Content

Product reviews generate traffic because consumers want to make sure that what they’re considering spending money on is a wise investment. If you can choose some bestseller items to weave into your blog content, you’ll see more interest in it.

Consider learning various ways to slant your product reviews so that it stands out from other affiliates. Then give comprehensive, in-depth reviews that make people share your review with others.

You also want to stay abreast of pre-release information for products in your niche and have your product review detailing features and specifications ready before your competitors publish it.

Day 6: Socialize Your Content on Facebook for More Clickthroughs

Facebook has a lot of potential for almost any niche leader. But you have to use it the right way. You have three places to share information – from your profile, page or group.

But you also have several ways you can share information and send people back to your site. For example, you can use text or video, you can go live or share an infographic branded with your URL.

Day 7: Write a Traffic-Pulling Lead Magnet Where No Opt-In Is Required

There are some people who go searching for free reports or free PDFs online for a topic they want. For example, they might go to Google and type in free book about anxiety or free book about exercise.

You can create a blog post where you’re giving away a free book in PDF format to visitors who come and download it. Inside the book, be sure to link back to your URL or to an opt in page where they can sign up for yet another relevant freebie.

Day 8: Learn How to Promote a Profile Link for Traffic from Instagram

The traffic you get from Instagram can be an impressive number if you know how to use the social site to your advantage. This is a site based on pictures and videos, so it’s not as much text-based, except for the description area.

You can brand your images with URLs, but typically, you’ll have a link in your profile bio area to remind people to check for more information. For example, if you’re making an Instagram post about weight loss, you can tell people to click on the link in your bio to download a free meal plan, which could be your lead magnet.

Day 9: Publish a Pillar Blog Post to Generate Organic Interest

Many people underestimate the power of taking their time to create a blog post that will have a big impact on the branding of their site. Instead, they wrongly focus on volume. You want to spend today mapping out and creating a pillar blog post.

These are the exemplary posts that showcase a wealth of knowledge in a presentation that draws visitors in because of the depth and interesting information being shared with the audience.

This is going to be the kind of post that ranks well easily in search engine results pages. It’s also going to be one people bookmark and share on their own social media accounts.

Day 10: Create Short Videos on TikTok for More Traffic

TikTok has typically been known as a tween site for dancing. But that was before it grew to an enormous user base of all ages. People are creating content about gardening, finances, relationships, health and more.

You can drive traffic to your site without having to sit down and record 30 minute videos. TikTok videos are short, and the shorter the better sometimes. You can land on peoples’ for you page with a video 60 seconds or less, and it has a good chance of going viral if you’re informative or entertaining.

Day 11: Blog About a Competitor So They'll Send Readers to You

Have you ever found out that someone said something good about you, so you told others about it? That’s what happens when one competitor blogs about another one. They’re grateful for the kind words, and to showcase their prominence in the niche, they tell their subscribers about your post.

The key to generating traffic with this method is to find someone who you truly respect and admire who is a competitor to you and will have an identical audience to the one you want on your list.

Make sure you send a link to them with a kind note. But don’t ask them to tell their readers about it. Allow that to happen naturally, and don’t balk if they happen not to share.

Day 12: Become a Guest Blogger for the Competition

Instead of talking about a competitor on your blog, you also have the option of stepping into their shoes and showcasing your own expertise if they allow people to come onboard as a guest blogger for them.

You’ll be able to link back to your site, and the readers of your competitor’s blog will get to see that you have valuable information to share. This eases the content burden on your colleague and gives you the chance to increase your branding and exposure.

Day 13: Leverage Influencer Egos to Get Traffic to Your Site

Have you ever heard of influencers? These are people with a huge social media following and they’re in many different niches – from fitness to dating, health and other areas.

If you can find an influencer in your niche, you don’t necessarily have to pay their fees to get them to mention your blog to their followers. Another way you can do it is by writing up a post that compliments their approach in the niche and make sure they know that it exists.

Just as your competitors will want to brag about the coverage you gave them, social media influencers will, too. Look on sites like Instagram and TikTok for influencers and learn as much as you can about them before writing your piece to ensure they’re worthy of a shout out.

Day 14: Test Paid Ads as a Traffic Source

Most options in this 30-day blueprint are based on organic, natural traffic efforts. But there’s no reason to discount paid ads. After all, they are very effective in allowing you to target exactly who you want landing on your site.

The best way to use paid ads is to find the right platform where your audience spends time, learn how their ad system works to ensure you abide by all rules, and then take a test run of a small ad campaign to see how your results go.

Day 15: Conduct an Interview to Generate Traffic

If you can accomplish it, you may want to recruit an expert or competitor in your niche to be interviewed by you for both of your audiences. Again, this lends credibility to them because their leadership is being highlighted.

But it’s also good for you because it shows you can share the spotlight, bring good information to your followers, and more. Interviews can be text (via email) that you publish, audio or even video formats.

Day 16: Bring Your Subscribers Back to Your Blog

You may have forgotten one obvious group to deliver traffic to your site – your subscribers! Many marketers get people on their list and just promote to them but you can also send them links to your blog posts.

Whenever someone is a subscriber and loyal to your insight, they want to be notified of interesting posts you make so they can absorb the information, bookmark it and share it with others, too.

Day 17: Analyze Your Site Data and Create a Content Strategy for More Views

The data and statistics on your own domain will give a great deal of insight you can use to your advantage when it comes to generating more traffic. Your cPanel will have site statistics you can view and there are tools that can help you see additional details.

These will show you things like how people navigate your site, what keyword phrases are bringing them in, where they’re bouncing (or leaving) your site, and more. Take time once a month to check these details so you can tailor your content and site management to the needs of your target audience.

Day 18: Host a Paid Product on Your Blog

Not all visitors to your site need to be there to absorb free information like blog posts. You can send traffic to your site by using password-protected blog posts where you host a challenge or product for your buyers.

You can also do this for subscribers at no cost if you want. What happens is, regular visitors will land on your domain hoping to access the product, and they’ll need to sign up or purchase it to get the information they want.

Day 19: Respond to Someone Else to Bring Readers to Your Posts

There’s a specific strategy on YouTube that you can use directly on your site to bring in visitors. It’s simply responding to someone else’s content in a reply post. For example, if you’re in the weight loss niche and someone posts about the danger of carbs, you can create a response post about the benefit of carbs.

You don’t have to disagree with anyone, either. You can agree with them and chime in with a response post in agreement while adding your own insight to the discussion. Either way, make sure you credit the original content creator and they will often post another reply to you, which means their followers will see the link and visit your site.

Day 20: Allow News Aggregators to Send You a Steady Stream of Visitors

Signing up for news aggregators online where your site is placed in the feeds of those most interested in your niche is a great way to not only get traffic, but boost your authority as a niche leader.

Not every news aggregator will accept your site, so polish it up before applying to places like Google News. Other places you can sign up with Panda, Feedly, and Flipboard to name a few.

Day 21: Tap Into Cutting Edge Stories to Generate Traffic

At least once a month, preferably more, take time to find the most important news stories in your niche and blog about them in an effort to pull traffic into your site. You can find these on Google News or specific niche sites.

Look for trends happening in your niche, too. These can occur in many niches like gardening, beauty, health, dating and more. Watch social media chatter for trending topics and bring awareness to them with tips and advice on your blog.

Day 22: Go Old School with an Online Press Release for More Traffic

Press releases aren’t just for offline corporations looking to spread awareness to major news outlets. Any site owner can create a press release and submit it to places like Newswire to get coverage.

There are sites that will pick up the press release details and publish content about them, so use a formal press release template and create a professional release about something newsworthy on your domain.

Day 23: Make a Post with Backlinks to Bring More People In

Whenever you go into your cPanel site stats, you can see where your traffic is coming from, such as if someone has linked to your domain. So you, as a site owner, can create backlinks in a post of yours to other peoples’ websites, so they’ll discover that you’ve linked to them.

Curating content from a variety of experts is a great way to showcase your ability to gather good information and resources for your audience. Curation isn’t copying someone else’s content, but instead sharing a snippet with a link back to the original source.

Make sure you add your own commentary to the curated content. For example, if another niche leader had a great quote and you share it, link back them and give your $0.02 about the quote and expand on it.

Day 24: Become a Published Kindle Author for Reader Traffic

Self-publishing is a strategy many niche leaders are using to boost their expertise and authority. To say you have a book published is a great feat and many don’t know you can easily do it yourself without a traditional publisher.

Go to Amazon and use Kindle to publish a book on a topic within your niche. Make sure that you link to your website or lead magnet page in the digital copy, and also include the URL to your domain in the printed version.

Day 25: Reverse Engineer the SEO of Another Post to Steal Their Traffic

Go to Google and search for a topic that you want to create a blog post about. You want to visit the top sites to see how they’re ranking. Usually, it’s a combination of strategic search engine optimization and socialization with engagement.

Your goal is to reverse engineer what they’ve done so that you can not only implement those strategies into your own post, but do more so that your post rises in the SERPs and beats their ranking.

Day 26: Start Networking to Get Strategic Social Shares and Visitors

Social traffic is a powerful thing, regardless of which platform you’re considering. As long as your target audience is there, take time to use the platform to elevate your profile and send followers to your domain.

Day 27: See If Repurposed Content Will Double Your Traffic

Instead of relaying on your content to pull in traffic on its own, try taking the items you publish and making new content pieces so that it can work twice as hard for you. You can repurpose content easily.

Format it in new ways, such as turning a tip blog post into an infographic or creating a slide presentation video from it. You can use images, text, video and audio to repurpose the content.

Day 28: Leverage Audio Marketing to Get More Visitors

Audio is one often overlooked media format that can drive traffic to your site for free. Many niche marketers have podcasts that you can record and publish at no cost on sites like Anchor.fm, where they syndicate it for you to other places.

A podcast can be any length – so don’t worry about the time involved in creating episodes for your audience. Make sure that you brand your web URL in the show in the beginning, end and somewhere in the middle as well as in the show notes.

Day 29: Pique Interest in Your Site with a Case Study

Case studies and really any kind of series where you divulge information keeps people coming back to your site for more. With a series, the information is dripped out over the course of multiple posts – not in one day.

With a case study, such as showing the results of your implementation of a digital course, you should also do it in a series of posts, showing the beginning when you are making a decision, the usage process, and following through to the results afterwards.

Turn the series into a multiple part post on your blog and people will keep coming back to your domain for the update. But don’t forget to actually post the remainder and leave them hanging or it will frustrate your audience.

Day 30: Use a Signature File in a Forum for More Targeted Traffic

If you want another free traffic idea, look no further than the easy process of joining forums and posting in threads as well as starting your own. The key is to find forums where they allow signature files.

You want to add a hyperlink to your domain as your signature file – or perhaps hyperlink text that discusses where they can go to download your free gift – and begin engaging on posts on the forum.

Make sure any threads you start or replies you make on the forum are your very best representation of your expertise. If you’re showing up and making a big impact, people will follow your link to learn more from you.

30 Day Self-Publishing Blueprint

When many people think of publishing, they automatically think in terms of traditional publishing – with agents and manuscript approval – a long process that ultimately isn’t very lucrative for most authors.

But these days, thanks to the Internet, you can publish on your own at no upfront cost (unless you want to spend money on certain elements) and use your new book to earn money and build a brand for yourself.

Whether you want to churn out non-fiction books or embark on a career as a fiction author in one of the many genres available to you, this is a process where it helps to have a process of bite-sized tasks that can help guide you along the way.

Day 1: Pick a Genre for Your Publishing Journey

Some people try to go all in on self-publishing, working on multiple manuscripts at once. This can be done, but you may want to wait until you have the hang of it before trying to juggle too many projects.

The first thing you want to do is pick a topic or genre. If you’re publishing non-fiction, it’ll be a niche topic that you feel is lucrative and works well for online info products. If it’s fiction, you need to pick a genre.

Genre choices can be something you, yourself love to read, or something you just find easy or interesting to write. You might choose thrillers, sci-fi, mysteries, romance, or any other number of genres.

Day 2: Protect Your Identity with a Pen Name

You can certainly publish under your own name – and if you’re publishing in the non-fiction world, this may be the best way to go (especially if you’re weaving your own experience and stories into your books).

But with fiction, authors often use a pen name. You can have multiple pen names for genres when you self-publish, too. Some people use a pen name to protect their privacy from rabid fans who want to get a little too close to their favorite authors.

Make sure no one else is using your pen name before you finalize it. You’ll want to own the domain for it, all social profiles and the author page on Amazon and elsewhere. Once you find that all of them are free, you can move forward with your selection.

Day 3: Grab Your Virtual Real Estate for Your Author Brand

Purchase the domain for your author brand first. You can choose the name itself, or something like johndoeauthor.com or johndoebooks.com, too. Make sure you get the dot com and don’t worry about the other domain extensions for now.

Other domains you may want to own are keyword domains, but don’t invest in too many. For example, owning something like bestromancebooks.com could help you later, as could a non-fiction domain like easyweightlosstips.com.

Day 4: Install a WordPress Blog on Your Hosted Author Account

Owning a domain is only half the battle to launching your own author site. You have to get a hosting plan to host the files. Use a simple plan and don’t fork over large amounts of money for extras at this time.

All you really need is to be able to log into your cPanel and install WordPress using QuickInstall. This will place a blog on your domain, which you can easily run on your own or allow an administrative assistant to run for you at a later date.

Day 5: Outsource Some Author Branding to a Pro

If you have the ability to create graphics on your own, that’s wonderful! But make sure they’re as professional as your competitors. If there’s one thing that can tank your sales as an author, it’s having amateurish covers or websites.

Some tools, like Canva, can help you make headers and covers that look good. But you may want to just save up a small amount and outsource it to someone else. You can hire someone on Fiverr or Upwork, or through one of the many Facebook groups for author branding.

Or, you can even purchase premade covers and graphics to help you carve out a look for your books. Either way you do it, you can use stock photos to help you get the right look for your genre.

Day 6: Stake Claim to the Social Profiles for Your Pen Name

Now that you own your own website, you want to go secure the social media profiles that you checked for availability previously. Even if you’re not sure you’ll use them, register the account anyway.

Make sure you get your accounts on TikTok so you can make BookToks (which are proving to be very lucrative for authors). You also want your Instagram account, GoodReads author profile, Pinterest, Facebook author page, and YouTube account.

Day 7: Come Up with an Idea and Outline for Your First Book

Today you’re going to spend time brainstorming. You need a main idea for your book, and an outline to go with it for each chapter. How in-depth you get in the outlining process is up to you, but the more you outline, the easier it can be to achieve your word count each day.

With fiction, some people prefer not to outline at all, but to fly by the seat of their pants instead. At the very least, you need the main concept ironed out so that you have a starting point.

Day 8: Set Daily Word Count Goals and Start the Writing Process

Many authors will join a sprinting room with fellow authors so that every 30 minutes, they work without distraction and then take a short break and chat about how many words they were able to crank out.

You can do this on your own with an egg timer, too. You want to have some idea of a schedule you’d like to publish on, such as every six weeks. In order to do that, how many words do you need to write each day?

You may not be sure how many you’re capable of writing, either. So spend a day writing and see how fast the process goes for you. It may speed up over time as you gain more experience.

Day 9: Polish Your Work or Have a Professional Do It

The editing process can be done as you go or all at once when your draft is complete. If you’re doing it yourself, you might edit each chapter as you go. If you’re outsourcing the editing to a professional, you might hand it all over when you’ve finished the draft.

You can use editing tools (free and paid ones) to help you catch some of the more common mistakes like typos or grammar issues. A human editor can help with more complex issues.

Remember, it’ll take time to get their edits back and then integrate them into your final files with approval or rejection of them, so map out a timeframe that works for you and allows proper editing.

Day 10: Set Up Your Kindle Account on Amazon

You want to get set up with an Amazon Kindle account so that you can publish there as the author pen name you want. You can do this at Author.Amazon.com and it costs nothing to register.

Amazon will promote your author page on each book listing you have, so readers can click on it and see all of the books you have for sale in one place. This helps increase sales.

On your author page, you can add links to your site and social profiles, tell a little about yourself and upload a picture. This helps with branding and loyalty when the readers feel as if they know their favorite author more.

Day 11: Outsource the Cover for Your Book to a Pro

Covers are so important. Whenever someone is on Amazon and enters a genre, like cozy mystery book, they’ll see a search results page filled with your competition. If your book like a do it yourself project, while the others look professional, they’re not even going to click through on the image to see what your book is about.

So while your content might be spectacular, if the cover is lacking, don’t expect to see success. Book cover artists who work with indie authors have great skill at taking ordinary stock images and creating something amazing out of them, so don’t be afraid to work with someone who has a good profile you admire.

Day 12: Write a Blurb That Tempts People to Buy

Your blurb is a more detailed, polished account of your book than the brainstorming session you engaged in when mapping out an idea for your book. If you’ve ever been to a bookstore and picked up a book and read the back of it, you’ve seen a blurb.

These blurbs should be enough to give the reader a hint about what the book is about, without spoiling the read for them. Some indie authors make the mistake of ruining the book by giving too many details out in their blurb.

If you don’t know how to write one, go read blurbs for bestselling books in your genre. You can also outsource the blurb creation process to a professional if you feel like you’re not skilled at it.

Day 13: Sign Up to Groups with Colleagues on the Same Journey

One thing that’s very helpful for you as an indie author is to have some sort of camaraderie where you can ask questions and get support whenever you need it. The guidance of other indie authors can be invaluable.

It’s also a great way to have someone celebrate with you who knows what you’ve gone through to self-publish. There are groups on places like Facebook and you can use sites like KBoards to join other authors in self-publishing discussions.

Day 14: Study the Bookbub Process So You Can Apply When Ready

Many self-published authors celebrate whenever they get approved for a Bookbub. This is a paid ad option you can apply for that’s not easy to get. But when you do get approved, you can run a sale on your book and see a huge spike in sales during your promotion and shortly after.

Day 15: Immerse Yourself in Facebook Ad Tactics

Another form of paid ads that you need to understand are Facebook ads. These are done based on your budget, even if you have a very limited amount to spend. But you don’t want to start running ads here until you know all of the rules.

The last thing you want is to get approved and start running ads, only to see your account get shut down because you violated a rule. So learn those and study how to get the most out of your ad efforts on this social media giant.

Day 16: Know How to Master Amazon AMS Ads

Another paid ad service you want to know about is Amazon AMS ads. These are ads right on Amazon that will strategically place your book cover in front of a targeted audience.

They’re already in buying mode on the site, and checking out other books in your genre, so it makes sense to advertise to them at this time. You want your book showing up for keywords and whenever someone is looking at a similar book.

Day 17: Get a TikTok Account and Start Creating Videos for BookTok

Today, you want to start creating BookToks on your TikTok account. There are many ways to do this. The best way to learn is to follow other authors using the hashtag #booktok or #authortok.

These don’t have to be long (even 15 seconds is good) and they don’t need to be outsourced to a professional. TikTok is very laid back and authors can choose to be on camera or not.

Day 18: Claim Your Author Profile on GoodReads

With your GoodReads profile, you want to settle in here so that readers can leave reviews and interact with you. They’ll see all of the books connected to your profile and you can include links to your site, too.

Fill out the profile and connect your books. Then start answering some of the author questions the site has built in to help readers get to know you a bit. You’ll want to check back here periodically to engage with your readers.

Day 19: Download Vellum and Learn How to Format

Formatting doesn’t have to be a difficult process. For some, it can be confusing. One tool that makes it a super simple task is Vellum. Now this is a Mac only tool, so you may need a Mac laptop in order to use it.

But if you want to have the ability to easily and quickly create flawless ePub files to upload, you’ll want this tool at your disposal. It allows you to make it look like a traditional print book with chapter images and formal fonts, too.

Day 20: Make a Decision About Advanced Reader Copies

ARCs (advanced reader copies) play an important role in helping spread the word about your upcoming release. You don’t want to hand out ARCs to just anybody. Ideally, your ARCs will go to people who like to give you feedback before you publish the final draft.

You can use tools like StoryOrigin to send ARCs and track reviews. That way, if you have people who are only in it for the freebies, you can eliminate them from your ARC list and replace them with someone who leaves reviews and provides feedback for you.

Day 21: Understand Your Limitations and Perks in KDP Select

KDP Select is a program Amazon offers where you get perks for joining, but there are drawbacks, too. This is giving Amazon exclusivity to sell your book. That means it’s can’t “go wide” on all the other sites, like Barnes and Noble.

It’s not a permanent process. You can choose to be in KDP Select for 90 days and then make a decision about whether or not to renew it. You may not want to choose this option if you’re hoping to make it to the NY Times Bestseller or USA Today bestseller lists.

Day 22: Sign Up to IngramSpark and List Your Book

One place many indie authors self-publish is IngramSpark. This is a distributor, not exactly a publishing platform. But it can help you get your book seen by more readers in libraries and bookstores, too.

Day 23: See If D2D Is Right for You

D2D (Draft to Digital) is another distributor you can sign up to that will help you get your book in more than one place and they do it for 10% of your sales. In fact, it has an author dashboard where you can manage all of your platform uploads in one spot.

This is great for authors who have changes, because instead of going to each retailer’s site to alter things like prices, covers and files, you can log into your D2D dashboard and do it all at once.

Day 24: Self Publish on Smashwords
SmashWords has gained credibility among professional indie authors. Instead of just being an amateur publishing platform, many authors upload their manuscript here to get more readers.

Note that D2D now owns SmashWords. It’s going to stay separate for the time being, but the way it operates may change because it’s under new management. So if you’ve used it before, watch for notifications on that.

Day 25: Publish Your Book on Apple and Google Play

Google Play and Apple are two other indie author platforms you can use for your self-publishing endeavors. You can use a Google account to upload your finished (not draft) book and cover.

For the Apple publishing system, go to the Apple Connect program and apply there. You have to enter all of your banking and tax information before getting approved. One of the great things about this platform is that you can set up pre-orders, which help with your launch day sales.

Day 26: Become a Barnes and Noble Nook Author

Everyone knows who Barnes and Noble is. You can have a book on their Nook platform easily. Just apply a few weeks before the launch of your book to give it time to go through the approval process.

Day 27: Publish on Kobo for More Sales

If you want to reach a Canadian audience, you’ll want to upload your book to KOBO, which is similar to Nook in that it has a reading device. Remember not to just upload one book, but place an entire box set in a series on here because loyal readers love to own collections.

Day 28: Increase Earnings By Selling Audiobooks to Your Readers

Text isn’t the only way to sell a book that you’ve written. While many people love to sit down with a paper or hardback book, or even an eReader, some hate reading at all. They want the story, but not the task.

So to appeal to these people, you want to add audiobook versions of your masterpiece to your sales platforms. Audiobooks aren’t hard to create and they add a significant amount of income to your efforts.

Use Audible to help you record and polish your audiobook. Or, hire a professional narrator who can record it for you. They’ll do this for a flat fee or for a percentage of the sales.

Day 29: Brainstorm and Market Your Next Book

Once the publishing process is winding down, you want to remember to keep up the momentum. Start brainstorming your next book, whether it’s a standalone or the next in a series.

After you have the idea, tease your readers with what’s to come. You might have graphics created for it that you can publish as a sneak peek, or even gift some of your readers with the first chapter as part of a contest.

Day 30: Set Yourself Up for Bestseller Status with a Pre-Order

As soon as you have a firm date in mind for your publishing, you can set up a pre-order on Amazon and elsewhere that accepts them. Pre-orders are imperative if you hope to make any bestseller lists.

Because the day of the launch, all of those orders are counted toward your sales for the day, even if the people have been buying your pre-order for weeks. You just have to make sure you can meet the deadline, or else you’ll have a disaster on your hands.

Self-publishing isn’t difficult. Anyone can publish as an indie author. You just need to implement the step-by-step process of creating your author brand and finished work, marketing it and planning for future sales.

30 Day Email Subscriber Blueprint

In order to sell your products or earn as an affiliate, you need an email list that you can promote to on an ongoing basis. But when you’re new to a niche, you’re starting from scratch.

This is something that acts as an obstacle for many people who are just now starting out. However, you can build a list of dedicated subscribers in as little as 30 days if you’re willing to put some effort into it.

This blueprint will show you how to take action so that you successfully build your list quickly. Instead of a slow growth list building experience, you’ll see your subscriber numbers soar with momentum.

Day 1: Use Automation to Communicate

As people subscribe to your list, you need to have software set up so that they receive timely messages from you. Obviously, you can’t do these one by one. It would take you forever and increase the odds of you either forgetting to email or making mistakes with the message.

You can set up automated email messages through various platforms such as MailChimp, GetResponse and Aweber. All you have to do is create an account, so today you’ll be choosing one that works best for you.

The email autoresponder will show you how to create your automated emails and even give you a guide about how to set everything up and drip feed your emails to new subscribers.

Day 2: Set Up Your List(s)

After you choose your email autoresponder platform, you then need to create your first list today. With most platforms, you can have multiple lists, which allows you to separate people from buyers versus lead sign-ups, or in different niches.

Day 3: Set the Tone for Your List with a Genuine Greeting

On this day, you’ll craft a welcome message for your audience. This message will be somewhat short. Start by thanking them for signing up and instantly give them the download link to whatever they signed up for, such as a free report.

You also might want to set the tone for what they should expect as a subscriber, such as what you’ll be sharing, how often, and so on. You may not have your lead magnet created yet, so you can go back and add the link later.

Right now, you can simply accept new subscribers to receive updates from you, and simply thank them and welcome them in the first email until your freebie offer is completed.

Day 4: Find Out What Answers Your Audience Needs

When you gain new subscribers, you need a way to get and keep them on your list. That means meeting their most pressing needs with a lead magnet that is irresistible, so find their pain points today.

This should be information they need to fix something in their personal life or career that relates to your niche. You can search forums and social media posts that are related to what the audience is searching for.

You can check comments on blogs and you can also look for commonly used search terms that are related to the issue the audience is having. Even product reviews left by consumers can give you a sneak peek into the mind of your target audience.

Day 5: Find the Right Topic to Appeal to Your Audience

You need a hook to draw your audience in that sets you apart from the masses, so today you’ll brainstorm a slant based on the needs you’ve uncovered. There are many freebies that are stale and repetitive.

This not only bores an audience but causes them to overlook it because they might feel they’ve heard it all before. The key is to take the same information, but make it fresh. Instead of creating a report that says, “How to Make Your Budget Work to Save Money,” it would be better to draw in the audience with something like “Stop Using a Budget and Save Money.”

It goes against the grain of most ideas, and then you can explain why most budgets fail (too rigid or shaming) and how to fix that. Because readers will be interested in how to save money and many of them hate budgeting, the title will catch their attention and they’ll want to sign up for your list to have access to the free gift.

Day 6: Outline Your Lead Magnet Idea

Today you’ll want to jot down the main points for your sign up offer to make sure it’s comprehensive enough to tempt people. Then take the main points and break them down into subtopics.

You want to make sure that this sign up has a lot of value. For example, if you’re in the relationship niche, you could write a sign-up report on “50 New Ways to Spice Up Your Relationship” or “50 Little Known But Hot Ways to Surprise Your Spouse.”

The sign-up would give the reader 50 actionable steps they could take and apply and they would be happy to have access to that report – especially if it were free to them in exchange for contact information.

Day 7: Choose How to Deliver the Information

When you’re creating an enticing sign up offer, you don’t have to make it in text-based guide format. It doesn’t have to be a series of tips or even an eBook. It could be a membership course.

You can also use other communication arrangements like a podcast or webinar in audio format or a set of video modules, so make a format decision today. However you choose to do it is just a way that presents your expertise to the audience.

Make sure that your offer looks professional and is one that leaves your audience feeling glad they took you up on the offer. Use tools to help you polish up the product with proper editing to increase value.

Day 8: Create or Outsource the Artwork

On day 8, you’ll need to design the artwork for your offer. There are a lot of free tools like Canva that you can use to do this. There are even tutorials that will show you step by step how to make them.

However, there’s always a learning curve, so what you make might end up looking like it was done by a newbie. That could backfire because then your offer could look like it was second rate and you don’t want that because the first impression on the audience won’t be a good one.

So today, either make sure you have the skills to create the necessary artwork or leave it to someone who does know. You can outsource an eCover or product image for next to nothing on sites like Fiverr and they look professional, as long as you work with someone who has a nice portfolio.

Day 9: Create the Freebie

This is what you’ve promised your readers in exchange for signing up for your list. You want to make sure that what you’re giving them is top quality. You want to give them something they feel they got a good deal on by giving you their contact information in exchange.

If you give them something that’s poorly done or hastily thrown together, they’ll get upset and end up unsubscribing. Today, do your best to create a lead magnet that you can be proud of and that subscribers will appreciate.

Day 10: Make the Sign-Up Gift Immediately Accessible

In order to make sure there’s no lag time, once you’ve put your sign-up gift together and checked it for quality, you want to put a link in the welcome email that the audience can access.

Make sure you check the link before you send it out. You want to make sure the download works properly. A short file name is often better than a long one because it can cause a download to not work, depending on where they save the file to on their computer.

Day 11: Create a Free Gift Landing Page

When it comes to your free item for your subscribers, you’re going to need a landing page for it. This is also known as a “lead magnet page.” This isn’t content that should be long and drawn out, but it does need to be powerful and informative.

You want the information at the top of the page and you want to focus on using attention grabbing text and visuals. So concentrate on creating a few bullet points, but don’t overdo the visuals and have everything geared toward getting those sign-ups - which is your call to action.

You don’t want to make a complicated page. The simpler, the better. Get right to the point. You can use words like “get started” or simply “subscribe.” This is the page where you’ll be sending people to get on your list, so spend today crafting your words carefully.

Day 12: Install the Form on Your Sign-Up Page

When in you’re in your email autoresponder dashboard, you can follow the steps to create a form that you will later embed on the sign-up page as a way for people to get on your list.

You’ll be able to select a specific call to action message, the size of the form, what they have to enter (first name and email address is good), and the colors of the form so that they match your lead magnet page design.

Day 13: Put the Free Gift Page Together with the Subscribe Box

It’s time now to put it all together. The content that you created for the gift page and the embeddable form you got from your autoresponder system is now ready to be put in place on your site.

Once you do put it together, it’s important that you check the page out to make sure it functions properly. You’ll want to examine your content and the visuals you’ve selected along with the box that asks people for their information.

You’ll want to check this to see that it displays the right way on laptops, desktops and cell phones because you don’t want people attempting to sign up only to discover that they’re not able to.

Day 14: Use Your Blog to Gain Subscribers

You don’t want to miss a chance to get people to sign up. A lot of advice out there will tell you that you should make sure you create a sign up box on your lead magnet page and that’s correct.

But you also want to make sure other places where you connect with your audience offers them the same chance. If you have a blog, make sure that you design a sign up form for that as well – so that it can be positioned on the sidebar where visitors to every page or post will see it.

Day 15: Embed the Sidebar Code Using a Widget

Go into the dashboard of your blog and look for the widgets option under the appearances section. You can add a text widget and past the HTML code from your email autoresponder form into the widget before saving it to activate it.

Once you do it and the box or form appears on the side of your blog, you want to check to see that all the parameters of your box look right. If something went wrong, the content you created for the box will extend beyond the columns on whichever side of your blog it’s on.

Day 16: Split Test Your Lead Magnet Page

After you’ve made your first gift sign-up page, you’re going to make a second one. That’s because you need to do what’s called AB (split) testing. The purpose is to see which page is going to perform better for you.

You can make the page using just text again, but you might want to try using other forms of communicating with the audience such as making a video for the page, which helps the audience get to know you better, even if you’re not on screen but they hear your voice.

Day 17: Include a Hard-to-Miss Sign-Up Box

When someone checks out your blog, they might do so at a glance at first. If they only see the sign-up box in the left or right column of the page, they’re not going to automatically be drawn to giving you their information.

That’s because they don’t know the value you provide yet. Once they do read it, they’ll realize they do need your guidance. This is why you’ll want to give them the chance to sign up as soon as they finish reading a post.

Just create another form in your email autoresponder and embed it under your posts. If your posts are lengthy, the reader will have scrolled past the sidebar option anyway, so this gives them another chance to subscribe.

Day 18: Check to See What’s Working (and What’s Not)

You can’t set everything up without making sure all is well. Once you’ve finished creating your pages, whatever video format you have and your side columns for signup, you’ll need to make sure that everything is running smoothly altogether.

You can check to see how much traction each version of the forms you’re using is getting by looking at your dashboard in your email autoresponder system. This is helpful information that will show you what signup location on your page is the performing best for you.

Day 19: Guide the Reader to Take Action

What you say in your blog posts is important. But the last thing you do is even more so. Don’t end a blog post without telling the reader what to do next. The choice you want them to make is to sign up for your list.

The way to do that is to show them the sign up box again. State that they should enter their information, and then use a firm statement like: subscribe now, get help now, watch the video now, get started, view, learn more, join, etc.

Readers need to have the direction that tells them what to do. Action words will help remind them to take action, whether it’s getting on your list, buying a product or clicking through on a link.

Day 20: Ensure Subscribers Stay on Your List

To get your audience to sign up, you created something that they wanted enough to give you their name and email address. It was important enough to them that they were willing to risk their contact information without fully knowing or trusting that you aren’t a spammer.

That’s why it’s important that your first communication with them after the welcome email has that “wow” factor. It’s equally as important that you don’t just stay quiet after you gave them the sign up gift.

Now is the time to show them how much you appreciate them following you. It’s also the time that you need to show them what else you can do for them. Your audience will be delighted that not only did they get something they needed when they joined your list, but that you went the extra mile and gave them even more help.

People like to know that their needs and wants matter even when they’re joining a list. By giving them an extra unexpected gift, you’ll be the person who stands out in their mind as someone who’s interested in making a difference in their life or as someone who genuinely wants to solve their problem.

Day 21: Have a Click Out Strategy

When you check your traffic analytics, you may notice that you have a bounce rate that’s higher than you like. When that happens, it could be that something on your blog or site just isn’t grabbing the reader’s attention like it should.

Before they leave, you want to capture their name and email address so that you can send them content that meets their needs better via email. You can use a pop-up for this purpose.

It’s imperative that you set the pop-up to activate at the right time. This can be done in the beginning to grab attention. But it can also be done as the reader is preparing to leave the site without having made a decision.

But make sure you use the right kind of pop up. Don’t try to hide the x or make it difficult for the reader to minimize the pop up. Because if you try to use the pop up to force them to remain, they’ll just get annoyed and leave your site without becoming a subscriber.

Day 22: Create Extra Perks for Those Who Sign Up

People who sign up for mailing list should get preferential treatment. They should get first notification about events, sales and information. But they should also be treated better when it comes to what you share on your blog.

If everything that you write is accessible to any reader who stops by, then the subscribers aren’t really getting anything extra from reading the posts. That’s why you want to write a series specifically for those that have signed up. This blog series can be on any topic that you feel would be beneficial to your subscribers.

When people who aren’t on your list try to read these posts, you can have a “subscribe to continue reading” call to action notification. Setting up your blog this way not only makes your loyal audience members appreciate the extra perks but also can help you to grow your list.

Day 23: Let the Internet Know About Your Gift

It’s not enough just to talk about the free gift you have for subscribers on your website. You also want to share it on other platforms. So talk about it on your Facebook page, on your Instagram.

Mention it on TikTok and everywhere you have a social media account. You want to be careful that you don’t present your freebie as an obvious ploy to get their contact information.

Instead, you want to share with the followers how you realized there was a problem and you found a solution. Then tell them about the gift that you’re giving away to help people.

Day 24: Create a Product Idea to Gain More Subscribers

You’ll notice that other entrepreneurs may have bigger email lists. You can ethically and politely swipe their subscribers but you also need to be sure that you’re bringing something to the table.

You can do this by creating a funnel of products for them to promote. You can offer the other entrepreneur all of the commission on the first product in the funnel and a percentage on everything else.

Other entrepreneurs will promote your products, too. It’s up to you to make sure the items are worthwhile and gives the audience something that’s valuable that they’ll use or affiliates won’t promote for you – they’ll protect their subscribers from you.

Today, spend some time brainstorming at least two items you could create that would make those with established lists want to promote it to their subscribers, allowing you to get those same people on your list, too.

Day 25: Discover Niche Leaders with a Big Audience

In order to grow your own list, you need to see who has a list with similar items and a similar target audience. You can search to figure out what items are selling by your competitors.

Find out what those products are. Look through their websites, read through their blogs and see what they’re saying. Check out their rankings to see who’s selling the most and you can estimate what their list size may be if they’re converting well.

Their audience is made up of people who would purchase the same kind of products from you. Check out leaderboards of launches with contests to see which affiliates performed best and you can jot down their name as a potential list building affiliate for your launch.

Day 26: Give Affiliates a Details Page and Use a Launch Calendar

When you have your product idea developed, set up a joint venture page where affiliates can gather all of the information they need for your launch. By using a product launch calendar like Muncheye, you can input all the important details - like the day of the launch, when it’s going to start and end, and all of the necessary information and details that will make people who promote the products notice and want to take part.

After you set up your launch on a calendar and announce it, potential affiliates with a big reach (and potential subscribers for you) will be able to see it and you can get them to promote so it’ll grow your audience. By announcing your product, you’ll gain the interest of more affiliates than just those you happen to know.

Day 27: Make the Front End of the Funnel

Spend today creating a fantastic front end product for your launch. If the value is terrible, that customer isn’t going to be happy, won’t stick around and you’ll have wasted your time and effort trying to build a list, so don’t attempt to put together a product that isn’t top quality.

Keep in mind that the launch needs to consist of leaders who have customers who buy the products they’re introduced to. These leaders have created loyal lists because they only share items that are worthwhile.

Once you have these files ready to go, double check that they’re free of errors. Then write your persuasive copy so that the person is convinced to give it a try. This copy needs to grab attention, have your main text, your list and instructions telling the reader what to do next.

Day 28: Offer Something More

The key to establishing a successful list is to always give more than what’s expected. You can do that by focusing on your upgrade offer. This is something that earns more for you and for those who promote the product.

Your affiliates and your customers will both be happy. Remember that even your upgrades are going to need to have attention drawn to them, so work on the sales copy for this, too.

Once uploaded and activated, check the funnel offer so that you can see that it all loads properly and delivers like it should. You don’t want any unpleasant surprises on launch day when real money is on the line for both yourself and affiliates.

Day 29: Get Other Leaders Onboard

By now, thanks to studying the competition in your niche, you have a good idea of who you need to connect with. Contact these leaders and tell them who you are and what you have to offer.

Let them know why you think your offer is right for their subscribers. Since they’ll want to check out the viability of the product, you’ll need to let them see it. You’ll also need to have that JV page ready for them to view as well.

Because you want them onboard, entice them to promote with whatever you are willing to do - like giving them 100% commission on the front end, a spot on the download page, a reciprocal promo or whatever perk it is you have to give. You want this to clearly be a good deal for them.

Day 30: Have a Contest to Get Affiliates Interested

You can create a contest to garner interest from your competitors so that you can expand your list. A contest makes affiliates pay more attention to how the launch unfolds, making them mail repeatedly to maintain a spot or climb the leaderboard.

Because not everyone is above board online, you’ll want to have some boundaries in place for your event. For example, you might want to have minimum numbers of sales or conversions in order to do win a prize in the contest.

Make sure that you always know who’s going to be promoting your launch. While the majority of affiliates are decent people, there will always be some who try to game the system including doing illegal things. Some screening before your launch will help prevent you from becoming the victim of an affiliate scam.

30 Day Blog Idea Blueprint

Regardless of the niche that you’re in, you need to have a blog. This is key to being able to understand not only what customers want, but to build a relationship with them. Your blog is a chance for you to reveal your expertise without anyone having to buy something upfront, making it easier to build trust with readers.

What some entrepreneurs do is start a blog but then it gets tedious or difficult to keep producing the posts. So they engage in a hit or miss approach to blogging and that just doesn’t work for your business because your customers will look for what they need elsewhere if you’re not providing it.

Understandably, blogging regularly can make anyone run out of ideas about what to write. In the 30 day blueprint found below, you’ll find many ways to put a new twist on existing content so that you’re always delivering something fresh for your readers.

Day 1: Talk About What the Customer Can Use

This slant will never get dull because there will always be something new releasing into the marketplace that your customers can use. It’s easy to figure out what these items are by knowing what troubles they’re having such as trouble losing weight, trouble falling asleep at night, trouble creating an eBook cover, etc.

You can also focus on wants too, and not just needs - such as the desire to be their own boss, to travel, to develop better relationships and so on. You can offer these customers your products or ones from other entrepreneurs whether they’re digital or physical items.

But what you need to do is to reveal exactly why the customer needs this solution. You can talk about how the item helped you, or how it helped others and how they, too, can use it to succeed, to overcome obstacles, to feel better, etc.

You don’t necessarily have to talk about the item in depth, but make sure you provide the information they need in order to see how it fixes something for them or grants them what they desire.

Day 2: Write About What’s Happening Now

In every niche, changes happen daily. Sometimes hourly. These changes can be for products, for information, for advice and more. You need to keep up with this information so that your audience feels like they’re in the loop and not missing out on important details.

You can create a Google alert using keywords related to your niche such as skincare, dieting, debt or whatever. Then you’ll get news articles delivered right to your inbox on what’s happening.

But you don’t just want to rely on alerts. Search websites related to your niche. These might be associations, foundations, forums and news sites. Find ones that routinely discuss breaking news and check in on those regularly to make sure nothing fell through the cracks with your research.

Look for people you can talk to about the new or trending change in your niche. For example, if you see a leader or someone in the know about a new strategy or concept, see if you can ask them some questions and ask if you can post their answers.

Even if they say no, you can research what they’ve said before and still use a quote from them on your blog without violating copyright law. Keep it around 200 words or less. Don’t use accompanying photographs without permission or license, or unless it's considered public domain.

Day 3: Identify With Their Problems

What connects with an audience and sells isn’t as much about the product as it is the feelings that people associate with that item. For example, relationship products are hot sellers because people want to strengthen their relationships to find and feel love.

Another example is beauty items. People want to look good. They want to feel confident. An example of this might be acne or anti-scar products. If you tap into common feelings about these beauty issues, like “my acne made me self-conscious,” the customer feels like you “get” them and that you want to help them.

Especially if the item is something that you, too, can relate to or show an experience that you have been through. Even if you haven’t experienced it personally, you can touch on their emotions and make them feel at ease on your blog and with you.

Day 4: Share Research on a Subject

Whatever you’re blogging about, you can bet there’s a lot of information already out there on it. Much of this information will have been presented by others, including leaders in various fields like weight loss, anti-aging, survival and more.

You can share this information by posting snippets of it on your blog, which is known as curating. You can’t post it in its entirety. But you can highlight an important part about the research you found, then mention what you thought about it.

Be sure to credit the original author or speaker of the subject. You can do this by mentioning the person or showing your audience where they can read more from where you found it.

Day 5: Write About Any Physical Issues

Whatever niche you’re in, your customers may have issues that bother them and cause them discomfort or pain. For example, writers often struggle with carpal tunnel. Having an ergonomic keyboard can help with that pain.

If you’re in the fitness niche, your customers might be joggers and deal with issues that affect their knees or feet like a torn meniscus or plantar fasciitis. You can talk about this and share what they can do to find relief such as the best type of shoe to buy.

Many niche topics, like online entrepreneurship have physical issues from being sedentary and the stress niche causes sleeplessness, tension and pain. See if your niche has any problems in terms of a physical connection and blog about one of those today.

Day 6: Create a Post Focusing on Hurdles

When your audience experiences a hurdle, they want a solution. So they’re going to turn to you. On your blog, you want to address obstacles that often crop up in whatever niche you’re in.

For example, for the fitness niche it might be finding the time to exercise regularly. In the finance niche, it might be bad money habits. To get ideas on the hurdles that occur in your niche, you can do a quick search for your niche plus the term “common problems.”

Search “common weight loss problems” and then address those on your blog. You’ll find issues such as focusing on the scale too much, not eating enough protein, etc. Hurdles to success in general might be someone’s attitude, lack of time, or fear.

Day 7: Look Back and Ahead

Nothing ever stays the same and your niche hasn’t either. On your blog, you can write about what used to be popular advice within your niche but now it’s not relevant. That could be because new information has come out that makes what was true before either obsolete or shows it was based on bad advice.

Post about the trajectory of your niche going forward and how you believe the future is going to impact and change it. You can bring in a wide array of topics, like strategies, products, mindsets and other things to show how change has occurred in your niche.

Day 8: Motivate Your Audience

When your audience wants something, it’s never “just because.” There’s always a reason behind why they decided to start or change something or quit something. By showing your readers the motivation behind their decision, you can give them the inner strength to keep going.

Teach them how to locate their inner motivation. For example, it might be breaking bad spending habits and getting control of their finances to build a better future for their kids. Their kids are their motivation in this scenario.

Day 9: Blog About What You Can Do For Them

This is a topic that offers a chance to build a good connection with your audience. Share with them what you have in mind for changing their life for the better. It might be that one day, you got clarity on why you wanted to get in shape (to live longer for your family) and you can share this in your post to tell why what you do is important to you.

You can talk about how you want to use what you went through and felt to enable the audience to grow or overcome obstacles, too. It might even be something you witnessed others going through, and you had a passion to step in and lift others up.

It’s good to give your readers some idea of what got you into this niche and where you plan on leading them. That way, they can either align with you or weed themselves out of your audience if they feel the direction you’re taking isn’t the path they want to be on.

Day 10: Lead Them Away from Second Best

Talk about an digital or tangible product or strategy that hasn’t lived up to audience expectations. Maybe the quality was poor or the promised end result never materialized. You can post about that item in a professional way, without ranting about it or putting down the creator.

Just talk about why it’s not working for people you know. Compare it to an item or strategy that you feel will work for them and explain why this one is better. People always need an alternative, even if many people are succeeding with something, so you can be the guidance they need to feel like they’re back on track.

Day 11: Address Their Thoughts

You need to post about what your audience thinks or believes in order to help them change or gain strength from the inside out. For example, if you’re in the weight loss niche, it won’t do any good to address overeating without addressing the person’s thoughts that lead them to overeating.

Sometimes people overeat in an attempt to feed their emotions. Until that’s addressed, they won’t have the inner strength to reach their goals. So talk about how the battle to change or succeed always begins in their thoughts and help them learn how to manage them better.

Day 12: Don’t Just Talk About End Results

You must give your audience the ability to put into action whatever it is that you’re teaching. If you’re in the financial niche and tell someone who’s struggling financially that they need to “create an emergency fund” by “making more money” - but you don’t give them a precise blueprint on how to make that money, then they don’t know what to do.

Make a post that’s dedicated to taking them from start to finish with specific “to do” steps or a guide they can follow. This can be in video format embedded in your blog or it can be text.

You can even create a hybrid of the two, with the text being a transcript of the video. If you use a slide presentation, you can give them the slides to download to pair with the text transcript if they happen to not enjoy video.

Day 13: Show the Audience the Ugly Truth

Being positive is a good thing. Unless it’s not the whole truth. The truth is that every niche has a side to it that’s negative. Post about this. Talk about scams to avoid, roadblocks to watch out for, guidance they need to ignore and so on.

For example, if you’re in the diet niche, you’ll want to talk about the dangers of extreme diets that can harm their health. Then end that post with how to do it right versus the wrong way.

Day 14: Expand Your Content to Reach More People

At the end of the second week, you’re going to want to start expanding your content by posting about new niches. Don’t just talk about some random niche topic. Find one that meshes well with what you already do and tie it into your main niche.

For example, if you’re in the parenting niche, then you could easily introduce a niche that talks about home security or other family related concerns. You tap into emotions (keeping the family safe) while at the same time, creating an opportunity to present more products to your audience in the form of alarms, camera doorbells, window sensors, baby monitors, etc.

You can advertise these products and use affiliate links within the post to earn even more money. A niche like parenting could tie in nicely with things like gardening, stress relief, sleep, fitness, nutrition, pets and more.

Day 15: Start an Argument

You don’t want to start a war, but you do want to make people think. The best way to create interest and build your following is to create a blog post that stirs up your audience.

Everyone has their own often strong beliefs on a topic. Take that topic and make it controversial. For example, many weight loss niche leaders teach people to cut out all or most carbs.

If you don’t care for this practice, you might create a blog on “Why Carbs Are Okay” and you’ll get feedback from those who are pro carbs and those who are against them. You’ll get a lot of comments, and some people will comment wanting to tell you why you’re wrong while others will mention why you’re right.

This can lead to a dialogue that can be helpful to those who are for and those who are against something. Engagement is a great way to improve the traffic to your site and people will share discussions that have sides involved.

Day 16: Post a Q & A

Your audience wonders about many things associated with the topics you talk about in your niche. You want to create a post that addresses what people most often want to know.

You can come up with this yourself or do an Internet search for ideas. Gather common questions on Google, in forums, in blog post comments, in groups on Facebook and on other social media.

Make sure that you’ve researched the information so that what you respond with is accurate. This will help to establish with the audience that you’re giving solid information.

Day 17: Prove That You’re Not Afraid of Sharing Your Audience

You may not be able to offer everything that’s helpful to the readers in terms of advice, tools and more. Your mission should always be to do what’s best for your audience. If you do that, it will show that you care and your readers will appreciate it.

Create a blog post where you share additional helpful sites and resources with the readers. This might lead them straight to someone else who’s in the same niche that you are.

Don’t feel threatened by the fact that your readers are looking outside your blog. If what you’re offering them is helpful too, they won’t forget about you. Don’t just list a bunch of competitors.

Have a reason why you feel they’re a good resource outside of your capabilities or interests. Look for books, tools, both digital and tangible that you can link out to in a show of good faith that you have your audience’s back.

Day 18: Focus on Short Blocks of Time

Often, blog topics within a niche focus on long term topics – like permanent, long effort weight loss. Tap into short term topics by posting about things that can be accomplished faster.

This connects with readers who have busy lifestyles and who want fast results. Present posts like “get organized in just 10 minutes a day” or “eat healthy and drop a clothing size in 3 weeks.”

To find what to post about, just look at where people are saying they need more time or need results fast, like needing to know how to get chores done quickly, how to save money faster, and so on.

Use verbiage with numbers such as “14 days,” “2 weeks,” “4 hours,” and more. This will appeal to people more than just blogging about how to lose 100 pounds in a year. They’ll get to take action and see results faster.

Day 19: Post About Relevant Authors

Whatever your niche is, someone will probably have created a book about it. Do some research to locate the best books that focus on your niche or some aspect of your niche topic.

Write up a post talking about how you think it’s helpful to your audience. You can create a direct link to wherever the book is sold. The reason you want to do this is the book will act as a keyword that will draw in readers.

They’ll see you’re talking about the same stuff the book is and they’ll stick around to learn from you. If you can find indie (self-published) authors, they may be willing to be interviewed about the book, too.

Day 20: Tell Readers What to Stay Away From

It’s up to you to advise your audience on the best direction within a niche. You want to help guide them toward what’s good, but you always want to tell them what to be wary of, too.

For example, some niche leaders (and this happens in retail stores, too) will do a “close out” or “going out of business” sale. They get a run of buyers and then are right back to business as usual the next day or week.

Consumers see this and know the leader or business isn’t being honest. You may have seen niche marketing leaders sell products cheap as a retirement offer, only to be unretired 72 hours later.

You want to make sure that your audience doesn’t get duped. Teach them the proper way to do things, too. Explain that it’s important to always be honest and follow through with whatever they say.

If a product is going to be discontinued, then discontinue that product and don’t use it as a gimmick to make sales. Not only are you advising them as a consumer, but you’re helping them be better leaders, too.

Day 21: Blog to Expose the Lies

There are a lot of people talking on the Internet. Some know what they’re talking about. Others are just parroting what they heard - and it’s wrong. Your niche will have wild tales surrounding it and maybe even outright lies.

Create a blog post where you expose what’s wrong and what the truth actually is. Talk about where you think the truth got twisted, how it gained traction and your reason for believing something other than the wild tale.

Day 22: Write a How-To Blog Post

If you dig around online, you’ll see a lot of people are searching for answers on certain topics in a detailed manner. You can create an in-depth how-to blog post on the answer that’s related to what you normally blog about more generally.

You might be writing about how to set up a website for their niche, how to create a workout routine at home, how to write a budget that fits their lifestyle or how to cook a healthy meal.

Use images to show what you’re talking about. If it’s involved with technology, you might want to add a video or a slide presentation so the audience can see what you worked on and can compare it to what they’re doing.

Day 23: Show Alternative Directions

There are often new or different directions you can take to reach the same destination. A lot of the information within a niche is the same old advice. Because they’ve heard it before, the audience will just move on - away from your blog.

That’s why you want to put a new spin on what they’re looking for. For example, the audience might have learned that they need to focus on creating a mailing list. You can create a post telling them 17 new or little heard of ways to achieve this goal.

Day 24: Innovative Posting When You Draw a Blank

You might have an exhaustive amount of brain space to come up with topics. However, Google never will. You can type in any phrase and Google will suggest connections to that phrase.

You can then use these words to keep digging and find out more connective topics as well as what people are searching for on those topics. For example, if you do a search for the phrase “working out for…” what pops up are links for working out for mental health, working out for specific time limits, working out for beginners, or for new moms.

By changing the for to an as, like “working out as…” you’ll get suggesting like “working out as a coping mechanism” and then that links to stress, etc. If you keep searching, you get numerous suggestions.

You can also use a free or paid keyword tool and keep drilling down to find phrases that give you new ideas and a new direction. You can also look on platforms like Amazon or YouTube, which can show you many possibilities, too.

Day 25: Post About Worries and Fears

It doesn’t matter what the topic is in whatever niche you’re in. Your audience is worried about something. They’re afraid of something that may happen. For example, if your niche focuses on personal development, common worries are rejection, change, failure and more.

Talk about what might be worrisome to the readers. Share with them that everyone has worries and many people have the same ones. Show them how they can overcome their fear and take control so that what they’re afraid of never comes to pass.

Day 26: Break Your Routine and Blog Differently

Having written content on your blog is fine. It’s the way most blogs are done. But you don’t want to stick with just written content every single time you post. There are multiple formats that you can use that will generate interest and help your audience.

So tap into every possible format you can think of. Even if you don’t currently know how, take the time to learn. Use videos on your blog. These can be focused on where you’re guiding the reader through something like setting up their blog using WordPress. Even though that’s step by step, a lot of people still run into problems.

Along with video format, use photos and audio as well. If you want to use photos, only use licensed ones, ones that you buy or get free from a legitimate stock site or ones that you make or take yourself.

Day 27: Create List Posts

There’s a reason why websites and even print publications use numbered content like “Top 5 Ways to Lose Weight” or “10 Steps to Achieve Financial Security” and it’s because these create a sense of actionable steps for readers to follow.

Your audience wants instructions and options and making posts using numbers is a big draw. Make the numbered posts you write about tie-in with your niche like “5 Reasons Not to Save Money” for example and you could slant this toward times when you want to spend and not save, such as spending money on courses to improve their knowledge so they have a better future.

Day 28: Host a Competitor on Your Blog

In your niche, you learn from others, and you want your audience to have that same chance. Many entrepreneurs avoid having other people on their blog for talks, podcast, videos or interviews because they fear competing with that person.

But posting an interview where you gather helpful advice for your readers is never a mistake. Ask someone you follow and whose business you admire if you can have some advice from them for your audience.

Take the information you get, put it on your blog, then link to their website. Most of these people will then gladly mention your site on their own blog like “I was interviewed over at XYZ blog today” and that increases your visibility by gaining you a crossover audience.

Day 29: Post About Something You Watched or Read

Look at what other people are saying that connects with your niche. For example, if you’re in the weight loss niche, go to social media sites to look for videos, articles or links that are talking about weight loss ideas or issues.

When you locate something that resonates with you (could be something like bad or good advice), then share that viewpoint on your blog with a discussion about it. Talk about why you agree or not.

You’ll want to mention where you found the topic and let readers be able to visit that site to see for themselves in full. This is routinely done on YouTube, where people create response videos – but you can do it with text, audio podcasts or any media format, too.

Day 30: Write About Dueling Items

Take two items in your niche and compare how effective they are for your audience. For example, if you’re talking about exercise, you can create a good versus bad post where you talk about using exercise bands versus kettlebells.

But these things don’t have to be tangible. You can write a post doing a for or against slant on digital products, information, and downloadable or hosted tools. Keep this list of ideas handy and keep referring to it so that you always find something that you can blog about.

30 Day Blog Building Blueprint

Building a blog is both a necessity and for some, a hassle. It can be intimidating going through the technical steps needed to get WordPress installed and operational, but the reality is, it’s an easy process as long as you know which order to do it in.

Inexperience can lead to fear and frustration. This is usually an issue when a newbie tries to launch a blog in a few minutes, and ends up with some questions they need answers to, causing the process to grind to a halt.

In this 30 day blueprint, you can build a blog with ease by simply logging in and tackle one small task at a time. You’ll eliminate worry about technical steps and time management and still be enjoying forward momentum in getting your business off the ground.

Day 1: Use QuickInstall to Bring WordPress to Your Domain

QuickInstall is an easy, built-in feature on your cPanel that allows you to sign up for WordPress and with the click of a button, allow it to install a blog on your domain. You don’t need to know any coding yourself.

Inside cPanel, you’ll see a QuickInstall option under the Software category. Choose the free WordPress install and enter the information it asks for. This is typically administrative details like your name and email address.

You can choose where you want your blog installed, and then after clicking the installation option, it will let you know when the process is complete. Make sure you copy your credentials and save them in a file so you can log into your blog with ease.

Day 2: Learn How to Navigate Your Dashboard

When a newbie first logs into their dashboard, it can feel overwhelming. You have notifications and a sidebar with a myriad of options to scroll through. Do it little by little. Today, just glance around and see what it looks like without making any decisions.

If you want to, you can go ahead and click the Coming Soon Active link to bring your blog to life, otherwise it’ll show a Coming Soon notice until you do. Don’t be intimidated by all of the bells and whistles that have been included with WordPress.

You won’t even need to know half of them to run a blog. They’ve been pre-filled on your blog and you can delete a lot of what you don’t need until a later time when you decide it may be beneficial to you.

Day 3: Take Care of Security Threats Right Away

Every time you log into your blog’s dashboard, look for update notifications. Whenever something needs to be updated, it poses a security risk from hackers. They look for themes, plugins and other areas where there is a vulnerability.

Companies often update and patch these security holes, so you need to keep your site updated. You may be doing a complete WordPress version update, updating a theme, plugin or something else.

There will always be a notice of what needs to be updated, along with a link that says Update for you to click. It takes care of the rest. Sometimes, when you’re first getting started, you’ll see plugins saying they need updating (like WPForms or OptinMonster) and you won’t even be using them, so you can simply delete those for now.

Day 4: Delete the Post Already Created

WordPress will have a post already created for you titled Hello world! You want to delete this because it’s only a placeholder until you have your real content in there. Go to the Posts section in the left sidebar and delete (or trash) the post.

Day 5: Delete the Pre-Created Pages

WordPress does the same thing with the pages in the blog. They’ve created some for you that you can edit or delete. Usually, there will be a title of three. You can delete the Sample Page and WPForms Preview Page.

They also create a Privacy Policy Page, which many bloggers want on their site. So you may want to leave that one and just edit it with whatever policy you want in place for your visitors.

Day 6: Give Your Posts Category Options

Every time you make a new post, it’s advisable that you categorize it. This not only helps search engines navigate and index your site accurately, but it aids the visitor in finding the information they need, too.

Go to Posts and then Categories. You’ll be able to create both broad and drilled down categories for your niche topic. There’s a placeholder one called Uncategorized, which your posts will default to if you fail to choose one, so you can edit that to your broad niche keyword if you want.

What kind of categories should you have? Well, if you’re teaching weight loss, you might have broad categories like diets and exercise. These will be the parent categories – the broad ones.

Then, you can choose drilled down topics, like cardio or strength training under the exercise one. As you create a category, you’ll enter a slug, also known as the URL location. Use lowercase lettering and select where it goes on the hierarchy of category topics.

Day 7: Choose How You Want Your Blog to Look

When you visit various blogs, you may have noticed they differ in terms of layout, colors and even font. That’s because you have a choice of what theme you want to use as a WordPress blogger.

Today, you’ll log in and go to the Themes section in the sidebar. Now you can certainly buy a paid theme, but there are plenty of free ones that you can customize to your liking.

Click where it says, “Add Themes” and if you want an easy layout, try finding the Twenty Ten theme to install and then activate. The preview will show you the layout, and it will also include a temporary header that you’ll be replacing.

Day 8: Identify Your Blog’s Purpose

Regardless of which theme you choose, you do have the ability to customize certain things, including the statement of what your blog is about. Go into your theme from the Appearances section and look at the Tagline and Site Title.

The site title will be the official name of your blog and the tagline is something like your motto or a short mission statement. Be sure to upload a Favicon, which is a tiny visual representation of your site on the browser tab.

Always make sure that you republish the blog after any changes to make sure they take effect. You can always go back in and change any theme customizations that you want, such as a tagline or pixel Favicon.

Day 9: Upload a Brandable Header Graphic

When you first see your site, you’ll notice it has a header image already in place. Some people mistakenly leave them there, assuming if they chose that theme, they’re stuck with it.

But you can swap it out for something that better represents your brand. Create a header in the right pixel size (it will tell you what that is for the theme under the Header section) and upload it to replace the generic one.

Day 10: Delete and Activate Widgets

Widgets are elements that allow your blog to carry out different functions. When you log into your dashboard today, go to the widgets area and look at how they’re ordered for appearance in your sidebar of the blog.

If you want to change the order, such as having the recent comments or posts up further to the top, you can just drag them wherever you want them. You can also remove useless widgets, such as the Meta block.

Go through and see if there are any widgets you want to add that aren’t currently installed. You might appreciate a tag cloud of keywords, for example – or a calendar that people can view.

Day 11: Clean Up Useless Plugins

We initially removed the two plugins that required updates that you probably wouldn’t be using at first, but there are others you can deactivate and delete, too. Remember, don’t panic if you delete something and feel like you might want it later – because you can always reinstall it whenever you want to use it.

Get rid of JetPack, Hello Dolly, MOJO Marketplace, and Analytics. Keep Akismet for the spam filtering and make sure you activate that plugin with your own spam filtering account.

Day 12: Give People a Way to Contact You

Instead of plastering your email address on your blog, which will cause you to get spammed, create a page dedicated to a contact form. You can first create a new page called Contact Me.

Then, click on the Plugins section and add a new plugin called Contact Form 7. When you activate it, grab the short code it provides and paste it into the custom HTML block on your new contact page.

You want to make sure you visit your blog’s contact page and see if you’re seeing everything correctly (the name, email and subject and message fields) and test it to see if you’re able to send yourself a message.

Day 13: Make Your Posts Shareable

Viral traffic and word of mouth are a great way to generate free traffic to your site. If you’re creating and publishing good, valuable content, your audience is going to want to share it with others.

Use a social sharing plugin of your choice to make the process easy on them. With these buttons, your readers can quickly click on an option to share the post on Facebook, Pinterest, in email and elsewhere.

There are many different social button options. Find one that has good reviews and install and activate it. Then go into the settings and choose things like which social sites you want to allow them to share it to, where the buttons will appear, what your buttons look like, their size and more.

Day 14: Customize Your Blog’s General Settings

It’s time to start going through the settings and making sure your blog will operate as you want it to. Start with the General Settings tab. Double check things like your administrative email, tagline and title for your site.

Other little details like language, time zone and formats for date and time will be options for you to choose as well. This is mostly a default setting where nothing will need to be changes, but it’s important to check it all the same.

Day 15: Go Through the Writing Settings to Ensure Accuracy

Next in line are the writing settings. One of the most important things to do here is enter a list of Ping sites that your blog will notify whenever you have new content. This can help followers of news feeds get instant notification when you’ve published.

You can also set up the ability to post to your blog via email is you want. And make sure you choose a default category for whenever you fail to pick one when publishing a blog post.

Day 16: See If Your Reading Settings Are Optimized

Today you’re going to figure out how you want blog visitors to experience your site in terms of readability. Go to your Reading tab so that you can choose how many posts are shown on each page and whenever they’re syndicated in a feed.

You’ll get to decide how much text is shown in the feed, too – a snippet, or all of it. You want visitors going to your blog, so it’s best to only show a portion. You can also make sure that visitors land on one specific page (like a lead magnet page) or your most recent blog post (recommended).

There’s one very important option you have to double check on this page. At the bottom is says “Search Engine Visibility.” That should be unchecked so that it doesn’t cause search engine bots not to index your site.

Day 17: Formulate the Best Plan for Blog Discussions

Engagement on your blog is an important part of people feeling as if your blog is a digital home where they can feel comfortable gathering and discussing their thoughts about the niche topic.

There are tons of options, so uncheck everything else but the ones that allow people to submit comments on new posts, that require the author to enter their name and email address, that enables threaded comments several levels deep, that emails you when a new comment is posted, that holds the comment for you to moderate, and that requires manual approval by you.

These are all strategic moves that help you ban spam and ensure that only legitimate conversations unfold on your blog. On this page, make sure you choose which avatar visual your blog will show for those who comment, and if you want a real picture of yourself, use Gravatar.

Day 18: Set Up Your Permalinks for SEO

Permalinks are the way your full URL looks in the browser. So you may have it set to look like yourblog.com/486 initially. Instead of leaving it like that, choose the Post Name option.

That will showcase the exact title of your blog post, which can strategically include niche keywords. A better URL would show up at yourblog.com/10-tips-to-lose-weight-fast. This helps you with SEO, and also gives people peace of mind when clicking on the link that they’ll know what the content is.

Day 19: Use a Publishing Calendar for Upcoming Blog Posts

If you’re going to be publishing consistently, which you should as a niche leader, you want to keep track of the topics you blog about so that you vary things and don’t post repeatedly about the exact same issues many times in a row unintentionally.

In your plugins section, you can add what’s called an Editorial Calendar. This will allow you to organize topics and schedule posts ahead of time, freeing you up to work on other areas of your business.

Day 20: Upload the Legal Policy for Affiliate Income

Affiliates, by law, have to disclose that they’re potentially going to earn money from a link if they’re promoting products on their blog. So you want to appease the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and include your legal statement.

If you don’t have this up, sites like Amazon can shut down your account and forbid you from earning money through them. Just add a text widget in the sidebar and place the cookie cutter Amazon statement that says, “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Day 21: Embed Your Subscriber Form

You want to capture the names and email addresses of your blog visitors so you can connect with them again directly. Sign up with an email autoresponder system like Aweber and create a list and form.

Grab the HTML code from the autoresponder and log into your blog to add an HTML widget to the sidebar (preferably at the top). Paste the code into it and save it so you can make sure the form works and captures contact information properly.

Day 22: Tell Visitors Who You Are

Consumers are leery about who to listen to in many niches. You can alleviate their fears that you may be a scammer by creating an About page that introduces yourself to the site visitors and tells who you are and why you got into this niche to serve the audience.

Even if you’re hoping to maintain some anonymity, you can still tell a bit of who you are as a person without revealing your real name – and explain why you want to help them. Remember, they’re looking to protect themselves, too.

Day 23: Include a Revenue Stream in Your Blog

The space in your sidebar, under the blog header, and even on the post space itself can serve as an additional income stream if you choose to use some banner ads or image links out to other places.

This can include income where you earn an affiliate commission, a direct sale, or money for an action such as a clickthrough or sign up for someone else’s offer. Just be sure that you use banner ads sparingly so you’re not one big banner ad site and nothing else.

Day 24: Start the Content Generation Process

Every post you make can be whatever length you feel will satisfy the reader with enough valuable information. Don’t aim for a certain word count, but do use the More tag because it allows the comment area to show up if someone lands on your main blog page, rather than it not appearing because they can read the post entirely from the home page.

To start out, you can jump right on an informative post or start out with an introductory post where you welcome readers and talk a little about what direction you’ll be taking them.

Day 25: Begin Sharing on Social Media

You want to get in the habit of sharing your blog content so that you attract more readers without having to pay for traffic. Every time you make a post, share it in a variety of places, such as a Facebook page or group, for example.

Day 26: Work on SEO Automation for Your Blog

Your site won’t rank at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) overnight. But to help it along, you need to focus on the optimization of your posts and site as a whole.

You can spend today learning current SEO strategies, and also take the initiative to install an SEO plugin that works best for you. This will help you ensure each page and post is optimized for search bots so that it gets indexed properly.

Day 27: Get Familiar with You Site Stats

You want to spend today seeing how you can track and analyze your visitors and their behaviors on your blog. You should be able to see what geographic location they’re coming from, the path they took navigating your site, and when they felt it better to bounce away.

Day 28: Publish a Single Stellar Blog Post to Represent Your Site

Instead of thinking in terms of volume and speed, stop for a moment and consider a scenario where you only had a chance to post one single blog post to your site. What would you say to prove you had value as a leading niche expert in that one post?

Today, create a pillar blog post for your domain that showcases the very best knowledge you have to offer. Spend time brainstorming, researching, organizing your thoughts and creating the content.

A pillar blog post is something you feel will best represent you in search engines and in shareable social media posts. Create a lengthy, yet free-of-fluff-and-filler post that will be something people want to bookmark and refer to time and time again.

Day 29: Spend a Day Securing Pictures for Your Blog Posts

Whenever you publish a blog post, you want to have everything ready to go – your ideas, content, links and something to help break up big blocks of text. You can do that with images from your niche, and it’s wise to go ahead and gather many of these upfront.

Use a stock site, use your own photos, or create images using tools like Canva. You can buy stock images or find free ones for your blog post. You may want to add your domain the image so that it shows up when the post is shared online.

Day 30: Become an Official Google Publisher

Have you ever started to conduct some niche research, or even looked up information as a consumer on Google by entering a search term and clicking on the News tab? Many people do this, and you have the ability to get your blog into the official Google News section by signing up to their Publishing Center for consideration.

Not everyone gets chosen, but if your blog posts have a nice combination of frequency, relevancy and cutting edge information, you may have a good shot at it. Building a blog isn’t as intimidating as it may have sounded when you first thought about it.

Just go by the blueprint tasks divvied up above on a schedule that works best for you and soon, you’ll start seeing traction with generating targeted niche traffic to your blog without having to pay for it.

30 Day Affiliate Content Idea Blueprint

Coming up with ongoing affiliate content can start to get a bit difficult over time. You might feel like you’re saying the same stuff over and over again. That can be problematic because you need to offer content that causes your customers to remain loyal.

If you’re always giving them the same old tired information, they’re going to move on - and probably to your competitor. New content isn’t really difficult to come up with. You just need to know how to present the information in a way that shows it in a new light.

As an affiliate, you’ll be creating a consistent flow of product reviews. While some people use the same format again and again, it’s good to have a few different ways to review items so readers don’t get bored.

Below, you’ll find 30 days’ worth of varying slants you can use for product reviews. Go through each one and then recycle them on a monthly basis, to keep your blog fresh and your readers coming back for more.

Day 1: Create Content About Various Items

There are so many different items or products that you can write about for one problem or need. People want guidance and they like when they have content that walks them through the ins and outs of a variety of products or content that talks about what’s good and what’s bad when looking to buy something.

You can write a detailed report on these products today. To understand how to format it, look for publications that talk about buyers’ guides. Consumer Reports does this well, such as a buyer’s guide to electric lawn mowers.

Sometimes, they’ll be broken down by the numerous choices offered such as a push mower, electric or riding mower. Make a review report or blog post about the information you find.

Talk about how helpful the products are, some good about it and any drawbacks. You can also talk about the many different options there are, and how the consumer should shop for whatever is best for their needs.

Day 2: Write for All Budgets

Someone who shops for their cookware at Walmart may have a vastly different spending limit from someone who buys their goods at a special cooking boutique. This is why you have to present a variety in the items that you promote as affiliate content.

While that $4,000 television might appeal to those who shop without thinking much about it, those who shop at lower priced stores aren’t looking for something that expensive.

You’ll miss sales if you constantly gear your content toward the big spenders. So today, write a blog post that breaks the affiliate content down into one budget friendly, one high end and one product that hits between both of those options and see what converts best for you.

Day 3: Give Content Geared Toward What’s Selling

Don’t waste your time or your customer’s time writing about content that doesn’t have good sales. When you go to the sites to choose your items for promotions today, select from the top sellers.

You’ll often see items divided by brand, price, and whether or not it’s a bestseller. Always choose the top selling items on any of the sites you select products from among both physical and downloadable items.

Once you’ve chosen the correct products, look at what people are saying about it that makes it a top seller. You’ll be able to pinpoint what got it onto the bestseller list, such as the vendor’s reputation, pricing, quality and more.

Day 4: Create a Comparison Post

Your customers want to know what’s available to them, but sometimes they’re torn between two good options. They want to know the pros and cons of each so they can narrow down their choices.

So when you make a post today that’s talking about a solution to a problem, what you can do is list a couple of products and how each one stacks up against the other. It’s easier to do this with physical items, such as comparing features, but when it’s something the customer has to download, then you can’t talk about the physical aspect obviously.

What you have to do is to talk about what’s better or worse about the downloadable items. For example, you can say what one item costs versus the competing item. You can also talk about what one download has in the contents versus the other one.

Day 5: Make Posts Responding to What Customers Want to Know

The easiest way to be able to use a blog post to add affiliate links is to talk about the physical or downloadable items in ways that give customers information they’ve wanted to know before buying.

You can find out what they’ve been wondering about by looking on the product listing (such as Amazon’s questions section), or in forums or groups where people are asking about it.

Take what they’re wanting to know today and put it on your blog with something like, “You might be wondering how this blender handles large chunks of fruit…” You can give the customer the information they want by talking about the blender’s ability.

If the question is a negative, such as you discover the blender can’t handle large cut fruit, then offer an alternative to this blender, and emphasize what it can do better than the rest.

Day 6: Use Insight from the Owner’s Manual

Hardly anyone reads an owner’s manual for a physical item. Most consumers just wing it and even those who do read one may not grasp the information because some of those manuals read like they’re written in hieroglyphics.

You can create blog posts where you put helpful tips in an easy to understand format. Do a little bit of research today to learn about the product so you know what you’re talking about.

If it’s a downloadable item, you can search for reviews and then share that information with the customer on your blog. Don’t use advice you cull from other people unless you plainly mention where you got it from.

But check out the manufacturer’s social media and website to see if there are extra tips you can share in today’s product review. Whether they’ve answered someone’s question or simply shared a tip, give your own readers that extra bit of insight they’ll appreciate.

Day 7: Blog About Why an Item Didn’t Work and What To Do About It

Not every item will work according to what was promised. That makes people mad, but it also makes them seek information. You can be the go-to source for them in today’s product review.

Tell them what’s wrong with an item after you find one with a flaw, but then share what they can do to make it work like it’s supposed to. Instructions are sometimes lacking and the buyer might not be using it properly. You can share those additional steps.

It’s like you’re taking an item and making it work for them, they’ll appreciate that. If it’s beyond repair, simply explain that, and show them a better alternative to invest in that will meet their needs.

Day 8: Make a Post Addressing Customer’s Expectations That Aren’t Met

Sometimes consumers buy a product or download without realizing that they either overlooked information or the information they wanted to have wasn’t included. They had an expectation that wasn’t met.

Your blog post can meet that expectation. You can mention items on your blog that consumers need or want but it doesn’t necessarily have everything they need to use the product as they wanted to.

Explain to them what they need to do to still be able to use the item. For example, add a vlog to your post showing them what to do. If it’s a download, then the course or report might have instructions that are poorly written or even skips steps they need to take.

Day 9: Mention Items that Don’t Attract as Much Attention

Amazon and other platforms will often recommend products. These are the items that sell well and are more commonly known. However, just because these items are more popular doesn’t mean there aren’t similar items that work just as well - and maybe even cost less.

Today, post about the item that generates very little fanfare and what you like about it. Explain why you think consumers will benefit from it and you may even discuss why it’s a great hidden gem.

Day 10: Look for the Items Related to Consumer Questions

The best way to have a built in buying audience is to present to them things they already wonder about. Check out all the platforms where they might be having conversations about a product.

See what they’re saying that’s both positive and negative about these items. Pay attention to what potential customers want to know and they will feel like you care about what interests them.

There are many people who go to blogs and forums to ask about a product before spending their own money on it. So today, find an inquiry about a product and then specify in your product review that you’re answering someone’s question about it.

Day 11: Create a Review that Focuses on One Part of an Item

Create a product review that talks in depth about a highlighted benefit or feature of an item. For example, if you’re writing posts about a GPS system, these are going to have widely varying benefits and features.

You’ll want to select one and focus on that. Present in such a way that the reader feels they must have it - such as one GPS system that updates travel routes more often than another.

You can tap into the emotional aspect, too - by presenting it as a safety benefit for first time drivers, for college students away from home, etc. Explain how it’s helpful and all the good it can do for someone in that audience.

End your post by comparing the system to other ones that may not necessarily focus on the safety aspect. Or, mention a few others that also have a good track record with that one feature.

Day 12: Post About New and Improved Items

Whatever niche you’re in, new products and downloads are going to be available continually. What was considered cutting edge or the most accurate or best version a month ago won’t always be for long.

So you need to make sure that you stay on top of what’s releasing. Create a product review today where you talk about a physical product that used to be the newest, but now there’s a more updated one.

Amazon will usually tell you if something new has released on an older product page. You can also stay tuned into industry news or specific manufacturer newsletters to see what new releases they have.

Do the same for downloadable items like information that tells consumers how to master search engine optimization or carry out another quickly evolving task that can affect their success.

Day 13: Make a Thorough Analysis About a Product

Whatever item you’re promoting, use it yourself for awhile, then write about what effects it had in your own life. For example, if you bought a membership that taught how to boost mailing list signups, you could talk about how it helped you with specific numbers.

You can’t share everything, because the information was created by someone else. But you can give them a few details about how you implemented it, or how long it took to see results.

Once you implement the product in your own life, you can then talk about whether or not you felt it delivered for you - like if your mailing list when from 500 subscribers to nearly 1,500 in 72 hours.

Then you can mention if the information was difficult or easy to put into practice and add some helpful advice on what you feel should also be done to make the membership even more valuable to the consumer.

Day 14: Post a Review That Compares Hype to Reality

Your goal should be to always protect your audience. This will build trust and cause them to remain loyal to you. They know you’ll steer them the right direction. On your blog, make a product review today talking about what a vendor claims a product can do or accomplish and whether or not they’re right.

Sometimes some products are really hyped up and not worth buying. Some will even state outrageous claims, such as push button profits or overnight riches. On your blog, talk about a product with a sales page making incredible claims and why people buy it.

Then go into detail about the benefits and if those benefits are legit or not. Don’t leave your audience hanging. Give them another choice they can make instead if the one you’re highlighting didn’t hold up to the claims it made.

Day 15: Post About a Problem Product

Many times, a product will get released into the marketplace, and while consumers may be buying it, you can see that it’s not a smart investment. You might know that it falters in terms of strategy or durability.

Without initiating a war of words with another vendor, post a review that is critical of a particular product, with a fair account of both the pros and the cons of owning it. Your audience may be left feeling disappointed that something they wanted isn’t good, so redirect them to one that will be able to help them.

Day 16: Post About Situations Where There Are Multiple Choices

You don’t have to limit what you mention on your blog to just one product. You want to have multiple items that can answer the same need. So create a blog post that talks about what’s going on the customer’s life.

For example, they might be struggling financially. You could talk about downloadable products that teach them how to get out of debt. But you could also share about products that show them how to create profitable side hustles to bring in more income.

Every struggle, need or desire that your audience has, can have multiple answers. If your customer is looking to live healthier, you might offer cookbooks, kitchenware, supplements, exercise equipment and so on.

Meet their needs by showing them what’s available to them and guide them to the right buys. You can even title it as a list, such as, “10 Products That Can Help You Shed Unwanted Fat.”

Day 17: Showcase A Product in Multiple Steps

You can create a product review strategy where you present a product over a period of time instead of all at once. These posts are continued posts, which hook a reader and keep them returning to find out the rest of the review.

You would begin your strategy by first posting about what’s going on and how you’re looking for an item to help you solve whatever it is you’re dealing with. You can talk about what items you might have looked at, what the benefits of those were and how you went about picking the item that you ultimately chose.

But don’t give away what you actually picked until the end until the final post. Let your readers go along with you from the start of selecting an item to the end where you use the item in your life.

Show how the item was able to help you and tell them what it was. List the features and best parts about the product, and be honest if there was anything lacking about the item, too.

Day 18: Create a Review for a Product You Know Personally

It’s one thing to consider purchasing items or products that you see online. But it’s another when a friend or someone you know suggests that you buy it and shares how it helped them.

You have that same influence when you’re blogging for your audience. They feel like they know you, so when you talk about an item that you bought and liked, they know that they’re getting a solid firsthand account. This is far more helpful to them than just reading about it online in a generic way.

In the product review today, you can write about what made you choose the item, what you learned when you had the issue and started looking for a solution and if you feel the product is worthy enough for them to get it, too.

Day 19: Talk About What Else the Customer Can Buy

Of course, you want to write about main items for whatever your niche is. For example, if you’re in the gaming niche, you might talk about a specific gaming system. But you don’t want to just talk about that one thing.

Make sure that you do additional posts where you talk about items connected to that gaming system - like controllers, a gaming keyboard, an ergonomic chair, headphones, etc.

These should all be items that enhance the main item. Any time you are writing a review for a main item, make a list for a separate review for any relevant add-on or accessory items, so try that strategy today.

Day 20: Unpack a Product for the Audience

You want to review various items on your blog, but you also want to showcase these products from arrival to the usage stage. You can unpack whatever the item is on camera and discuss your thoughts as you go.

The reason that unpacking videos are so popular is because people get to see the same experience they would go through if they bought the item. It’s a good way to prove the quality, benefit and ease of using a product.

For example, if you’re in the outdoor niche, you might show an unpacking video where you use a camping stove - or one where you set up a tent. As you unpack the box the item shipped in, you’ll want to talk about every step.

Once you have the product set up for use, then discuss whether it works as expected or not. The unboxing review strategy you use today can be used for any tangible object, but it can also be used for some digital purchases, too if you’re using screen capture tools.

Day 21: Review an Item That Has Dual Purposes

Most items can serve dual or more purposes. For example, food storage containers that can be used as organization hacks or lotion that can also be used to defrizz hair. Just like with physical products, downloadable items can also be used in many different ways, too.

For example, if you buy a downloadable private label rights report, you can use it as is, break that into a series of emails or use it as separate articles for your blog. Today, pick a product with more than one use and create a product review for it.

Day 22: Mention Items Before They Come to Market

You need to know what’s coming so that you can let your audience know and prepare their budget. For example, if you’re in the gaming niche, there may be new games launching shortly before Christmas that you can link to as an affiliate for a preorder.

You want to tell your audience about these items before they list for sale. People who are wanting information about the item will flock to your blog to learn about it because articles may be limited.

Make sure that the information you share about the item is legit and not something you just glean from other people who may not be accurate. Having a blog post review before the product is released will allow you to rank higher in search engines with your content so you can earn more commissions on launch day.

Day 23: Answer Common Questions

If you do a quick search, you’ll find that within your niche, customers are seeking all kinds of information. They want to know about the benefits of a product. They may have very specific questions, like whether or not a mixer can handle cookie dough.

They might want to know if one particular model or brand is better than one with similar benefits, but at a different price. Experts and fellow consumers will answer what customers want to know.

Today, seek out a common question about a type of product and then create a review of one product that meets the needs of that audience concern. If it’s whether or not a standing mixer can handle cookie dough, you can review one or give a list of mixers that will do the job.

Day 24: Post for Your Targeted Group of Buyers

Across your customer database, you’re going to have a wide range of people. What appeals to one group won’t necessarily appeal to the next. You want to create blog posts about products that are directed toward a targeted group.

For example, if you’re in the weight loss niche, you can specifically talk about products that help working moms or that help beginners or that help those who have failed at weight loss before.

Pick a specific demographic in your niche – based on gender, age, budget, geographic location or some other qualification and review a product that would be the best fit specifically for that audience.

Day 25: Make a Post that Connects Items in a Numbered Group

People like seeing potential items they want to buy at a glance. The busy mom looking for cookware appreciates having a selection of 10 different cookware sets she can buy all in one place.

You can create a connected group like the “Top 10 Instant Pots.” What you do is talk about each of the items, but briefly. It’s basically a post on who, what and why. Who can use it, what the item is (benefits, the good and bad) and why they need it.

In addition to helping the consumer, you also benefit because having more items in a blog post gives you a greater chance to earn. After linking to each item for them to consider, you may also want to end with a hyperlinked call to action such as, “If you want to see more options, here’s a page that will showcase similar products you may be interested in.”

Day 26: Create a Brand-Based Product Review

There are some shoppers who are not going to stray outside their preferred manufacturer. For example, some women will only use one makeup manufacturer, regardless of price or selection options and you’re not going to change their minds.

This is why you want to specifically talk about the most well-known items put out by each company regardless of the niche that you’re in. Check out the manufacturer to see what they have to offer.

You can then select items according to what consumers are saying about them, according to the price, by what’s featured and also by what their latest items are. You can merge slants and have those that say, “Top 10 Must Have KitchenAid Products.”

Day 27: Talk About A Standout Feature

There are many products within the same category. But there’s always going to be some that go above and beyond what’s expected from them by consumers. These are the benefits or features that you want to really point out.

This will make the product you mention rise above the others. For example, you might want to talk about products like gaming keyboards. If one of the keyboards has better key responses than another brand or model, you’ll want to mention that.

Or, there may be a feature so unique that you haven’t seen it on any other product to date. That would be a good benefit to buying that product over another one, so it deserves to be mentioned.

Day 28: Create “At-A-Glance” Product Review Charts

Having a quick side-by-side comparison chart makes it easy on consumers to size up different items and pick which is best for them. Many affiliates see great success using charts that compare features with a simple checklist.

For example, with gaming headsets, you might have categories like battery life, driver size, surround sound, and wireless. Create a chart that shows at a glance which products have these features, or at what amount.

So you might be comparing five headsets, and four of them are wireless, so they each get a checkmark. The driver size might be numerical, ranging from 40mm to 53 mm. You can have the name and image of the product at the top of the chart section and hyperlink it.

Day 29: Create Posts Geared Toward Also Boughts

When you’re writing about an item, gear the tone of the post toward their prior buying behavior. For example, if you blogged about one survival tool, you can post again pointing them to a second survival tool.

You don’t have to come up with these ideas off the top of your head. Places like Amazon have an area where if customers buy (or even look at) one item, they suggest related products.

For example, if you blog about a survival backpack, Amazon also suggests an emergency weather radio. This works well for both tangible and digital products, so today look for a connection between two products and do a review for something else your audience would like.

Day 30: Add a Conversation to a Review From Someone Connected to a Product

While you can talk about items on your blog, it’s helpful if you can also give it that air of expertise that stems from having someone else also weigh in. This can be a member of your audience who knows about the item and has purchased it or who even had a hand in its creation.

You can do a text or video conversation where you present questions and have them answer about the item and how it’s helpful. Or, you can ask the manufacturer if you can talk to them and see if they’ll agree to then let you put their responses up on your blog.

Go beyond just telling your audience about various products. Lead them to the ones that will help them, solve problems for them and show them how to get the most from their spending dollars.

Apply these product review slants so that whatever audience you have, they will continually turn to you for fresh information as a leading niche expert and trusted source of buying recommendations.

30 Day Niche Research Blueprint

Many people quickly select a niche before doing any preliminary research. This causes them to falter or fail when they discover that after buying a domain, spending months creating content, and hoping to build a list, there’s not as much profit potential as they had hoped.

You want to make sure your niche topic has lots of revenue potential, but also satisfies you on a personal and professional level, since you’ll be showing up to serve this audience on a regular, if not daily basis.

You have to make sure there’s enough interest, enough products you can promote or create. This requires you to do some digging online to see if it’s a lucrative niche concept. Below, you’ll find a 30-day plan to help you size up whether or not the niches you’re considering have what it takes to build a business with.

Day 1: Generate a List of Your Favorite Topics

Planning for your niche means you’ll need to create a list of your favorite topics. Because if it interests you, you can bet it’ll also interest someone else. Today, think about all the things that you want to learn about or stuff that makes you happy - or even sad.

It could be that you’ve experienced a health issue such as having an underactive thyroid after years of struggling to lose weight. So it could be that your niche focuses on weight loss when you have a health problem like with the thyroid malfunctioning.

You want to make your list one that has all the things that you might already do and that you’re good at it. But it’s okay to go into a niche based on topics that you’re willing to get to know and want to learn more about so you can share it with others.

Day 2: Understand How to Gain Visibility

On day two, you’re going to want to start your focus on how to gain visibility. You need your niche to show up in searches. So you have to know how you’re going to get people to see you, especially when here are so many other choices out there.

For example, if your niche is personal development, one of the topics you’re dealing with might be on confidence, since this is an area where a lot of people have struggles. So you would want to search for words that are related to confidence in personal development.

Use keyword tools or search engines to see what people are looking for on your chosen topic. It will provide insight you may not have had about your niche, and show you specific ways people are searching for information.

Another good way to do this is by searching for all the hashtags on social media that relate. Just type the word you’re searching into the search area on all-hashtag.com. Make sure you click the top circle under the search box before you hit “generate.” This will then pull up a list of trending searches for confidence.

Day 3: Know What Your Audience Needs Help With

The key to creating a viable niche is to know what’s wrong. Look at the topics you picked out that interest you. Spend today writing down why they interest you or why they may be of interest to others. For example, you might have listed weight loss as one of your niches.

It interests you because you struggled to lose weight after being undiagnosed with a thyroid malfunction. So you could write down topics related to that such as losing weight when you have thyroid disease - or any other connection such as losing weight when you have health issues.

A lot of people want to lose weight, but can’t necessarily follow a given plan because they have other factors that are outside the “one size fits all” realm. If you were in the financial self-help niche, you could focus on topics like saving for single moms or saving for one income families, or paying down debt specifically for that audience.

Day 4: Be Timely with Your Niche

Popularity can easily wane. That’s why you want to conduct some research today for what’s relevant within your niche at any given moment. You don’t want to focus your efforts on something that’s going to fade.

Instead, you want to focus your niche topics in a way so that they hit the evergreen category. These are topics that are always going to be relevant to an audience because people will always have issues or want to know information in these areas.

Sometimes certain niches are going to be more popular for a period of time. You want to hit that popularity wave and ride it, while building the foundation of your business on the solid, evergreen niche topics, so make a list of both kinds.

Day 5: Create Branches Off of Each Part of Your Niche

Now is the time to dig deeper on whatever topics you’ve chosen. So if you’ve focused your niche on relationships, you could branch into dating and use dating tips, dating apps, dating by age groups like 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond.

You could also branch into dating after a divorce, dating after being widowed, etc. Every main part of your niche can have several branches to it. The more you expand it, the more ideas you’ll come up with.

You might want to spend the day creating a mind map so you can see it visually, or even make a list of sub-topics for each main topic within your niche. The idea is to keep drilling down until you’ve run out of possible branches.

Day 6: Know the New Information in Your Niche

Because niches can trend, you have to stay on top of what’s going on, so you want to start practicing that today. You’ll be able to learn this information by doing simple Internet searches. You can just type in whatever your niche is and add the phrase “what’s new.”

For example, if you were in the health niche, then you would type in “what’s new in the health niche” and you would get results showing what was new in fitness, treatments, hair loss, digestive, etc.

You also want to pay attention to what big names or sites are saying about the niche. So for some of these, you would see what Fox, MSNBC or other mainstream media outlets had to say.

Whenever you type in your topic in whatever search platform you use, always look for the words “trending” or “news” and it’ll tell you what’s going on that you may not have heard about yet.

Day 7: Visit Consumer Hangouts

To connect with people who want to buy your products or services, you need to interact with them in forums and find out what it is they’re looking for or what they’re interested in, so that’s what you’ll start doing today. Then you’ll have a good idea of how to structure certain items you’re offering.

For example, if you’ve built a business based on wealth building, then you would want to take part in discussions on financial forums or like sites. When you get onto these sites, you’ll start to notice recurring topics among the people.

They might be talking about building wealth as a side hustle while working a full time job. They might be devastated about current inflation or gas prices specifically and wonder how they’re going to get to work or put food on the table.

These emotion-driven forum discussions can be a great source of blog content for you as well as ideas for lead magnets and digital info products, if you want to take that route and create a course to help solve their problems.

Day 8: Look for the Tie-Ins for Your Main Niche

When it comes to choosing a niche, you don’t want to just focus on that main issue. You need to see the potential for niche tie-ins because these mean potential income in the future. You’ll be searching for those today.

These shouldn’t be random things that have no similar ties. For example, if you’ve been thinking about the weight loss niche, other things that can tie-in to this are topics like anti-aging (because losing weight when you’re middle aged is harder), digestive health, thinning hair (that sometimes results from extreme diets or nutritional deficiencies), etc.

You can specifically target groups under your niche like pregnant women or busy moms, those over 50, or men. You can also turn one tie-in topic into several, like those over 50 with mobility problems.

As long as the topic relates somehow to your original niche, it’ll work. Once you find these tie-ins, you can then look for ways to discuss and promote items your audience can purchase.

Day 9: Look at Information That’s Already Available

You can start from scratch and try to figure out what’s related to your niche. Today, you can work on creating a list based on what you think of, but you can also look at information that’s already out there.

Don’t neglect video sites. The biggest video site online is YouTube, which doubles as a huge search engine. Whatever your topic is, if you search for it on the site, it’s going to automatically have other suggestions and information that you can use.

For example, if you’re in the pet care niche, when you look up videos that tie-in to this topic, you’re going to have a trove of information that you can glean through. Look at the notes under the videos.

Look at related videos. Look at any keywords that are used. Scroll down to see what other people are saying or what they’re linking to. You might see information about supplements or food.

But you might also see where people are discussing problems with dog bedding - like for an extra-large dog or for dogs that tend to chew up their bedding. Make a note of what you’re seeing, especially if you see someone who is talking about a problem that they’re having with pet care.

They might be discussing pet beds specifically for arthritic dogs, and this could lead to a sub-topic or niche and you could use that to create a product or service in the future as well as promote products for as an affiliate.

Day 10: Get Social Proof for Your Niche

You obviously want a niche that’s going to do well. One way to discover that is to see if people are talking about it online on various social media sites. Start with Facebook today. Scroll through other businesses that are in or linked to your niche topic.

Look at the comments and the amount of engagement. This will give you some insight into the behavior and buying habits of what the people want or need. What you can do is act like a newbie and search out groups to join where other people are talking.

This might be time consuming, but it’ll allow you to have access to what may be missing from your niche or what problems aren’t being addressed. This gives you an opening to be able to fill that gap.

Plus, you’ll meet other niche business people and this can expand your business growth potential. You can do nothing more than observe silently if you want to – and you never want to be a disruption or content thief from other marketers who have started these groups or pages – just use them to become well-informed.

Day 11: Join Social Media Sites You May Not Be On

Most entrepreneurs have their own pet social media sites. They’re comfortable there and don’t branch out. That’s a mistake. Even if you don’t care for some of the newer sites and apps like Tik Tok, you should still be on there and should still be using it as a research point, so download that app and start looking today.

Maybe you’ve ignored this app because you don’t know much about it and think it’s a place where people just lip sync to music. It’s not. It has thousands of different niches on the site.

You can type in a keyword relating to your niche and pull up valuable information you can use for your business. Not only will the content be from fellow niche leaders, but from consumers, too.

Day 12: Check Instagram for Niche Potential

By day 12, it’s time to add another social media site to your list of what to study for your niche business. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Instagram is just a place where people share pictures.

By checking to see if your niche is on Instagram, you can find out how much interest would be generated by certain topics. For example, if you’re in the fitness niche and you see someone talking specifically about a problem losing fat in a particular body area like the belly, and there are hundreds of comments - that can show you that there’s a need for your potential product, or information on addressing that problem.

Day 13: Look at Other Image Sharing Sites

You need to check sites you may not normally consider looking at for studying your niche. Pinterest is self-described as a “visual discovery engine.” You can look on there today for things that are related to whatever your niche is.

For example, if your niche is one that focuses on building muscle for men, you would go on the site and use those as keywords to search. You would get information that addressed things like workouts and then specific types of workouts. You might also see topics relating to home workouts vs gym workouts.

Day 14: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

When it comes to your niche, you really don’t have to know all the ins and outs to be successful. You just have to pay attention to what other people are doing. You want to spend today looking at successful online business leaders within the same niche and see how they’re faring.

You can do this by spending some time looking at sites where they might have their eBooks or their information products listed. You can look at comments, check rankings and more. You’ll also be able to see what they’re good at by what people are saying and how their business is lacking as well.

Then, you can take the information that you learn and use it to improve your own business. You can fill a void or find a different way of sharing information that resonates with the core audience.

Day 15: Take Your Research Offline

It’s a good thing to study your niche through online means like Facebook groups or whatever. But today, you also want to check information specific to your niche through print media as well.

See what newspapers are saying about the niche and its related topics. Many niches have magazines solely dedicated to this. For example, Dogster is one that focuses on dog wellness, exercise, breeds, lifestyle, etc.

By checking out print media relating to your niche, it’ll enable you to discover what interests your potential customers. Spend a day browsing through consumer and trade magazines at your local Barnes and Noble to see what’s being published.

Day 16: Check the Audio Media

Don’t just focus your research online and through print media. Today, you also want to look at any audio information. Many niches will also have a segment such as a blogcast. These will be part of the niche’s blog.

You can also look through several platforms that feature podcasts that may be connected to your niche. You can look through platforms like Apple. For example, if your niche is financial and you wanted to see if investing was a viable topic, then you could check out investing podcasts.

These are sometimes referred to as “radio shows” even if they are podcasts. During your study, you want to see if you can find an “upcoming topics” section and what these may be saying about investing. This will let you know not only what could be popular, but also what people are looking for.

Day 17: Find What’s Missing

There’s no way for every topic people need information about to be covered so well that there’s no longer a need for more. Because no one is perfect, this will leave an opening for what you have to offer.

The trick is to find it through observation, and that’s what you’ll be doing today. You’ll be able to spot ways that you can approach the topic using means that your competitor either hasn’t done or did do but it wasn’t done well enough, and the market is still wide open for you.

For example, you might find that another niche entrepreneur compiled information on how to start a business online, but neglected to cover how to respond to problems with customers or how to best meet their needs.

You could write a guide or book on how to handle customer relations to gain consumer loyalty. Or, you might see a niche that offers information about how to set up a business using social media or how to use it to grow a business, but the information contains too much fluff and doesn’t cover all the important details. You could use this information you’ve discovered to offer what your competition doesn’t.

Day 18: Discovering What to Charge

In your niche, you need to know what to charge for what you’re offering. You want to be careful so that you’re competitive, but you also don’t want to severely undercharge either, so you want to spend time today researching that aspect of the niche.

You might hear a lot of advice on what you should charge but never go by “should.” By pulling up similar information that your competitors offer, you’ll be able to see how it was priced.

You’ll also be able to tell what was included in the product or information for that amount. You’ll want to have similar items of value. Check each part of the product offered by your competitor.

Look at their bonus offers and any bundles they might offer to boost a one product sale into a multiple purchase funnel. You also want to know how to handle it when a customer balks at one product - maybe because they’re having trouble affording it.

This way, you can immediately offer a less expensive option (a downsell) that would still help them until they can afford the more expensive product. Be sure to fix your price so that if anyone else gets a cut of the profit, like a partner, or if you’re part of an affiliate program, you still make what you need to earn.

Day 19: Create Your Own Upsells and Downsells

When you’re doing your niche research today, you need to look at what your competition is offering as their upsells and downsells. An upsell is an additional product that costs slightly more than the original purchase.

Think of this as the option to “supersize” an order at a restaurant. A downsell is a product that costs slightly less than the upsell, but still has some of the same features. This would be like a restaurant where you say no to the milkshake for an extra $1 but yes to the cookie for 50 cents.

You are looking to see what your competition is offering with upsells and downsells so you can know what to offer your customers. In digital products, you might have an upsell with a full multimedia bundle that includes videos, audios and infographics for $47.

If they say no to that offer, then a downsell might just be to offer them just the infographics for $10. This is great for people who want more, but who can’t afford an entire upgrade.

Day 20: Look for Extra Income Through Physical Products

Smart business owners don’t just focus on selling digital products. They also offer physical items like books, stickers, tote bags, pillows, clothing and more. Sometimes these items will be as simple as products with your logo or a niche saying on them.

You can sell it yourself on your website, but you can also use an online company that will handle packing, shipping, returns and customer service for you. This is known as print on demand physical items.

It’s one of the easiest ways to expand your income without a lot of extra effort. Some niches have certain merch products that work well, like customized water bottles for the fitness niche, and if you look on social media sites today, you’ll see how people are making them.

Day 21: Your Niche Business Needs Affiliates

Selling products is not a lone wolf endeavor. You need a community around you to help sell the products to your customers. These fellow sellers are known as affiliates. These help promote your product and in exchange, they receive a commission.

This is a percentage of your sale, typically 50%, but it could be less or greater, depending on the circumstances. Today, see who your competition is recruiting. The easiest way to do this is to pay attention when your competition talks about their affiliates such as making social media posts about their success in a promotion.

These could be people that are also willing to become your affiliate. All you need to do is compile a list of prospects. Leaderboards of past contests can help guide you on whose list is responsive for a certain topic.

Day 22: Going the Extra Mile for Affiliates

You might be tempted to believe that top affiliates only perform for the rate of commission. But this is actually a common myth. The best affiliates don’t just want the same money from you that everyone else gets.

They want other benefits as well. The best way to know what an affiliate might be interested in receiving from you is to know what they got from other niche leaders, so you’ll be looking for that information today. Depending on who the competition is, be prepared to offer big perks.

For example, if you have a funnel that earns you an average of $100 per sale, then you might be prepared to give away the front end product costing $10 to your affiliates at 100% commission just to get them onboard, get their subscribers on your list, and make money in the upsell.

Day 23: Become an Affiliate Yourself

Affiliate marketing works both ways in a niche. While you want affiliates to promote digital products you’ve created, you can also become one yourself for other people’s products.

Today, research products in your niche that your audience might need. You’ll need to research all the popular products to see what you can promote. For example, you’ll be looking for things like information products in the form of a PDF course, video modules, or subscription service and then you’ll earn money from those sales.

Day 24: Go Beyond Digital Items

When you’re in the marketing mindset, it’s easy to focus on digital items. But many niches have customers who need physical products as well, so you want to brainstorm that today. For example, if you’re in the dog training niche, you might only think about promoting a video course on puppy training.

However, your customers also need physical items like dog treats, whistles, leashes, collars, leak-proof puppy pads and more. This gives you an opportunity to promote and make money on these items, so make a list today of the tangible items your niche buyers will want to pay for.

Day 25: Make Recurring Commissions

Don’t limit yourself to a single commission. Look for chances to make residual money today. Think of items, physical or digital that your customers will need again and again. For example, people housetraining a new puppy may need leak-proof puppy pads repeatedly.

Help them by suggesting a subscription service so that they get these delivered automatically every month and don’t even have to think about it. Meanwhile, you earn every time they get a delivery and there are monthly subscription boxes available for many different niche markets.

Day 26: Consider Becoming a Consultant

You can mentor, become a consultant or coach others in your niche to boost how much you can earn. This can be extremely rewarding financially. Today, look to see what your competitors are providing for a coaching audience.

If they do have consulting or mentorship for a price, see how much they’re charging and what’s involved in the coaching program. If you can’t find any competitors who have this service, then consider creating an opportunity yourself for customers who may want it.

Day 27: Give Your Customers DIY Options

You can increase how much you earn and make it easier by having some of the options offered as a DIY (do it yourself) opportunity. For example, instead of you printing out stickers for planners or calendars or fitness trackers, you can create them as digital downloads on sites such as Shopify or other well-known sites.

Because there’s a continual need for the items, you’ll have ongoing sales. Spend a day today going through sites like Shopify or even Etsy to see what printables in your niche there may be.

Day 28: Outsource When Needed

Whatever your niche is, you’re going to need content - and a lot of it. It has to be relevant and fresh. You’ll need it not only for your business blog, but for any other platforms your business may be on.

Because you’re only one person, this can quickly eat up your time and make it hard for you to run your business. This is why outsourcing may be the key for you. Find someone else who can write the stuff that you need.

If you can’t afford to pay a writer to create this for you, consider purchasing pre-made information or products and use that. It’s known as private label rights (PLR), so today, look up some PLR vendors who write in your niche to see what content is available.

Day 29: Ongoing Education Is Key

It’s easy to stagnate and get out of date with what’s new or cutting edge if you don’t continually work to educate yourself. At least once every quarter, starting today, you should be taking a new course or challenging yourself with learning new information.

However, the important thing is to choose a learning method that works for you. You can read books about your niche, listen to podcasts, find free tutorials or pay for classes.

Day 30: Time to Set Up Business

Once you’ve finished studying what you need to know for your niche, you need to put that information to use. Today, it’s time to find the digital real estate that will house your niche.

To do that, you’re going to need to find a domain that will work for your business. What you can do is to search a domain registrar like GoDaddy and use words relevant to your niche.

For example, if it’s fitness related, you want that in the domain. If you want more word options about your niche, you can use an online keyword tool to help you brainstorm – or even a thesaurus, if it helps.

Play around with the keywords and phrases until you come up with a short dot com domain that is available and ready for purchase. You also have the ability to buy your name as a domain and brand yourself as a niche leader.

Conducting niche research is a task that has many initial processes as well as ongoing things you need to handle. Even if it’s an evergreen niche, there’s always new information being released that you may not have thought to convey to your followers.

Make sure you stay on top of niche research, because as the go to expert, your readers and subscribers are relying on you to be the point person they can turn to when they need information.