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BC Stack 2018- The Blogging Bundle with All You Need to Succeed

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Don't Miss Out on the ONE Blogging Resource You NEED This Year

Don't Make the Mistake of Missing out!

Last year I saw an amazing opportunity across my computer screen and I almost ignored it. Why? Because it seemed too good to be true.

BC Stack claimed something about “Get over $1,000 dollars worth of blogging resources for 98% off.” I’m a firm believer that if something seems too good to be true then it probably is so I passed it up… at first.

Then I saw people raving about it in the blogging groups. BC Stack had a ton of amazing courses all for less than $50 which is less than most of the courses cost individually which was insane.

So I took the plunge, got the course, and I was amazed. There was literally something to cover every area of blogging for every level of blogger. There were courses for affiliate marketing, monetizing, course creation, podcasting, time management, list building.

If you can think of a blogging resource you may need- chances are it was in there and this years is even better! 

Fair Warning though- there are a few traps you don’t want to fall into if you want to succeed.

The Downside

1. Overwhelm

There are so many great thing it’s easy to get overwhelmed and just ignore all of it. Don’t do that! You have lifetime access to all of the courses but you have 60 days to sign up so get signed up!

2. No Idea Where to Start

If you’re a newer blogger it can be easy to get confused and have no idea where to start or what to focus on. I’m going to help you out here though and I am completing a massive post on what to focus on depending on where you are in your blogging journey so check back in.

3. Don't Get Stuck in Learner Mode

Learning something new is great but you have to execute what you learn in order to succeed. You may be tempted to put your blog on hold until you can learn everything you need but don’t do that. Keep moving forward with your blog while you take the courses you need right now to keep moving forward and growing! 

4. You Only Have One Week to Decide

If you’re anything like me you like to mull over and research whether or not to purchase something which is fine but don’t mull too long or you’ll miss out. I normally tell bloggers to ignore FOMO (fear of missing out) but $37 for 67 courses and resources would lead to a heck of a regret.

So What Exactly Will You Get?

For complete details go to BC Stack but for $37 you get access to 67 courses and resources for all blogging related subjects you can think of  including:

Affiliate Marketing
Analytics
Blogging
Book Marketing
Branding
Chatbots
Copywriting
Creativity
Running an Online Business
Email Marketing
Getting Media Attention
Monetizing
Running a Membership Site
Outsourcing
Photography
Pinterest
PLR
Podcasting
Product Launches
Physical & Digital Products
Sales
Transitioning From Your “Job”
SEO
Social Media
Video
Writing

How to Stay Organized

When you sign up for each product you will likely get emails for them. Create a folder and name it something like “BCStack 2018” and file all of the emails you get here.

Also, create a folder for downloads on your PC or MAC. If one of the resources is a download, download it immediately, name it something you will remember (digital product creation, traffic ebook, etc), and then file it in your folder. 

Some people aren’t fond of storing login and password information on their computers but I am not one of those people. Whenever I log into a new course, I store my login and password then bookmark the login page. 

On my toolbar there is a BCStack2018 file where all of the bookmarked pages reside. They are each named something that will remind me what they are so I can refer back to them later. Then when I login everything is autofilled for me. 

If you are a spreadsheet person then do that. Create columns for each login page URL, login email, and password for easy reference. 

Staying organized is a must when there are 67 items so start thing off right by having a system that works for you and enjoy all of the new resources you now have!

Head on over and read up on this years BC Stack a bit. If you choose to get it you won’t regret it. Enjoy, my friends, and happy blogging!

How to Get Started on Tailwind and Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic

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How to

Get Started on Tailwind

And Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic

I’m just going to say it- the thought of learning a new platform sucks.

If you’re anything like me, you love to learn but the thought of learning another new platform makes me want to run for the hills. All of a sudden anything and everything on your To-Do List is more important than learning yet another platform.

This was the case with Tailwind. I’ve heard how wonderful it is (especially Tribes) and how fast it can help blogs gain traffic but one of the first courses I took as a new blogger suggested Boardbooster so that’s what I’ve been using.

I’ve always known Boardbooster was an unapproved scheduler for Pinterest but I never had any issues so I continued to use it.  Unfortunately, Pinterest came out last week and encouraged people to discontinue using Boardbooster because accounts using Boardbooster were being marked as spam and shutdown. Yikes!

I turned off Boardbooster and within a few days my traffic plummeted which meant it was time to suck it up and learn Tailwind.

Tailwind to the Rescue

Once I got started with Tailwind I realized it was easy. *Facepalm* I should’ve convinced myself months ago to make the switch.

I haven’t figured it all out yet but just in the last week I have seen a nice little bump in traffic which is motivation to get it all figured out sooner rather than later. There is a lot to learn when it comes to Tailwind but it seems pretty simple over all.

Getting started has been super easy so I wanted to share with you how this Tailwind Newbie (aka me) did it so you can get up and running with Tailwind ASAP too.  

What Is Tailwind

Visual Marketing from Tailwind

Tailwind is a Pinterest and Instagram scheduling platform. Both Pinterest and Instagram want businesses and creators to use their platforms consistently and they often reward consistency with more traffic. As much as we love blogging, no one wants to be on the computer all day sharing pins though and that’s where Tailwind comes in.

Now that we know what Tailwind is, let’s talk about how to set it up. One small disclaimer though- this is how I set up my account. My reach went from growing by about 1,000 a day to 3,000 a day so I’m happy with this setup but I’m sure there are other ways to schedule your pins. If you have any suggestions or want to pipe in about what has worked for you leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

Want Some Tips to Help You Boost Your Pinterest Game? Check Out These 19 Tips Directly From a Pinterest Rep. 

Getting Started on Tailwind

Step 1: Sign Up and Sync Your Pinterest Account

Signing up with Tailwind and syncing your Pinterest account is simple and self-explanatory. Check out this screenshot above taken directly from Tailwind below.

Step 2: Create Board Lists

I am all about ease so the first thing I wanted to learn after starting Tailwind was how to group my boards. I was happy to learn it’s super easy to make a list of similar boards so that you can schedule a pin to all of them at once if you choose.

To make a list of boards go to the left side of Pinterest and select ‘Publisher’ then ‘Board Lists’ from the box that drops down.

Once on the page you can click the ‘+’ to create a list of boards. At the top of the board that pops up highlight the words ‘New Board list’ and change the title of the board to something easy to remember.

You can then either type in the name of the Pinterest board or scroll down until you find the board you want to add. You can add as many boards as you want and they can be group or personal boards.

Do this as many times as you need to cover all of the categories on your Pinterest account.

Getting started on Tailwind

Step 3: Create Your Pinning Schedule

Tailwind has made setting up your pinning schedule easy as well.

Go back to the left side of the page and select ‘Publisher’ and then ‘Your Schedule’ from the dropdown box. Tailwind has a pretty handy feature that looks at the times your Pinterest account gets the most pins and then auto-populates them for you. The times in green are scheduled and the times outlined in green are additional pin times you can schedule.

At first Pinterest will give you a random schedule. It will open up with 4 pins scheduled per day (on average) but you can change that by selecting ‘Generate New Smart Schedule’ at the top and you can select how many pins you want scheduled a day. Pinterest likes to see between 12-30 pins per day from a business account.

Step 4: Select Pins to be Scheduled

When you first start up Tailwind it will force you to go through a quick tutorial. This is great for getting started but I’m not a fan of being forced to do anything so I pretty much just clicked wherever I had to to get through it.

However, one of the things it has you do is upload the Chrome Extension ‘Tailwind Publisher’ and that extension is the easiest way to schedule pins.

In order to schedule a pin, go to any page and select the Tailwind symbol that’s now at the top right hand corner of your web browser. For convenience, I will go to a popular board or trending page and select several pins to schedule at once.

Once you are on the page you want to schedule from you can either hover or the pin or picture and click the Tailwind icon that appears or (and this is what I prefer to do) select the Tailwind Publisher app added to Google Chrome which will then show all of the pins available for pinning.

Scheduling Pins on Tailwind

When you select a pin a blue outline will appear around it. Select as many as you like. To schedule the pin you can either choose a board at the top of the page and all of the pins selected will be scheduled to that board (at varying times) or you can select which board or group boards within each individual pin.

Once all of the pins have boards selected, click ‘Go Schedule’ at the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Your pins are then scheduled to your boards!

Step 5: Shuffle Your Boards

The following step is a tip I picked up from Raelyn Tan, a blogger I love because she knows her stuff. Once you schedule your pins, go back into Tailwind. Select Publisher on the left-hand side and go down to ‘Scheduled Pins.’

On the right you will see all of your scheduled pins. Above that you will see a button labeled ‘Shuffle Queue’. Click that button and all of your pins will re-order. This is important because you don’t want Tailwind sending out the same pin 10 times in a row which can look spammy.

You are now set up to start pinning on Tailwind! Awesome and easy, right?

But there’s more- Tailwind Tribes.

Tailwind Tribes

Tailwind Tribes are really what make Tailwind shine. Tribes are free with your subscription to Tailwind and you are allowed to join 5 tribes and schedule 30 pins a month.

Join a tribe is similar to joining a group board on Pinterest except you can see who is pinning and who isn’t. This makes having a healthy tribe much easier than having a healthy group board because it holds people accountable. Tribe owner’s can set rules for their boards (like one re-pin for every pin) and kick out anyone who doesn’t follow them.

Tailwind Tribes are a great way to grow your engagement in Pinterest because you are practically guaranteed re-pins on your pins. The more engaged people are with your pins, the better chance you have of a pin going viral or at least getting good reach on Pinterest.

To join Tribes click on “Tribes” in your Tailwind dashboard on the left side of the page and then click ‘Find a Tribe’. Type in your blog niche and you’ll get a list of tribes you can join or request to join.

Scheduling pins to tribes is very similar to scheduling them to post. The only difference is  instead of selecting a board to schedule the pin to you will select a tribe. A list of your tribes will pop-up and you can schedule your pin to go into that tribe. You can either do this from directly from your blog article or within your Pinterest account.

Learning Tailwind... or Any New Platform

Learning a new platform is always something I will think of as being a pain in the butt. However, Tailwind has made their platform ridiculously easy to learn and use. I can honestly say I am glad I was forced to make the switch.

Hopefully you’ll be able to get up and running on Tailwind and start seeing increased traffic to your blog.

Are you new to blogging? Get a copy of my FREE 25 page Blog Content Planner and get your blog set up and running the right way.

9 Places to Promote Your Blog for Free

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9 Places to

Promote Your Blog

for FREE

You spend hours crafting the perfect blog post. You follow all of the tips and advice to make it as helpful as possible and easy to read. You then publish your amazing content and… crickets.

When I was new to blogging the most frustrating part of the entire process was getting blog traffic.

I had informative, helpful posts but no traffic.

It was so frustrating.

At least, it was until I took the (free) 12 Week Bootcamp by Scrivs who runs the Billionaire Blog Club.

In his course he discusses the importance of content but he also talks about the importance of promoting yourself and your blog in order to create traffic. He goes by the 20/80 rule which means he spends about 20% of his time creating content but 80% of his time promoting his content.

Talk about a lightbulb on moment.

The most important part of your blog is content but the most important part of blogging is promotion.

Promoting your blog is what will get you readers, subscribers, and to your ultimate goal of monetization. But you don’t just want any readers- you want the right readers. You want to find your tribe.

How do you find your tribe?  Trial and error.

I know not what you want to hear but it’s a truthful one.

You can think you know your audience but until you get your content out there and people start to respond you have no idea where your audience is or exactly what they like. When you first start blogging it’s pretty much a best-guess-crapshoot.

The best way to determine what works best is to test it. Pick a way to promote your posts,try it out for a couple of months, then check back and see how things went. If you notice a bump in traffic, keep doing it. If you don’t, stop and move on to another avenue of promotion.

Keep doing this until you have at least five places to promote your content which drive you traffic consistently.

9+ places to promote your posts to get more traffic

Post promotion and blog traffic

1. Pinterest

Pinterest is the best traffic driver for most bloggers.

I say most because how well you do can depend on your niche. Home decor and crafts get the most reach while business pages tend to do better on other platforms like LinkedIn. Either way, you want to get your posts out there and not just once- often and with several pins for one post.

Make sure you pin to your well-keyworded board first and your pin is well keyworded too. The best way to continually get your pins seen on Pinterest is with a scheduler like Tailwind. It allows you to select the pins you want pinned in advance so you are not constantly on Pinterest pinning.

Getting seen is only half the battle though- the other half of the battle is having well-designed pins that are likely to go viral with great titles. Carly Campbell from Mommy on Purpose has put together an amazing guide on setting up your Pinterest business account, profile, and boards for success. Her book is called Pinteresting Strategies and she also reviews the anatomy of great pins and her eBook is underpriced in my opinion (shhh- don’t tell her I said that). Check it out by clicking above- it’s definitely worth its weight in gold.  

Tailwind Visual Marketing Suite

2. Facebook

Personal FB page

Your personal FB page will have more reach than your business one especially if people like your posts often. Take advantage of this and share your posts on your personal FB occasionally. If you publish more than one post a week space out your posts unless people interact a lot with them.

When posting, try and pull an excerpt from the post and then leave it trailing just a bit. This peaks your reader’s curiosity and encourage them to click through.

Business FB Page

This is one you can do consistently but don’t expect much from it. The Facebook algorithm puts page posts at the bottom of the feed.

However, you still want to set up a business Facebook page and make sharing your posts a habit. It’s like having your product at Walmart- some companies don’t even profit by having their products there because the prices are so low but they can’t afford to not have their product there- it looks bad. Have a FB page but don’t put much effort into it unless you plan on doing paid advertisements.

Your Group FB Page

Starting a FB group is the best way to get organic reach on FB- especially if your FB group is well engaged and followers interact with each other.  Share your best posts and you’ll see a nice little spike in traffic.

Don’t worry about having a small group at the beginning. Small means a more personal experience for your early readers so take advantage of it and try and provide as much value as possible for your first followers which is what I try to do on my Private Facebook page. 

My followers get to ask questions and receive personal responses from me. I also try to address their questions in my Facebook Lives as well. 

Other On-Topic FB Groups

Join a few FB groups and spend some time getting to know the other followers. Answer their questions and try to be helpful. After a bit you can start posting your links in response to questiosn with something like “This article is great for helping with xyz.”

FB Group Promo Threads

Most blogging groups will have a daily or weekly thread where you can share your posts. Get involved and start sharing. This is best for new bloggers- once you have a steady flow of traffic I would use your time doing other traffic-boosting activities.

Create an Ad

FB ads are great for reaching target audiences. You can specify sex, age, location, and other interest to make sure the ad gets in front of the right people.

3. Twitter

Twitter is a great way to grow a following because when you tweet and tag someone their following can see it. Find bloggers in your niche, share quotes from their articles, tag them, and drop a post link of your own. If you get lucky, they may share it.

You can also increase your reach using Twitter by:

  • Tweeting new posts with a quote from it in the heading
  • Add your blog website link in your Twitter profile
  • Set up an auto Direct Message for new followers telling them the benefits to checking out your page
  • Participate in FB Group re-tweet threads.
  • Do a search and see if anyone is asking questions about your topic. Answer them and link them to a post that can help them out.

4. Your Email List

The people on your email list chose to subscribe so don’t forget to share posts with them.  When you email them, dig posts out of your archive to share along with new ones. If you can, try and relate them to what you’re currently emailing about but you can also just add a P.S. at the bottom of your email (which is often read the most) and encourage readers to read an older post.

Just because your subscribers have seen a few posts doesn’t mean they’ve seen all your posts so don’t be shy about sharing them.

Need an email service? ConvertKit is the gold standard for bloggers looking for a professional email service. 

ConvertKit

6. Google Plus

Google tries to have their hand in every jar but has kind of bombed in the social sharing platform. I still suggest you post here though.

Why?  

Because it’s owned by Google and Google likes to share content on Google. Posting to Google + is a great way to give your posts a slight edge in Google search results because it’s shared on their platform. It’s simple to do and is definitely worth the minute out of your day to post if it makes Google happy.

5. Medium

You can st up a free Medium account and start sharing your posts in just a few minutes. Medium is pretty easy to figure out but if you need help their Q&A section will walk you through it.

The trick to getting traffic back to your post on Medium is to only share part of your post and then encourage readers to click to your page to read the rest. If you publish the entire article readers will have no incentive to click over.

Since Medium isn’t used as much as other platforms (but still has plenty of traffic) it can be a lot easier to gain momentum.

7. Quora

I love Quora.  You don’t have to guess what your audience is thinking or what they need to know. They tell you in the form of a question.

Not only are you helping them by answering their questions but you can come up with great future blog content as well.

Don’t be shy when it comes to answering questions either. If you don’t have an article ready in answer to their question, answer their question then say something like“this is something I really think my readers would enjoy reading about. Your question has inspired me to do a post about it. Subscribe to my blog and I’ll make sure to mention this post came to me from our conversation.”

You’re practically guaranteed a new subscriber because who doesn’t like having their ego stroked and seeing themselves mentioned in print?

8. Stumbleupon (soon to be Mix)

Steumbleupon (soon to be Mix) is a platform where you can submit your content. People browse through and if they like what they see it gets shared which puts it in front of other people. It’s a quick domino effect and can result in quite a few hits in one day (or week) if a post goes viral.

Stumbleupon seemed to be a little tricky to navigate but Mix seems more user friendly and it is on my To-Do List to see just how much traffic I can gain from it. 

9. Bloglovin'

Bloglovin is a bit different than other platforms because it is specifically for bloggers by bloggers. You can save your favorite blogs and share them.

The best part of Bloglovin is the chance for another blogger to share your link in their blog. This can result in excellent traffic from people who are most likely your ideal readers and a backlink for your blog which is great for increasing your Domain Authority (how reliable and informative your blog is) in the eyes of google.

Traffic Traffic Everywhere

Driving traffic can be one of the hardest parts of having a blog. Even though I have listed several different platforms here, your best bet is to focus on learning one at a time and then automate what you can.

Traffic takes time but it can be done. Choose a platform, promote your content, be consistent, and you’ll see steady growth for your blog.

Need help with other parts of blogging and networking? Come join my Private Facebook Group and interact with other bloggers and submit your questions to my Facebook Live to get real answers directly from a real person!

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5 Limiting Beliefs That Will Sabotage Your Blog

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5 Limiting Beliefs That Will

Sabotage Your Blog

Blogging is a tough business. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry (or Jane, Judy, and Lane) that has a blog also has a “How to Start a Blog Post” and there are tons of articles about how “easy” blogging is.

The truth of the matter is running a successful blog is a lot of work and there is a steep learning curve. There are a lot of moving parts that have to be in sync to have a successful  blog. It can be enough to make any new blogger want to pull their hair out.

But, no matter how frustrating it can be to learn how to blog, lack of knowledge is not why most blogs fail.

The real reason most blogs fail is that people give up. They give up because their belief they will succeed has dwindled down to nothing. Blogs fail because of limiting beliefs.

Limiting Beliefs

So what exactly is a limiting belief? According to Changing Minds a limiting belief is a belief which constrains you in some way.

In layman’s terms, it’s that annoying little voice in the back of your head that tells you you’re not special enough, good enough, smart enough, experienced enough, whatever enough to succeed. 

The truth of the matter is- you’re enough.

Keep reading to discover some of the most common limiting beliefs.

common limiting beliefs of bloggers

I Don’t Know Enough

Believe it or not you don’t have to be an expert in what you write about to succeed- you just have to be honest. In this over-filtered world we live in people love honesty because it’s like a breath of fresh air.

If you’re new at something, are passionate about it, and want to write about it then do so. You don’t have to know it all, you just have to know more than the average person on a topic.

You don’t have to know it all, you just have to know more than the average person on a topic.

Deja Cronley, Blogging Enthusiast

Tweet

Tell your readers you’re new and want them to join you on your journey. Share your wins and your failures with them along with what you learned.

You being you and being honest will always be “enough.” You have to believe that to succeed at blogging.

Want more tips on starting a blog on a topic you’re not an expert in? Check out this post and podcast by Problogger on the topic. 

I Don’t Have Enough Time

Time is limited for everyone and we all wish we had more of it.

But, if blogging is important to you, you will carve out time for it like anything else. I am writing this at 130 in the morning because it’s the only time I can write as a stay-at-home mom of a two and four year old.

Maybe the only time you can work on your blog is at lunch time, by getting up 30 minutes early, or after the kids go to sleep. If it’s important to you, you’ll carve out time for it.

And remember- blogging is not a race. Of course we would all love to succeed as fast as possible but maybe you’re more tortoise than hare and that’s okay too. 

I’m Not a Good Enough Writer

If you’re awful at writing then blogging may be like pulling teeth for you. But, if you have great ideas and still want to blog there are ways to work around to this.

Limiting beliefs of writer

Hire an editor, record your posts then transcribe them, or have a vlog (video blog) or podcast.

Again, if you want to blog (or vlog) bad enough then you can and will find a way to do so.

Need help learning how to write content for your blog? Check out my post ‘How to Write Content Your Readers Will Love’. 

You can also download your FREE Blog Post Checklist to ensure you never miss a step when publishing your posts. 

I Don’t Have Enough Money to Invest in My Blog

Yes- there are ridiculously priced courses out there. But, there are also very reasonably priced courses and investing in your business at some point will help you reach your goals faster.

There are tons of free courses out there to help steer you in the right direction so sign up and take advantage of them. I even have a list of the Top 25+ FREE Courses you can sign up for separated by subject and I add to it all the time. 

Pro-Tip: There are tons of free trials and services out there. Try them out and (while you have access) take their courses.  

You can also take advantage of another free resource: other bloggers. Join a few blogging facebook groups and post your questions.

It won’t take long for you to notice the people who respond over and over again to your posts. Those are the best people to get to know and bounce questions off of.

I’m Not Special Enough

This is the most pervasive and wide spread false belief I’ve heard in the blogging world.

You probably believe others have something special that you don’t  but it’s not true.

The people who succeed are the ones who consistently move forward with their blogs and just don’t give up.

Changing Your MIndset

Changing your mindset may be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do but is absolutely worth it because it can help you achieve your goals.

Truth bomb: It’s something I still work on daily. The good news is, there are steps you can take to start retraining your brain. 

Change your limiting beliefs

Read Motivational Quotes (A Lot)

Have you ever read a quote and something about it struck a chord with you?

I have a tattoo on my side with the quote “Happiness is where you find it but rarely where you seek it.” There was something about it that spoke to me.

Words can have an amazing affect on you so take advantage of them.

Head over to Google or Pinterest and type in ‘Motivational Quotes.’

Find a few you like, print them off, and hang them in high traffic areas of your home. Next to the bed, on the bathroom mirror, on your fridge- wherever you know you will see it often and say it out loud when you read it.

At first you will feel silly but use those quotes to motivate you, uplift you, and give you the push you need to stick with this crazy thing called blogging.

Practice Changing Your Inner Talk

Every time you think you “can’t” do something change it to “I choose not to ______.”

Change your limiting beliefs

According to Thoughts on Translation the “I can’t…” mindset is harmful because it ‘deflects responsibility away from the person who’s really in charge: you! And when you start to be more accepting of your own choices, you’re much less stressed and frustrated, because you realize that you’re making a deliberate choice, not being backed into a corner by forces you can’t control.’

Work on changing your inner voice and watch your life change with it. 

Create a Dream Board

If you’re like me you just rolled your eyes when you read the words “Dream Board” but studies have shown people who write down and visualize their goals are up to 10 times more likely to achieve them. Even Oprah Winfrey has a board so it can’t be too corny, right?

Need help starting on your own dream board? Check out this simple tutorial by Christie Inge.  

Achieving Your Goals

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t- you’re right.

When it comes to succeeding at anything, including blogging, it’s not experience, education, or time that determines whether you’ll be successful. The major determinant is the belief you will  be successful.

Persevere, find blogging friends, work on changing your mindset, and do what you set out to do: rock your blog.

Need help with the next step you should take with your blog? Contact me and let’s talk! 

How to Grow Your Blog with the 2017 Genius Bloggers Toolkit

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Discover How to

Grow Your Blog

with the 2017

Genius Bloggers Toolkit

Congrats on purchasing The Genius Blogger’s Toolkit!

The great news is you now have EVERYTHING you need to succeed at being a blogger. The bad news is you now have a million courses and are probably overwhelmed and a bit confused with where to start. Ugh..

It felt like Christmas buying this tool kit but there are so many great resources to choose form that I found myself getting a bit overwhelmed. I spent two hours going through all of the courses and books to prioritize which ones I wanted to do now and in what order.

I can only imagine how overwhelmed I would’ve felt if I purchased this kit as a brand new blogger. 

That feeling and seeing tons of questions about The Genius Blogger’s Toolkit on a lot of blogging boards prompted me to write down a Roadmap of sorts for the newbie’s out there who took the leap and purchased this amazing collection of resources.

Keep reading for a roadmap to get you where you want to be in your blogging journey.

A Couple of Tips

Blogging is a crazy business. It can be immensely awarding but it can also be frustrating as hell. There are a lot of moving parts and it is very easy to start feeling like you’re spinning your wheels.

Knowing this, I have two tips for you that I wish someone had told me months ago…

  • Find Other Bloggers
  • Keep Moving Forward

Find Other Bloggers

People who do not blog will not understand your new world/obsession. I didn’t. Other bloggers are the only ones who will truly understand your struggles and your wins.

Blogging is not for the faint of heart and being in contact with other bloggers will help you find your way a lot quicker. There are plenty of great blogging groups out there including Blogger Insights, Brilliant Business Moms, and Blogger’s Supporting Each Other and (my favorite) Blog Like You Mean It.

Once you have determined your niche (what you will be blogging about) find a few people and form an accountability group.

Check in weekly, go over your goals, your next steps, and bounce ideas off each other. This step alone can speed up your journey to success immensely.

Keep Moving forward

Just having this The Genius Bloggers Toolkit puts you ahead of the game if you are new to blogging (or even if you aren’t- I know a lot of experienced bloggers who bought the bundle).

That is great, but having the tools will not lead you to success. Implementing what you learn will. If you do not implement what you learn you will not succeed!

Do not get so caught up in taking all of these amazing courses that you fail to implement! It sounds like common sense but it happens.

So, once you have enough information to fumble your way through to the next step then take the next step.

And yes, it will feel like fumbling.

This is something new so you will have to find your footing with each new step. But if you keep waiting to feel like you’ve mastered each step, you will get nowhere fast.

Blogging isn’t a race and you should not measure your journey against others. But you also don’t want to get so bogged down that you delay your own progress. So if you have completed one step then take another… then another… then another until you get there.

Now, check out the road map I put together for you. I’m sure you have seen there is a lot in the Toolkit but take your time! The information isn’t going nowhere (although some of the bonus stuff will in one month so make sure to check those out).

A Newbie’s Roadmap for Success!

*Please Note: You will have to access your Genius Blogger’s Toolkit for coupon codes to gain access to the linked courses. I did not link to courses where no coupon code is needed in order to not provide Ultimate Blogger links to people who have not purchased the Toolkit.

Plenty of bloggers will say to start off with content because it is the most important factor for having a successful blog- and it is.

But, as great as that sounds, I’m calling BS. When you are first getting started blogging you want to take action so use that momentum and take action. Do the fun stuff- pick a blog name, find a host, get set up… and then start writing!

Getting Started

Browse through the e-courses BECOME, Blog by Number, Profitable Blogging for Beginners, and Blog Start Up 101. Then choose ONE to take. There will be a little voice in your head telling you to take them all for FOMO (fear of missing out) but there is no need. Although I am sure they each offer their own view on things, you need to keep moving forward.

If you are having a problem narrowing down your niche, then take Choosing Your Perfect Niche. If you already know what you want to do- DON’T. Keep Moving Forward.  This is also a great time to use The 14-Point Blog Startup Checklist.

Other Resources

Utilize these in your down time when you work on the current course you’re taking.

  • The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging: Everything You Need to Know to Start a Profitable Blog by Sarah Brooks
  • Creative Sparks for Business: 31 Business Ideas for Bloggers by Jennie Moraitis

Research and Choose a host

I hate to add another course to your list but if you have any questions on using WordPress.org or choosing a host, take Blogging on WordPress. If you are even relatively comfortable with your hosting and WordPress then keep moving forward.

I use Siteground and love them. My site has never down (knock on wood), it’s user friendly, a great price, and they have great customer service. I have heard good things about Bluehost as well but Blogging on WordPress reviews a few concerns they have with them so I went with what who they suggested and have had a great experience with them. I love their customer support chat service and use them whenever I’m working through something new.

I do not have any experience with Agathon (free month is offered in the Toolkit under Bonuses) but this is where reaching out to other bloggers can be beneficial.  Post in other groups and ask if anyone has experience with them. If nothing else, you can try them then switch your site over later.

Once you choose a theme, upload the page builder plugin Elementor. It makes posting a lot easier and you can watch a tutorial here. Fair warning, it’s long and meant for a “website”  so use the fast forward button. And there is nothing wrong with just dropping in pre-set theme in and modifying it with your text and images.

If you have questions about Elementor, contact me and I will be happy to help you out.

Avatars

An avatar is the one person you talk to when you write an article. She or he is your target audience and yes, you need one.

However, avatar exercises are can be a bit overwhelming for a brand new blogger.

I have talked to several bloggers who said they got stuck coming up with their avatar and it prevented them from moving forward at the beginning. If this is you then just write. Keep moving forward.

After your first ten articles or so come back your avatar. Who he or she is, what she does, her fears, her wants, her needs will be much easier to see once you start writing to her.

I have talked to several bloggers who said they got stuck coming up with their avatar and it prevented them from moving forward at the beginning. If this is you then just write. Keep moving forward.

After your first ten articles or so come back your avatar. Who he or she is, what she does, her fears, her wants, her needs will be much easier to see once you start writing to her.

Your Tribe

You may not have your avatar completely pinned down yet but you should have a pretty good idea of who your people are aka your tribe.

Your tribe is/are the group of people you will target and finding them will help you reach your traffic goals a lot quicker than if you just put your content out there to anyone so this is a good time to check out Find Your Tribe Online: Find Your Readers, Grow Your Blog, and Have Fun Doing It by Jen Snyder.

Branding

Branding is what will set you apart from the rest. Take the course Brand Intimate: The Essentials of Your Purposeful, Profitable Brand. There is another course offered but that is more than you need at this point and you can always go back to it. Even this class is a bit much but you do need to understand what branding is and how to project it throughout what you do so you might as well get the info you need at the beginning of your blogging journey.

Content

As kids, many of us had ideas about what we would be when we grew up and I highly doubt any of us thought “I’m going to be a blogger.”

But, a few of you may have thought “I’m going to be a writer.” And that is great because now you are one.

Don’t worry if you have a hard time seeing yourself that way. Your Toolkit comes with a course on how to be an effective writer so before you start knocking out content, take the course The Effective Writer by Jeff Goins. It will give you a great idea on how you should write to produce great articles. You can also sign up for a 3 month trial of Hope*Writers to find support and guidance from other writers.

Other Writing Resources to Check Out

  • 1200 Blog Post Ideas by Rachael Wynn
  • Never Run Out of Blog Subjects Again by Max Kuivenhoven.

Photography

Admittedly, this is a weak spot for me. I utilize Pixabay and Pexels for free photos and have taken a couple of little free courses for photography but that’s it. Don’t stress over this but you will need quality photos. If you are going to be taking still photos of small objects, check out Food Photography Tips & Tricks.

Getting Organized

This is also the time to get organized. Even if you are not one to live by a calendar, you need to have an editorial calendar to be successful and keep you on track. Some people schedule out a week at a time, others a month or three months at a time but have a plan.

There are tons of ways to organize your editorial calendar including WordPress plugins, online editorial calendars, and even just using a regular calendar on your phone.

The Toolkit offers these resources to get you organized. Browse through them and see if any of them might be something you can work with.

  • Blog Content Creator Kit by Kaitlyn Kessler
  • Blogging Binder by Sarah Titus
  • Free Your Mind Blog Planner: Dream Bigger, Organize Your Tasks and Achieve Your Dream Life by Mom’s Small Victories
  • Printable Blog Planner by Gemma Bonham-Carter

Traffic

You have set up your blog, branded it, and filled it with content. Yay!

Before you launch your blog, you need to have a way to monitor your traffic. This is a great time to read How to Master Google Analytics from the Beginning: A Beginner’s Guide to Customizing Google Analytics for Your Blog by Dawn Aldridge. This way, you won’t miss out on the value you can gain from learning about your traffic.

You will also want to optimize. Thankfully, there is a traffic course that talks about SEO- Ready Set Blog for Traffic by Elna Cain. She gives great, easy to follow advice and will get you headed in the right direction with the understanding that, although SEO is important, it is definitely more of a long-game plan and it can take awhile.

The other courses offered are:

As always, choose your poison (one course) and then keep moving forward.

Other Traffic Resources:

  • Demystifying SEO: A Blogger’s Guide To Search Engine Traffic by Kim Six
  • The She Approach To Boosting Your Blog Traffic by Ana Savuica

Get Feedback

Once your site is optimized, submit it to Peek User Testing for an objective review and fresh insight on any changes you could make to your site to make it even better. Maybe you could have a clearer tag line (which explains what your site is about), maybe the categories aren’t clear, or your font is hard to read. Whatever it is, they will let you know.

You can get one free Peek User Test each month. Once you are more established and have a bit of income from your blog, there is a great service where you can pay $75-300 and submit your site called Oh She Blogs. She will give an in-depth opinion on your site or even just review a single post. Either way, I have heard nothing but great things about her services.

Social Media

In today’s world, it feels like you have to be everywhere all the time to get noticed but that’s not true! Your tribe of readers will generally hang out on one or two social media platforms and your job is to figure out where they are (or maybe you already have). Once you do, focus on those platforms to grow your business.

That being said, for a lot of niches, Pinterest can be a traffic jackpot if used correctly and there are a ton of classes included in this bundle. If you take Ready, Set, Blog for Traffic then she touches on a lot of the high points.

But, if you need clarification or would like a better understanding of any aspect about gaining traffic through Pinterest, these are the classes I would take:

Pro tip

Claim your website or blog name on all social media platforms even if you are not currently using them. I am currently only promoting my FB group and driving traffic through Pinterest but I have claimed @DejaVuOrganics on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Other Social Media Resources

There are tons of resources for social media but focus only on the two where your tribe is most likely to be for now and then keep moving forward.

Facebook

  • 10 Super Common Facebook Strategies That Do More Harm Than Good by Brittany Ann 
  • Crush It with Facebook Groups: The Ultimate Guide for Bloggers and Creative Entrepreneurs by Lindsey Aleson*

Pinterest

  • Pinteresting Strategies: How I Went from 0-200K Page Views with Manual Pinning by Carly Campbell
  • Pageviews from Pinterest: The 7-Step System to Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic (& Income!) in the Next 30 Days by Krista Dickson
  • Pinterest Group Boards Masterlist by Jenny Blaisdell

Instagram & Youtube

  • Instagram Unlocked: How to Gain Followers and Engagement that Lasts by Helene Sula
  • Conquer YouTube by Kallie Branciforte

Catch All

  • Own It: Amplify Your Influence & Build the Online Tribe of Your Dreams by Chakayla J. Taylor
  • Social Media Strategies Course for Bloggers by Alea Milham

Twitter

*The FB course offered in your Toolkit is not about starting your own FB Group- it is about how to promote your blog using others FB Groups.

Email List & Freebies

One thing you may have already heard (and will hear often)  is that money is in your email list.

As a matter of fact, Rosemarie of The Busy Budgeter has said that once you build your blog, you should focus more on your newsletter and emails than you do on new content. Your email list is where you will see your biggest return on investment so your best use of time will be nurturing your list.

The best way to build your email list? Freebies!  People love free stuff!

There are two resources in your Toolkit for how to put together a good freebie.

  • How to Create Your First Opt-in Freebie by Angie Nelson
  • Problem to Promotion: A Training on Creating the Perfect Opt-in by Kristie McCollum.

Growing Your Email List

Once you have your freebie, you can grow your email list. There are two courses and this is one time I will say you should probably take both.

List Building Mania: Build Your List, Save Time and Grow Your Business in 7 Days by Lindsay Maloney focuses on brainstorming ideas on how to grow your email list.

The ConvertKit Masterclass: The Exact Formula I Used to Grow My Email List to Over 14K in Under a Year by Monica Froese shows you how to actually set everything up.

I am sure there is overlap between the two but they seem to be pretty complimentary of each other.

Email Campaign Providers

I personally use Drip and like it. It’s easy to use and free for the first 100 email subscribers. I also know plenty of bloggers who are very happy with ConvertKit and it’s offered in your Toolkit with 2 months free under bonuses.

A lot of new bloggers will start out with Mailchimp because they are free. and then upgrade once their business grows. I started with Drip mostly because I don’t like learning platforms so I didn’t want to start with Mailchimp and then have to learn a completely new system. If you’re having a hard time deciding, talk to other bloggers and see what they think.

Once you have your email list growing and emails written, you will need ideas for more content. Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers by Kirsten Oliphant should cover you there.

Time to Monetize

There are four main ways to monetize a blog:

  • Affiliate programs (selling others products and getting a commission)
  • Sponsored posts (being paid to write about a product)
  • Selling products (physical or e-products)
  • Creating a course

The easiest way to start monetizing your blog is as an affiliate so start off with one of those courses. Choose from:

Other Affiliate Resources

  • How to Make Money from Blogging: The Ultimate Guide to Earning a Five Figure Income From Your Blog by Sharon Gourlary
  • Make Money Blogging at ANY Level by Victoria Pruett
  • Passive Income Planner: Stop Trading Time for Money by Chantel Arnett
  • Small Blog, Big Income: Advanced Ninja Tricks for Profitable Blogging by Carol Tice

As you can see, making money is big business so you have a lot of options but just choose a couple. And trust me, after awhile it’s a lot of the same information.

That’s All Folks

If you are a newbie blogger (and if you’re reading this then you probably are) then this should have given you a pretty good road map for how to get where you want to be with your Toolkit.

There are A LOT of other courses but, if you can focus on the above game plan, you will have a much clearer idea of where to go once you have reached the point of needing the other courses.

Keep in mind, this is just a road map. If you need to detour a bit into a course on productivity or blog-life balance then by all means, do so. This is your journey and the important thing is to Keep Moving Forward!

P.S. If you can ever lack motivation, listen to ACTIVATE: EBA Live Conference Video Package by Ruth Soukup, Founder of Elite Blog Academy. It will re-energize you and keep you moving in the right direction!

I hope you find this helpful and if you do, feel free to leave me a comment and share! Also, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need clarification on anything.

Good luck and have fun, fellow bloggers!

19 Pinterest Tips to Skyrocket Your Views (Directly from a Pinterest Rep)

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19 Pinterest Tips to

Skyrocket Your Pageviews

(Directly from a Pinterest Rep)

I don’t know about you but my relationship with Pinterest is a bit of a love/hate one. I love it when it works but hate it when my views drop for no reason or it’s being glitchy. The bad part? There’ no amount of Pinterest tips which can help that part of using Pinterest. We just have to put up with it.

I wanted to pull my hair out recently when, after two months of steady growth going from 13k views per month to 306k views per month, my pageviews completely stalled. What the frick???

Then I realized they hadn’t stalled and had actually jumped to 401k* but my front page analytics just weren’t showing it. Woohoo!!

*Wondering how I grew my Pinterest views so fast? I have taken a lot of Pinterest courses (more than I care to admit) but the most valuable were:
– ‘Pinteresting Strategies: How I Went from 0-200K Page Views with Manual Pinning‘- an eBook by Mommy on Purpose’s Carly Campbell.  
– The ‘Simple Pin Master Course‘ by Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media. This is great for intermediate bloggers and Pinterest users.
– Pinterest Improvement Master Plan (aka PIMP) by Jennifer of PotPie Girl. This is best or Pinterest users with a large reach who have been unable to grow further for awhile.

See what Pinterest puts me through though? I don’t need this aggravation- I have kids for that.

But… I actually do need them because they are the best source of traffic for a blogger. Great…

Of course, the best thing to do would be to chill and go with the flow but thanks to Tailwind I have something even better. Pinterest tips and advice from Pinterest themselves.

You read that right- Tailwind was able to get the ever-so-elusive Pinterest on Facebook Live. They answered tons of questions and gave lots of tips. Score!

The Facebook live video is almost an hour and a half though. Don’t have an hour and a half? No worries. You can read through the tips below and and apply them to your account to start upping your Pinterest game today.

19 Tips to Help You Rock Pinterest

Profiles & Boards

TIP 1. DON’T WORRY ABOUT BOARD COVERS

Board covers don’t matter to Pinterest. Many articles suggest to do them to help with branding but I also know several other popular pinners who get millions of views a month who have never bothered with them. If you haven’t set them don’t waste your time on them.

If you really want to create a branded look, create pins with your brand colors then set them as your new Pinterest header.

TIP 2. YOU CAN HAVE BOARDS OUTSIDE OF YOUR NICHE

People like to follow people. Not brands. Pinterest won’t punish you for having a few boards outside of your niche just don’t go crazy. You want to make sure the majority of your boards relate to your niche.

Keywords

Tip 3: Keywords are King

The most important part of your pin are your keywords. Include what your pin is about and words your readers may be using to search for it. 

You also want to add keywords to your Pinterest profile, board titles, and board descriptions.

Need help finding keywords? Pinterest will actually help you with this. Do a broad search for the term you are trying to keyword and then use the tiles below that come up. Those are actual keywords people are searching for.

Pinterest related keyword tiles

TIP 4. MATCH YOUR PIN DESCRIPTION TO YOUR BLOG CONTENT

Here are those pesky keywords again. Pinterest is working hard to stop stolen pins and one of their best defenses in ensure the content on your blog matches the pin description. This will naturally happen if you are using the same keywords on Pinterest and on your blog posts.

TIP 5. BE THE FIRST TO SAVE A NEW PIN

Pinterest assigns a subject and keywords to a pin based on the board it was pinned to first. You need pin a new pin first to ensure it’s on a well keyworded, relevant board first.

How and When to Pin

TIP 6. SCHEDULERS ARE YOUR FRIEND

I’m not going to lie- this one was a bit of a surprise to me. I would’ve sworn up and down manual pinning gave my account an edge but Pinterest doesn’t give priority (or penalize) whether you manually pin or use a scheduler.

The two most popular schedulers are Tailwind and BoardBooster. I personally use BoardBooster only because I took Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers which walked me through how to set it up step by step. It’s a great course if you’re interested in learning the ins and outs of affiliate marketing but it’s only opens a couple of times a year. The Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers eBook is amazing as well. 

On a side note: I plan to start using Tailwind because I am hearing great things about Tailwind Tribes boosting traffic. Anyone can join a Tribe even if you don’t use Tailwind. 

Both BoardBooster and Tailwind come with free trials if you want to check them out.

TIP 7. PIN CONSISTENTLY

I have read a few articles that suggest you pin between 30-50 pins a day but not more than 50 because Pinterest will stop showing your pins. This is completely false. There is no such thing as pinning too much.

However, consistency is more important than volume. It’s better to pin 15 pins a day 6-7 days a week than 100 pins once a week.

TIP 8. THE FIRST 5 PINS OF THE DAY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT

The first 5 pins of the day after 8pm EST/5pm PST are the most important so make them count by pinning your own stuff first. They are important because your followers will see those pins first when they jump on Pinterest.

If you don’t have enough content to pin daily then make sure to pin pins your followers will like. The more they repin your pins the more likely your boards will show up as ‘suggested’ on Pinterest.

TIP 9. PIN YOUR STUFF MORE

There is no magic number for how much you pin your own stuff versus how much you pin others so pin your own stuff as much as you want. Just make sure to pin a few pins each day. Consistency is the name of the game.

Pin Creation

TIP 10. USE THE RIGHT PIN SIZEs

Pinterest recommends a ratio of 2:3 (600 x 900 is optimal). Anything greater than 600 x 1260 will get cut off so don’t bother going too crazy or long with infographics.

TIP 11. LIMIT TEXT ON IMAGES

So, I am taking this one with a grain of salt. Pinterest suggests limiting text on images but my most popular pins have had in your face ugly text that is easy to read on mobile. Your pin may be easier for Pinterest to “see” if there is less text in the way but people will probably click on it less. Choose your poison.

TIP 12. MAKE YOUR PINS MATCH YOUR CONTENT

Pinterest uses Lens for visual search and photos on pins help Pinterest to group similar pins together. Try and use a picture on your pin that matches your content.

Followers & Reach

TIP 13. USE a Social Sharing App Like MILOTREE

Add Milotree to your website and following you is super easy. All someone has to do is click on ‘Follow’ to go directly to your Pinterest page.

TIP 14. ENGAGE NEW FOLLOWERS BY CUSTOMIZING THE PINS ON YOUR HEADER

Your new profile has a dynamic header that lets you highlight the content you want your followers to see first. This is a great place to show off your pins. 

Consistent branding on your pins is a great way to make your pins stand out here. 

TIP 15. USE YOUR PIN CODE

Pincodes can be created for your boards or your profile on either your desktop browser or the Pinterest app. Save the Pincode to your camera roll or computer and share it so people can find you and your ideas on Pinterest.

To create a Pincode for your profile, tap on your profile image to see your profile Pincode.

To generate a Pincode for your boards while using a desktop browser, click on the three dots above your board name and select “Create Pincode”. On the Pinterest App, generate a Pincode for your boards by tapping on the board share button.

Pinterest pin code creation for group board
Pinterest pin code creation for group board

TIP 16. MAKE HASHTAGS WORK FOR YOU

Hashtags are only meant for new content on Pinterest and get more distribution the day they are pinned. Don’t waste your time going back and adding hashtags to old pins.

Hashtags can be placed within a pin description or or at the end of a pin description

TIP 17. NEW CONTENT GETS PRIORITY

Pinterest distributes new pins to followers first to see which pins get engagement. The pins with the highest engagement get recommended in the home feed, search results, and related pins.

TIP 18. USE THE INFO YOU HAVE

What works will keep working so keep an eye on your analytics and pin more of what your followers like and click on. 

TIP 19. USE a CTA on Your Pin

Using CTA (Call to Action) words like Shop, Find, Click, and Discover increase the chances people will click your pin to read your post.

Using Pinterest to Boost Your Blog Views

Pinterest is an amazing way for bloggers to get more traffic to their blogs and you can’t go wrong when you get Pinterest advice directly from Pinterest themselves.

Use good keywords, pin consistently, and engage with your followers and you will see steady growth on your blog. 

Implement the rest of the tips mentioned above and watch your Pinterest views and page views sky rocket!