Business2Blogger

  Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant How do you keep getting better at what you do? Whether you are a blogger or you are thinking of other areas of life, keeping things moving forward over a long period of time can sometimes feel daunting. Enter 1% infinity, a concept that Bjork Ostrom talks about in this podcast episode. If Bjork’s name didn’t already sound familiar to you, then you may recognize it from episode 14, where I talked with his wife Lindsay. Together, Bjork and Lindsay run Pinch of Yum (a food blog) and Food Blogger Pro (a membership site for blogger training). Bjork also hosts and runs the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, which is a wealth of information, whether you are a food blogger or not. I love his easy style in the interviews and how he is super detail-oriented, but great at making those details fun and engaging. This interview gives you a good taste for his depth of knowledge but ability to keep things fun. (Listen for an awesomely bad horse analogy.) He and I talk about how bloggers can keep moving forward in their business and how to know if you should keep pushing forward or move in a new direction. Perfect for the new year! Find Bjork at Food Blogger Pro, the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, or on Twitter. Highlights The best way to have influence and impact is to build trust. If you have a “normal” job, see if you can fit learning into that space. Make sure you aren’t spending too much time tweaking instead of real work. You’re often stealing your own joy when you focus on the little things. Moving forward is what matters. Don’t focus on the little things unless they move you forward. Stop worrying about perfection and trying to reach 100%. Get one aspect up to 80%, then work on getting other aspects that are lower strengthened up to 80%. Don’t be afraid to be niche. You can have a decent income from the people who are interested in it.   1% Infinity Bjork came up with this concept, which is that you improve a little bit every day over time forever. There is so much less pressure in 1% better every day forever than trying to go from zero to one thousand. (Read more about this HERE!) How do you know when something isn’t working? Ask these questions. Can it sustain you with an income? Does it seem to be working? Do you enjoy it? Don’t be as hard on yourself if you are working on a passion project. If you’re doing it for the love, you can give it more time. If you’re trying to sustain yourself with an income, you need to be more strict with your time and energy. What can you do when you get overwhelmed with everything? Identify the things that don’t affect the bottom line. Identify the things that don’t need you in them and pass them off to someone else. Find systems you can put in place to streamline. Try a change for a month to see what impact it has. I felt so encouraged and energized after this interview! I plan to embrace this idea of 1% infinity in 2016 so I can keep moving forward without getting stuck or feeling overwhelmed. I also plan to find the things that don’t need ME in them so I can spend my time doing the things that I have to do. What is one thing that YOU can hand off this year in order to be more effective?   The post How to Consistently Improve Your Blog with Bjork Ostrom – 026 appeared first on B2B.

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant I think we can all agree that video will continue to be important in 2016. If you haven’t started your channel, head back to Episode 16 where you can hear from Jenny Ingram (who was named one of the Moms Who Won the Internet in 2015!). Now that you have a channel, how do you build that oh-so-important word: COMMUNITY? If you don’t yet have a YouTube channel, this episode can still apply to the community around your blog. Sergeant Merrell served in the U.S. Army for eight years, which is an important piece of his YouTube channel, which has over 68k subscribers. He is also works at Webtegrity in San Antonio, providing training on WordPress and building responsive themes. In addition to YouTube you can find Jason on his blog, Twitter, and Facebook. For a great introduction (and a great example of an intro video), watch this video. Highlights YouTube is still an open space, but brands and more polished corporations are moving in. This is a good time to get started. Establish your beliefs at the beginning and stay true to them. You will grow and your audience will grow with you, but you don’t want to lose your identity. This creates loyalty with your followers. Consider what things make sense to share and be intentional with what you hold back and keep personal.   Channel Recommendations Jump in. Don’t be afraid to start. Keep posting week to week. You’ll get better with every video. Check analytics to see what’s working and make changes accordingly. Don’t delete or remove your first video. If nothing else, it’s a hallmark for people (and for you!) to see how far you’ve come. Consider what has a long-term life. What can you continue to post about week after week, year after year? Consider what you are passionate about. Consider what might provide some financial reimbursement. How much you make can be a reflection if something is worth your time. Monetization You can go with YouTube ads, but it’s similar to using Google Adsense–an easy but perhaps not the best advertising you can do. Find a multichannel network that is a good fit for your channel and content. Here is a great list of Networks! To get a deal with a network, have a proof of concept, consistent content, passion, and subscribers to your channel. Don’t jump right into trying to monetize. Take time to establish your channel and your following. Be wary if someone approaches you about monetization and make sure you do your homework.   The Golden Circle Jason heralds this concept (from Simon Sinek) in which you let your WHY determine your how and what. When you express your beliefs and your why, people who have similar beliefs become your loyal following. Buzzfeed has viral videos, but no community. Do you want a lasting community or viral shares?   Best Practices for Finding Community on YouTube YouTube is a platform strongly built on connections. Many collaborations take place between YouTubers with similar demographics. Branch out in authentic ways with other content creators you respect.   Finding Your Avatar (Your Perfect Audience) Make a chart of qualities and characteristics based on analytics. Create a name and a profile for that ONE target person. Put it above your computer to remind you who you’re talking to. Your ideal audience is someone you would go out and have a drink with. To go even deeper, use Psychographics. (More on that from Hubspot!) If you find that you’re connecting with a surprising audience or not your target, you may be expressing your beliefs incorrectly or trying to win too many people by not being yourself. You will have secondary and tertiary audience members. Keep this in mind but focus on the ONE.   Quotable “You have an obligation to stay that person and to be that authentic person because that’s the reason people followed you to begin with.”   I learned a TON about community, both on and off YouTube and want to dive deeper into my analytics and think about psychographics as I create content with my audience in mind. What was your big takeaway from this interview? How do YOU find your target audience? The post Building Community on YouTube with Sergeant Merrell -025 appeared first on B2B.

For this episode of the Business2Blogger podcast, we took your questions from the Facebook group and set them before Becky Mansfield of Your Modern Family and Business2Blogger. Becky addressed three more questions and we got a little side-tracked, but with some great tips on tools and plugins. Tara from Living in a Happy Place asked: How did you handle the technical side of blogging when you were just getting started? Becky said: She watched YouTube videos to learn a lot of the tech stuff, but she also would have gone to Etsy and gotten a $25 theme and paid $10 more to have someone install it. (Here is a link to a shop with WordPress themes. I personally love Restored 316, which is a little pricier, but I was able to install it myself with their awesome directions.) Save yourself time by finding cheap help or bartering. BlueHost is a great way to have help because they are FABULOUS with customer support. It’s a great option if you don’t need a dedicated server. The big takeaway: Try not to spend money when you don’t have to, especially as you are starting out. Nia from HeHeHub asked: How do you know if your niche is too narrow? Becky said: It depends on the blog. She likes to keep Your Modern Family within a few categories but not too narrow so she can apply to a wider variety of sponsored posts. Depending on your blog, this might look different. You can see from your analytics what people love about your blog or take surveys and then stick with the categories people are engaging with. Wendy from SnipSnap Jewelry asked: How can you use your blog to sell direct sales? Becky said: Using your blog can work well, but you need to work the products into posts in a creative way rather than just posting sales announcements. She has found success with Young Living Essential Oils and Rodan +Fields by working them into posts she is already writing that fit with her blog. For Young Living, she has links in those posts that go to a landing page where she walks people through oils. For Rodan + Fields, she sends them directly to the site through her links. She also uses plugins for every post to have a little blurb about these products. The bottom line: find creative content that ties into the products you are selling rather than just having a blog strictly focused on that product. Things we mentioned:  –WPCurve <- Monthly subscription for WordPress help and coding –Bottom of Every Post Plugin –What Would Seth Godin Do Plugin The post Q&A with Becky Mansfield – B2B Podcast appeared first on B2B.

We are going to do a series of Q&As on the podcast for the next few weeks, so make sure you are in the Facebook group to ask your questions! This week we had four great questions that Paula Rollo tackled. I think the most important thing that really ties all four of the questions together is this: THERE IS NO FORMULA. If you take exactly what someone else does and replicated it, you might have success. Maybe. But I bet it wouldn’t last. Because that person’s blog and audience is not identical to yours. Plus, things like platforms change quickly, sometimes rendering a formula moot. Instead of searching for THE formula, search for  YOUR formula. Use tips from experts, information from your analytics, feedback from your readers, and what you love and are good at to determine how you blog. We will all have a different formula. I loved hearing what Paula does to prepare a post, but she even said that posts are different depending on the type of post or where she hopes to share it. My favorite quote: “Being willing to epically fail is one of the best things you can do for yourself as a blogger.” So much yes to that! Experimenting helps us to learn and grow. Don’t be afraid to fail, but step out and try things to see what works and what DOESN’T.   Caressa of LatteCuddles asked: Is launching an ebook a great way to increase exposure? Would you give a free chapter as an opt-in? Paula said:  A free chapter is a great opt-in, especially if your book is a great reflection of your blog content. Book-launching and platform-building are kind of one of those circular things. You need one for the other, in a sense. Your platform will help you launch your book, but your book can also gain you exposure. Books tend to do better if they answer a pressing need for your audience. You can use affiliate sales to get other bloggers to promote. This especially works well if the bloggers are already writing about this topic. Becky’s Potty Training Book is a great example of this. It meets a pressing need and also is a topic many bloggers already write about, so using an affiliate link would be natural and make sense.   Amanda of  Uniquely Unfolded asked: When you are first starting to work with brands, how did you get them to look at you? Paula said: Many people start with a middle-man network like Business2Blogger, Izea, or TapInfluence. This can be a great way to get your feet wet writing sponsored content and working with a brand, though not directly. You can reach out through social media and interact before you pitch and you want to find the right person to reach before you send a media kit and all your information.   Monica of Peanuts and Thread asked: What is the most lucrative area of blogging? Paula said: This can be different for every blogger. Diversifying revenue streams is also super important because if something changes, you don’t want to lose ALL your income if the eggs are all in one basket. Sponsored posts and affiliate sales can be big, but so can product sales like ebooks, courses, or coaching services. Find what works best for your audience and niche!   Natasha of Natasha VIP asked: Can you walk us through how you set up a blog post with affiliate links, engagement, SEO, etc? And what is your social media strategy when sharing? Paula said:  Start with your reader in mind because that will give that engaging feel. Picture in your mind the person you are writing to before you even have a title. She starts first by writing the post naturally, without adding in a bunch of things. Then she will go back and add things like affiliate links or consider what SEO keyword(s) work best with the content itself. This keeps the post from sounding fake or stuffed with keywords or sales. Paula also writes posts differently if they are geared toward Pinterest (more of how-to posts) or Facebook (more emotionally-charged pieces). She likes to plan shares for current posts a few days or even a week ahead, but that isn’t necessarily typical. You don’t want to share the same post 20 times in various Facebook groups on the same day, so plan some on different days to extend the life of the post. Relevant Links: Rachel Matthews on Brand Ambassadorships Rachel Matthews on Reaching Out to Brands (the relevant section is toward the end of the episode) Setting Up Your Social Photo Shares via WordPress The post Q&A with Paula Rollo – B2B Podcast appeared first on B2B.

How many times do you hear people throw around the word “brand” or “branding” in the blogging world? This is one of those giant terms that people love to talk about but I’m not sure if we all know EXACTLY what branding means. We have an idea of visual content and putting our logo on things (and HAVING a logo). But branding is so. much. more. In this interview with Andrea Beltrami, aka The Branded Solopreneur, she gives us the skinny on honing your brand. She talks about what branding means, why it’s bigger than your visuals, and a three-step process to tighten up a cohesive brand. She is a phenom at this and I think we’re going to have her come back for a part 2 soon because this is such a huge topic! You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest and you definitely need to check out her amazing (and super affordable!) branding package. Because the reality is that even if we are moving through the three-step process, branding (especially the visual part) isn’t always easy. Highlights from the Interview Your brand is everything that you stand for. Your business IS your brand, including its reputation. It includes your voice, your name, the vernacular you use, your visuals, fonts, color palette, your social media, your verbiage, your personal style. The misconception is that brand is just a visual thing. But your writing voice matters to brand JUST as much. No Comic Sans. (But if you want to read a funny defense from Comic Sans, read THIS. *language warning!!*) There is actually a lot of psychology behind these things, so do some research and read sites about branding. As you are developing your brand, think about who your audience is and how you can more personally and effectively relate to them with your writing and your visuals and some of these other brand aspects. You’re never really done branding! You can change and tweak, but don’t mess with the iconic things of your brand (think: color, logo, signature style) if you have a larger audience unless you are planning a full rebrand. The more clarity of your vision you have, the easier branding will be. If this isn’t your thing, just hire someone. We need to be aware of the things that we can’t do and should pay someone to do in order to do it well and save us time. In this visual day and age, you can’t afford to not pay attention to your image branding. Don’t fall into the trap of looking like everyone else (especially after you research and see what people in your field are doing). The photo shouldn’t make the image. So don’t spend too much time on stock photography! Find one that goes in line with your brand, but you want to do something to make it your own and not just look like the same stock photo everyone is using. Try a filter or use your words to change up the visual. Ideas to try: selfies, patterns, screenshots. Make everything your own by using your guidelines! Three Steps to Honing a Cohesive Brand 1. Discovery/Brainstorm Get out a sheet of paper (or go digital with Evernote or another program) and start listing things out. Write down who you are, who you want to be, your attributes and what you want your brand to BE. 2. Inspiration Research what is in your field (and out of it so you don’t get stuck in a box). Create inspiration boards with 6-8 images that capture the feel you want to have in your blog. 3. Guidelines In this stage you create your own guidelines for your brand. This will include the types of fonts, the types of images, the look and feel of your blog. Great Action Item Have you created a template of images for your blog? How easy does this sound! Take some time to play in Canva and Picmonaey to choose styles (after your brainstorming phase, of course) and come up with a template that you can use for all your photos in order to create consistency and cohesiveness. AND save you time. Here are some basic steps for this! Create an overlay design with a transparent background. Add your logo. Create an area for text if you want a Save as a png so it will keep that transparent background. Use your stock (or your own) photo and then you can add the overlay (which is saved like an image) on top and then add in words. (Make sure you have a style guideline for fonts and colors already!) The Nitty Gritty Number of Fonts: Three with a headline font (bold & clear), a body font (readable!), and a script or handwriting as an accent font. Color Palette: 4-6 colors with 1 iconic brand color, 1 action color for buttons and links or anything people can take action on, 1 light, 1 dark, 1-2 optional accents. Be purposeful with your color! So many action items, so little time!  Leave a message in the comments or join the discussion in the Facebook group to talk about what steps you are going to take in order to hone your consistent brand! Also, if you’re loving these podcasts and finding them valuable, would you leave a review on iTunes? Thanks for listening!! Related Links Andrea’s One-on-One Brand Mentoring Elle & Company Design Seeds Colour Lovers Adobe Color CC <- you can upload a photo and create 6 palettes from it Google Web Fonts <- free for commercial use! The post Honing Your Brand with Andrea Beltrami – B2B Podcast appeared first on B2B.

Do you remember hitting publish on your first blog post? Maybe that was last year or maybe it was six years ago. Can you remember what prompted you to type some words into a little box and then hit Publish? Now think about your most recent blog post. Why are you writing NOW? This week’s minicast is all about taking a pause to think about the why. <strong>Why is the WHY so important? The why is important because the why affects the how and the what.</strong> If you can pinpoint why you are blogging, then the how and the what will flow more naturally from it. You can make decisions more easily, know yourself better, and be more attractive to audiences and brands alike. If you are blogging for fun, that will look different than blogging for profit. If you are blogging simply to help people, that will look different than blogging to help people AND make a profit while helping. Get nitty-gritty on this. If you want to blog for profit, that could look like blogging to make a little extra money to send your kids to school or buy new shoes. It could look like wanting to buy a new car. Every why is different, and even those subtle, small changes can help you determine your how and your what. Consider writing out a mission statement for your blog.  This is different than an elevator pitch because it’s not for someone else, it’s for YOU. Narrow down your why and then think about things that do or don’t fall in line with that mission. Using my lifestyle blog as an example, I have decided not to use stock photography in my posts. Even though I love other blogs who do (and I use them on my writing blog), I feel like they don’t fit my why. I want to create authentic connections in a more personal way and stock photos in that space don’t make sense to me. Create a short list of hard and fast rules for your blog that go along with your why. What kinds of sponsored posts will you do? Are you going to share your kids’ names or personal information about your family? Will you talk about work? Will you use curse words? Every answer to questions like these comes back to your WHY. This makes your blog more cohesive and will help you make decisions more quickly. Because of your why, you aren’t going to accept that sponsored post for an unrelated product. It may have money, but your why isn’t just about money and the product is only an okay fit for you. Or you may take the sponsored post because you are supporting your family and can find a way to make it work. Only you can answer these questions, so before we get to a great podcast interview about branding on Monday with Andrea Beltrami, The Branded Solopreneur, you need to know your why. Let’s talk about this in the Facebook group! If you’re not already part of the conversation, please join us! Read more about why the why matters. The post Finding Your Why – B2B Minicast appeared first on B2B.

Show Notes from Host Kirsten Oliphant We all love food. And many of us love food blogs—or WRITE them. But all you have to do is open Pinterest to see how crowded the food blogging world is. With so many stellar photographers and cooks, what does it take to keep up in this landscape? HEART. Also…great recipes and quality photos, but if you want to carve out your own space, it takes heart. (Remember when Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum talked with me about passion??) This is part two of my interview with Rachel Matthews. In the first interview, we talked about brand ambassadors and crafting an elevator pitch. This half of the interview deals with being a food blogger in the current (crowded) landscape of food blogging. But even if you don’t consider yourself a food blogger, I think we can ALL apply some of these tips. She also talks more in depth about seeking out brands and how to make those relationships work, so listen through to the end for some real gems! You can find Rachel on A Southern Fairytale, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook If you’re on Android, find us on the free Stitcher app! Highlights from the Episode Food bloggers have gotten better at writing recipes (write for people who may not be confident cooks: clear, ingredients in order, and exact) and especially at photography. Often recipes will be similar, but don’t get territorial. Work together, link to one another, acknowledge similarities as they happen and give credit where it’s due. Recipes are often a riff off of other recipes. Think of your WHY: what drives you to cook? Some cook for beauty, some for taste, some for heart, some for a combination. Know your why. Write down recipes. Like, on PAPER. Pass them down and have a record offline. Brands love the stories behind food! No one wants perfection, but your heart and your story. Be relatable and personable. As a blogger, YOU can deliver a connection and an authenticity that large-scale commercials can’t touch. Comparing yourself to other people can make you hate what you do. If you start to hate what you’re doing, take a step back. Rethink your goals. Tips for Pitching to Brands Use Google or Twitter to find PR reps for brands. Find posts with your best voice, photos, and interaction. Have your media kit updated and ready. Pitch what value you have to offer, not what you want from them. Forming relationships with PR reps can help you find other campaigns or brands. Pricing is a big variable. (See this idea here.) Know your worth and don’t say yes to something not worth your time. Don’t close a door if a campaign doesn’t fit. Defer and keep the relationships open or recommend a fellow blogger. Ask yourself: At the end of the day, will I feel good about this? I loved the idea of food and the sharing of tables. When we blog about food, it’s NOT just about recipes. We are inviting people to our table, to share the space in our world. We do this through our stories and our writing voice. This makes us stand out in a world full of chocolate chip cookie recipes. The same is true of whatever your blog niche is! Bring people around your table, whether you’re serving up DIY, family, fashion, or blogging tips. Relevant Links How to Make a Media Kit from The Grant Life Julia Child makes David Letterman eat raw hamburger video* How to Price Sponsored Posts from Secret Bloggers’ Business   *You guys, watching this video and how Julia handles herself made me realize how funny she was. And how attractive it is when people are just themselves, flaws and uniquenesses and ALL. I think I want to be Julia Child when I grow up. The post Finding the Heart of Food Blogging with Rachel Matthews – 020 appeared first on B2B.

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant I have a question to ask that I want you to think about as you read this post. We’ll come back to it in a few paragraphs. What is it that prevents you from collaborating with other people? This past weekend I got to attend the Podcast Movement conference, which was an amazing experience. The conference itself ran so smoothly and had a rockstar lineup of speakers like Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneur on Fire, actress & podcast host Aisha Tyler, and Sarah Koenig from Serial. More than any blogging conference I’ve been to, there was a sense of collective excitement in the air and real connections between attendees. Which I got to experience firsthand by meeting a blogging friend in person for the first time at the conference. I’ve known Taylor Bradford of Pink Heels Pink Truck through Texas Women Bloggers, a group of (you guessed it) women bloggers in Texas that she runs. She started the Boss Girl Creative podcast recently as well, so we had lots to talk about! You can find her on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook but DEFINITELY check out the Boss Girl Creative podcast.  Here’s the thing about collaboration: I think that FEAR is one of the main roadblocks to collaboration. Taylor and I could have seen each other as encroaching on the other’s turf. We are both bloggers in Texas and are in several of the same groups. There is somewhat of an overlap between our podcast subjects and we were both attending the conference. Instead, we sought each other out and shared the things we’ve learned so far. It is so much better to think of other people in your field as potential partners, not as competition. Collaborations bring out the best in each of us. They stretch us past what we could have achieved alone and challenge us to grow. The online (and real!) world is a better place when we give generously and don’t feel territorial. If you’re not collaborating because you struggle with trust, I challenge you to step out! A conference is  great place to start. Where have you met people to collaborate with? Have you had any great experiences connecting at conferences? Share in the comments or in the Facebook group! The post Connecting Through Conferences – 019 appeared first on B2B.

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant When it comes to the online world, you have two choices as a blogger. You can see other bloggers as competition and try to carve out your space alone, in opposition to those around you. OR you can see the value in other bloggers and work together to make the blogosphere a better place. When I position it that way, the choice seems very clear: let’s work together! But in reality, most bloggers have been burned at LEAST once by another blogger. I’ve heard stories of content being stolen or private conversations made public or screenshots taken and shared with brands. But I have also seen bloggers collaborate through mastermind groups, tribes, and real friendships to succeed in ways that would NOT have been possible alone. The fact that you are a reading this post on this site is a testament to the power of collaboration. In this podcast episode, I talk with Becky Mansfield and Paula Rollo about how they met (spoiler alert: they were friends for a few years before they actually met in person!), how they worked together, and what effects this partnership had on their blogs. They also share some great tips for finding people to work with, ideas for working together, and what to look for in a collaborative partner.   If you’re on Android, find us on the free Stitcher app! What to Look for in a Partner Someone sharing similar content or in a related niche. Someone with content you can feel comfortable sharing across the board. Total trust in content. Someone with similar goals. Someone with the same level of drive. Someone with the same expectations. Someone who trusts, but doesn’t police. Someone who is excited for your success, not jealous. Someone that you can share numbers without feeling braggy or overexposed.   Ideas for Collaboration Secret Pinterest board where you drop pins that you’d like your partner to pin. Share when you see them sharing. Have a set time each day when you share that person’s content. Ask for shares on posts that are doing well. Share information and tips that you get with the other person. What experiences have you had with collaborating? What tips would you add for making partnerships work? Comment here or join the conversation in the Facebook group! Relevant Links Boss Girl Creative Podcast Episode 005- Finding Your Tribe How to Make a Facebook Blogging Tribe How to Find a Mastermind Group from Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income Why You Should Be a Part of a Mastermind Group from Amy Lynn Andrews

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant     After this week’s post on Starting Your YouTube Channel with Jenny Ingram, I got the low-down on VidCon from B2B team member Stephanie Blake. VidCon is an online video conference with 20,000 attendees and 300 influential YouTuber content creators. She got to fungirl a little bit on her favorite YouTubers and listen to some great sessions on content creation. The conference is too huge for a minicast (or even just one single post!) but Stephanie shares her favorite and most inspiring quotes. If you didn’t already want to start your channel, you will now!  Stephanie’s VidCon Takeaways “Ask not how you can make what you do interesting. Ask what is interesting about what you do.” ~ Hank Green, vlogbrothers “You have to accept the fact that sometimes you will be obsessed with something that other people think is dumb.” ~ Hank Green “If you’re not passionate about it, stop doing it. Period.” ~ Benny Fine of Fine Brothers Entertainment “Believe in your own obsession.” ~ Hank Green Start with your passion and ask how you can solve a problem. Create and curate content around what problems people would have related to it. Be specific. “There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not.”  -Robert F. Kennedy “400 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every single minute.” ~ Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube Go into YOUR special niche and add your creative take on how to solve a problem and connect with an audience. Now is the time. It is still open for people who are unknown to create an online presence on YouTube and make an impact. Before long, conglomerates will be hogging up all the space and it WILL be harder to be heard if you are smaller. “Find your drive. Or instead of doing it for yourself, you’ll be doing it for somebody else.” ~Shira Lazar   You can get overwhelmed by the number of hours of content being uploaded every minute OR you can look for those creative ways to solve problems in your niche. Stephanie had a great idea at the end of trying to find a team so you can share ideas and the workload. I loved all the talk about passion. Sometimes we forget the why behind what we do, whether we are talking about our blogs or videos or another area of our lives. Or we make the why so much smaller than it could be. If we don’t have passion and aren’t actually obsessed with what we do, we will run dry. We will burn out. Our passion carries through into the things we do and colors them more vibrantly. Passion is contagious and other people out there share your passion. Find them! Solve their problem! What is the inspiration behind what you do?

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant You can’t go to a blogging conference without someone telling you that you need to get on YouTube. Video is a great way to package your content in a fresh way for your current audience and engage a new audience. Like any other social media platform, YouTube has its own community and set of unspoken rules, which means that stating a YouTube channel can be tricky without some guidance. Never fear! Jenny on the Spot (aka Jenny Ingram) is here to provide just that guidance. With an established channel after eight years on YouTube, she has used her personality to craft a successful channel and personal brand. She has spoken at Blogher, Type A Mom Conference, Blissdom, and Blog Elevated and is a contributor. You can find Jenny on YouTube (duh), the Jenny on the Spot site, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.   If you are not on iOS, you can now stream the podcast through Stitcher, a free app! Click for the Blogger2Business podcast on Stitcher! Here are some great videos from Jenny. About Jenny on the Spot. How to Bling Out Your Insulated Coffee Cup How to Make Tacos Highlights Learning some of the technical aspects like editing sometimes looks like spending a lot of time just DOING it. The YouTube landscape is definitely more business-minded and professional than it was a few years ago. People are being intentional and making smart choices, not just being a personality or being haphazard with videos. There are networks that you can join to monetize your space. (See list) YouTubers are doing a lot more collaborating and working together in their videos. YouTube is not just a place to upload videos. Like any other social media platform, it is a community. To get to know that community, you need to be a part of it, liking and commenting and subscribing. The home page is like Facebook, where notifications get pushed up to the top. Interacting gives you more visibility. Consistency is key in terms of the days and even times you upload videos. More than other communities, the YouTube audience is aware of days and times. YouTube is very interactive in terms of comments, even from those who don’t have channels. As far as moderating comments, consider your audience (especially if it is a younger audience) and the kind of vibe you want to cultivate in your space. Moderation is totally personal preference, but expect some wild comments. YouTube may not be for ever person, especially if you can’t get past a stiffness. If you aren’t sure, find that trusted friend who will be honest with you about whether or not you can pull off being in front of the camera. Be consistent. Even if you start with one video and launch your channel, make a plan to be consistent. Shoot in batches. (We’ve heard this before with our time management tips and with Lindsay Ostrom and food blogging!) When you set up your page, you want a profile pic (that should be the same as your other platforms), a cover photo, and an intro video, which you can have turn on just for your new visitors and turn off for subscribers, who will see a recent or other video in its place. Track the steady growth. Remember that it takes a lot to get a foundation built. Before you start a channel, ask yourself WHY. What is your goal? This will help streamline your time and give you focus. Equipment and Technical Things Camera- You can be as simple as an iPhone or point-and-shoot camera or use a DSLR. Jenny’s recommendation is Canon over Nikon for video quality. Editing program- Jenny uses iMovie. Mic- A shotgun or lavelier (lapel) mic helps up the quality of your sound. You can also put blankets on the floors and counters if you’re in a room with hard floors to help muffle echoes. Light Kit- You can take the lampshades off and gather a bunch of lamps just outside your shot…or purchase a light kit. Jenny uses this one from Amazon. Music- You do NOT want to use any copyrighted music. Period. You could lose videos or your channel. Jenny uses Incomptetech and through the Maker Network she is a part of, but you can also use Audio Micro or the music in iMovie. (*My Tip: Find a musician friend to do your music! I did this for my Create If Writing podcast. You can pay them or give them lots of link love.) How to Incorporate YouTube and Your Blog You can embed your videos into blog posts and those views count as your YouTube videos (plus you’re getting blog traffic!). It can be hard to find things to write in the post if you’ve already said it in the video, so get creative with what else goes in the post. This can be a challenge for things like SEO in terms of length of the written portion. If you do a lot of videos, find a way to make the video portion of your blog stand out so people can get that sense right away. Have videos embedded on your landing page or have a tab in the navigation bar. Are you thinking about starting a YouTube channel? Do you have a channel already? Jump into the Facebook group so we can share channels. Later in the week we will have a minicast episode with a recap of VidCon!! Relevant Links How to Start a Successful YouTube Channel from MyLifeAsEva 7 Things to Know Before Starting a YouTube Channel from Dear Future Josh How to Make a Successful YouTube Channel from Convince and Convert   The post Starting a YouTube Channel with Jenny Ingram appeared first on B2B.

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant A topic that comes up frequently when interviewing people for the podcast is the idea of free content and paid content. Both from the consumer and the content creator standpoint, this can be a hard decision. When you are wanting to grow your blog, what do you pay for? When you are offering value, how do you know when you should charge? Lindsay Ostrom mentioned this in our podcast episode this week and you can also hear Bjork Ostrom talk about how they started a paid membership site on the Food Blogger Pro podcast. As a consumer, look for free content when… You don’t have a budget. Many bloggers (Becky & Paula included) start with no budget. Don’t take out a line of credit to start your blog. Make smart, frugal choices at the beginning and then invest when you can. What you want is available for free. There is so much free content on the internet! Youtube videos, podcast episodes, blog posts, and free webinars allow you to grow your skill set and learn without spending a ton. Before you invest, check to see what you can find online for free. As a consumer, look for paid content when… You have a budget and are ready to invest. While you can absolutely start a blog and grow utilizing free tools and resources, your blog is a great investment and some of your paychecks (when you are getting them!) should go back into it. You want a bigger value. While a lot of content online is free, there is also truth to the idea of getting what you pay for. The B2B personal conferences are a great example of this. You can find Becky and Holly and Paula’s tips here on the blog or interact in the Facebook group, but having a private session where they look at your blog and give you feedback? That’s a TOTALLY different value. As a content creator, offer free services when… You have the time. Your blog should be a hub for free value, whether that value is training or encouragement or links to other sites. The internet is a better place when we are all contributors and sharers of content. Give freely, expecting nothing in return. Your free value can come through blog posts, podcast episodes, videos, tutorials, or even interaction in a Facebook group. You want to establish authority. You want your audience to know that you HAVE  value to offer. If you are considering the idea of paid content, your audience needs to know that you have value before they will consider paying for anything. As a content creator, charge for services when… You can’t sustain the free help. When you find yourself inundated with questions and emails and people who are asking for help, it may be time to create a course, ebook, or start consulting. Give free help until it is no longer scalable, then create a paid option. You will be meeting a need, but also guarding your time. You have enough authority. It seems like everyone online is now an expert or entrepreneur. While you don’t need to have 1 million Twitter followers to be knowledgable about Twitter, you also might not want to call yourself an expert if you only have 1000 followers. People WILL look at those numbers. You can do so without breaking your audience’s trust. I recently attended a conference and bought a book for $5 from one of the speakers. I then signed up for his email list and got the book for FREE for signing up. Had I known the book was free as an ebook for signing up on the mailing list, I might have bought the paperback…but probably not. And it shook my trust because he didn’t TELL me the book was offered for free somewhere else. Consider what you are selling and how you present it to your audience so you aren’t undermining your relationships.   How do you make the decision on when to pay or when to utilize free resources? If you are creating content, how do you make the decision between giving free value and charging for your services? Leave a comment or let’s chat in the Facebook group! Relevant Links: Creating and Curating Content with Amy Lynn Andrews How to Decide Which Content to Give Away from Copyblogger How Much Content Should You Give Away for Free from Entrepreneur on Fire The post Deciding between Free and Paid Content appeared first on B2B.

Show Notes by Host Kirsten Oliphant If you have been on Pinterest EVER, you are likely familiar with Pinch of Yum, even if you don’t already follow the food blog from power couple Lindsay and Bjork Ostrom. Lindsay and Bjork team up to run Pinch of Yum and its blog-training complement, Food Blogger Pro. Bjork recently launched The Food Blogger Pro Podcast, which you MUST go subscribe to immediately. Even if you are not a food blogger, you will find immense value in the episodes! I feel like the hallmark for Bjork and Lindsay is a helpfulness and a desire to pass on the things they have learned so that other people can grow. Check out their detailed income reports to get a taste of what I mean, or even this post about how to hide an image in a WordPress post. When I think about the kind of person I want to be as a blogger, they come to mind. In this episode of the B2B podcast I talk with Lindsay about turning your passion into a successful business. She shares how she and Bjork handle working on blog(s) together, how to craft a style in both photographs and writing, and what a typical week looks like for a food blogger. You can find Lindsay on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.  Here are a few more great posts: An informative (and adorable!) interview on the Food Blogger Podcast with Bjork and Lindsay Spanish Shrimp with Garlic Bread Sauce Ten More Household Items That Can Improve Your Food Photography If you are not on iOS, you can now stream the podcast through Stitcher, a free app! Click for the Blogger2Business podcast on Stitcher! Highlights from the Interview Pay attention to the things that you love. Hobbies may turn into more than a hobby when you find people continually asking for more or asking you for help in a particular area. If you have a blog without a huge audience, you can still build that into a business and source of income if you are providing value to your audience. Find what they are looking for and how you can provide it. Write the blog you want to read. Read blogs you love and learn from them, but don’t emulate them. Take what you love and make it your own. As a content creator, it might be hard to see your own style. Ask an outside person to help you see it as you develop branding for photographs and style. Your style will evolve through time and based on equipment. One thing all successful bloggers have in common is that the just keep DOING IT. Building a successful business takes time. If you aren’t rewarded by the process and don’t love what you are doing, it can make you miserable. Choose something that you would do even if you weren’t getting paid. Have a long-term perspective. Think in terms of 10 years rather than 10 months. Show up. Post. Get better. Have love for what you do at the core. Tips for Working with Your Spouse Consider individual work spaces to have some separation. Take good care of your relationship outside of the business. Be intentional. Schedule meetings as needed. Find what works for you both. Realize that working together might NOT work for everyone. Food Blogger Tips Working in batches can help streamline the process. Lindsay typically cooks and takes pictures on one day and then writes posts on another day. When you are developing recipes, try the recipe at LEAST twice. To reduce food waste, eat leftovers and find someone that you can share extra food with. I came away from this interview thinking about my passion and what I love. One of Lindsay’s big points was that you should start for the love and see where it goes. If you start for the love, you will continue for the love. I think that real love translates through the blog! I can see Lindsay’s love through her photographs, her writing, and even the way she shares with the greater community of bloggers. Relevant Links Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk If You Want to Start a Blog to Make Money Resources for Food Bloggers Would you still blog if you weren’t getting paid? What is the passion that drives you forward? Share in the comments or let’s talk in the Facebook group! The post Turning Your Passion into a Successful Business appeared first on B2B.

Show notes by host Kirsten Oliphant So you listened to the podcast with Amy Lynn Andrews, you know you should have a newsletter. You read the last post with the rundown of email service providers and chose one. Now for the million dollar questions: What do you put IN your newsletter? And how often do you send it? Before you make the decision on what content and how often, you need to know WHY you are sending an email. What are your goals? This will help you make decisions on what you include and how often you email your subscribers. Which brings up two MORE questions: Who is your audience and what do they want from you? Now that I have harassed you with questions, here are some things to consider as you plan what you want to include in your email and how often you hit send. Be a student of email newsletters. I love to see what other people are doing! Signing up for email lists shows me how people handle even simple things like the emails that go out to confirm subscription. I like to see what kind of content people send, what it looks like design-wise, and how often they send me something. The point is not to copy what someone else is doing, but you might get an idea that you can piggyback from to tweak your list. Make people AFRAID to unsubscribe. This really stuck with me from the interview with Amy Lynn Andrews. She said that this was her goal in creating the Useletter. It is really HARD to think about creating something unique, isn’t it?  You want to give value, but value can look like a lot of things. Value can look like tips or encouragement or humor or curated links or a tutorial or getting your blog posts or something personal (if you have a very brand that centers around YOU). Brainstorm ideas. See what you like to read. Above all, have great content and value. Don’t give too little; don’t give too much. Some people prefer a once-monthly newsletter or twice a month. The benefit is that people don’t feel like you are hounding them all the time. But that is ALSO the downside! I have subscribed to lots of emails and then totally forgotten because there is no weekly email. A month later when I get an email, I may have NO IDEA who that blogger is. Sending on a weekly basis means consistency and also familiarity. The downside, of course, being that we all have 800 emails a day and you don’t want to just add to the noise. See above: MAKE GREAT CONTENT. Be yourself. If your blog is all about parenting, don’t send an email about how to blog. Make sure your email content lines up with what you tell people when they sign up, or the context in which they find the sign-up. If you talk about several different things, you can segment the list and give options where people can simply get tips for blogging OR your parenting posts. You want a consistent voice and brand that runs through your email and your blog and your social media presence. The benefit of this is that no one else is YOU. By being you and being consistent, you will already by nature have unique content. There might be 50,000 blogs about blogging, but you are the only YOU writing about blogging. Be personable and embrace the things that make you unique. Don’t forget also as you’re considering this what you are able to sustain. If you want to write a weekly email with fresh content, remember that it takes time and you need to set that aside. If curating links sounds great, but you don’t have the time to spend looking for those links, then that might not be the best option for you. Content Options Email Newsletters RSS Feed- Set up your RSS feed to run through Mailchimp or MadMimi or the provider you choose. If you really care about hits and traffic, you may consider having truncated posts, where you have the first bit of a post show up and then a link for people to read more. Teaser Email Per Post- When you have a new post up, send a teaser email that encourages people to click over to the blog and read more. This is different from a truncated RSS feed because this email is NOT a shortened version of the post, but totally new copy. Sign up for Blog Tyrant’s email if you want to see a great example of this! Big News- When I first started my list, I was beginning to self-publish books on Amazon. My list consisted of people who wanted updates about when my books were live and when they were on sale so they could buy or help promote. This requires little work on your part, but may run the risk of having people wonder who you are if you email once a year. Totally Fresh Content- This type of email requires the most work, but can also be the most rewarding. If your email list is such a valuable commodity, it is a worthy investment of time. You can hone this to look like whatever you want it to, but the key point is that you are sending something exclusive ONLY for subscribers. If you do this, it’s a great idea to also link (via text or image) to the recent blog posts so people can click over to your blog if they missed any posts. I love how Laura Fuentes of Momables creates her weekly email! Tip: You want to have a WARM list. This means that you have a list that is engaged and opening your email. When people unsubscribe, think of it as your list getting warmer. You don’t want people who aren’t actually interested in you taking up space on your email list. What are YOU putting in your email newsletter? Let’s chat in the comments or in the Facebook group! Relevant Links: Chad R Allen on Publishing and Warm Lists Setting Up an RSS Feed via MailChimp from Budget Girl and Setting Up an RSS Feed via MadMimi The post Choosing Your Email Newsletter Content appeared first on B2B.