#10 The Clarity Sessions - Overcoming The Fear To Get Started
Episode 10 of The Clarity Sessions features guest Maira Vial from Vial Designs.
On our journey of working together, I challenged Maira to send an email to her people asking them the following: "What are you struggling with? Hit reply and let me know."
Before she sent this email, she worried if her clients would ask her a question she didn't know. This is a relatable feeling to many, but it's important to not let fear and nervousness get in your way of serving your people well.
Here are three tips for asking your people this question:
1. Trust that your people will ask you something they KNOW you can help them with.
Your people know your expertise, so it's unlikely you will be asked something that you cannot answer. They tend to ask you questions related to your topic because they know you and your area of expertise/ knowledge. If people aren’t asking you questions related to the topic you want to focus on, take that as a cue to hone your message - make your message...
#12 The Clarity Sessions - How To Make Money Online
Have you ever wondered how to make money online?
There is one main reason why you're not making any sales online. I asked in a webinar recently for people to let me know how many dollars they've made online since the beginning of the school year, and most people said zero. The misconception that many people have for why they aren't making money is that they don't have enough traffic. They say things like: "You know, I don't have any traffic, and I'm not running any Facebook ads. I don't have anybody that's affiliating for me. I don't have a very big email list." But I want you to know that those aren't the reasons you're not making money online.
Here are the steps you need to take to start making money online:
1. Clarify your audience.
The one consistent theme between people who are making money online and people who aren't has nothing to do with traffic. It actually has to do with the clarity you have about your audience. Knowing who you are writing and creating...
#09 The Clarity Sessions - How Do You Amplify Your Message Online?
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How do you get clarity and know that what you want to do is the right thing and then how do you amplify it out to your right audience? Betsi Hill and I discuss this very topic.
1. Target your audience.
Identify your people. Who do you feel like you’re here to serve? Who is somebody that you feel like you can make a difference for? Narrow down the audience. Think of a target on a bullseye. If you take a dart and throw it, you might not hit the bullseye. You might not get the 50 points, but maybe you’ll get the 20 or 30 points. But if you have no dartboard at all, you’ll never get any points. I would really focus on one person. Be very specific about your person. It might be someone you know or a combination of people.
2. Know what questions they are asking.
Once you’re clear on her, then you get to know what questions she is asking. Your content is just answering her questions. If...
#08 The Clarity Sessions - Does Your Message Really Matter?
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Does your message really matter? What if you write about something that doesn’t necessarily “change the world” but is more of a fun hobby?
Angie specializes in the silhouette/Cricut niche. She is struggling with monetizing her blog while battling the insecurity of whether or not a craft blog really matters to people.
1. You have people who need your message.
Angie is stuck thinking "It's just a craft blog." When she has that belief, it's important she starts to think about her reader. She has identified her ideal reader as a mom who is probably in her early thirties with maybe two or three kids, and she stays at home. She likes to do crafts but doesn't have a lot of time to do them. She likes her house and kids to look a certain way, and she likes to do it herself. Crafts give her satisfaction because she can do them herself rather than going out and buying stuff. They are something for her to...
#07 The Clarity Sessions - How To Find Time To Work On Your Blog
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How do you find the time to work on your blog and serve your audience? That’s the question we cover in today’s clarity session with Allison Boyle.
Allison asks, "How do I engage with my followers on social media and create great content on a limited schedule?"
Four Letter word TIME. The ultimate goal is to primarily be the content creator and to either batch or outsource the rest of the process.
To begin:
- Identify who your audience is, where they are stuck, and where you want to lead them.
- Make a list of the questions your followers are repeatedly asking.
- Create content based on those questions.
1. Select three models.
Notice who are some other people who are doing what you'd like to do but are a little further down the road. What are the different aspects of their business? What is working for them? What do you like that you can use as an example for your business? Since Allison has a full-time job,...
#06 The Clarity Sessions - How To Start Your Blog
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Are you struggling to get started in this crazy world of sharing your message online? This post is based on my podcast interview with Zeena Regis.
Zeena is a grief counselor and hospice chaplain who wants to know how to start a faith-based community where the members can connect with one another and share resources about end-of-life care and about how to handle grief. She is considering a blog, podcast and/or web portal where people can share best practices on what has worked for them.
The first step is to get to know your audience. As you get to know your audience you will find an opportunity that will become your product.
Here are three suggested exercises:
1. Create a narrative.
Zeena's avatar (ideal reader) is a person she has named Anne. Anne wants to support her friend whose mother has passed away. Write a narrative of “Anne” from the point when Anne heard that her friend’s mom is...
#04 The Clarity Sessions - How To Figure Out Your Ideal Audience
Are you ready to figure out your ideal audience?
Do you struggle to figure out what kind of product or service to offer to your audience? What about figuring out who your audience even is? Ryan Fairbanks from Noted Pro and I chat about these questions. If you feel stuck, keep reading.
Ryan has thought about doing a book or putting together a course and was wanting my insight on how to figure out his ideal audience.
1. Identify your ideal reader.
Ryan said that his ideal readers are guys who are getting in business trying to build their own confidence and platform and some guys who may have or may not have had good examples to guide them.
It's important to narrow in your audience. So I walked Ryan through this process. Let's say that there's guy, we'll just call him John. He's 29 years old, so we sit within your target audience. He was working for a company and he decided to go out on his own as a consultant and start his own kind of consulting firm -- just a one-man shop. He got...
#05 The Clarity Sessions - How To Monetize A "Spiritual Encouragement" Blog
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Do you write from a faith-based perspective? Struggle to sell to your audience while also serving them? If so, you are in the right place. Hope Writer member, Tia McNelly, and I chat about her question: "When my blog is centered on offering spiritual encouragement, how can I monetize that? I don't want to try to sell Jesus. But at the same time, there's got to be something that I could offer."
I see this question quite a bit, and not even just in the faith-based space. I've even seen it in the parenting space with parents questioning if they should sell parenting advice. I've seen it in education and fitness coaching and more.
There are two issues. One of them is imposter syndrome feeling like you're not really the expert and that there are others more qualified. The second issue is how to provide value that people are wanting for a reasonable price knowing they will experience the results they are looking for.
...
#03 The Clarity Sessions - When Too Many People Write On Your Topic
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Have you ever felt like your market is saturated? Like there are too many people writing on your exact topic? Too many people who are speakers in your world or who have written books about what you want to write about? Well, that is the topic we cover in episode 3 of The Clarity Sessions podcast.
Flavia Andrews is the proprietor of Neat House Sweet Home. She shared with me how she feels her blogging market is already saturated and how she doesn't feel she is an expert compared to others in her industry.
Many people feel this way, and, when you do, it's likely because you don't have a roadmap. You need a roadmap. To get a roadmap you need to ask your ideal reader/avatar questions on her pain. When you understand their pain, you will then be able to produce a product that gets rid of her problem.
The three issues that seem to be the roadblocks are:
- Comparison
- Imposter Syndrome
- The Curse of The Guru
...
#01 The Clarity Sessions - Grow Your Ideal Audience
It's time to grow your ideal audience.
Have you ever struggled to grow your ideal audience? Well, if you have, you've come to the right place. Danette Gora is an interior designer, podcaster, and writer who is looking to connect to her ideal audience.
As a new writer working on writing a book, she wants to figure out how to grow her audience and know exactly where to put her time. It's hard to know what to work on and how much time to spend on each of her platforms. She has three days a week to pour into her content and wants to make the most out of her time.
Here are my tips for how she can reach and grow her ideal audience:
1. Narrow down your audience.
We often think that everyone should be included in our audience because if everyone is our audience, we will sell more, right? Wrong. What I've found is when I focus on only one person and serve that person really well, it makes it really clear what I should say and what I shouldn't say.
I write for Cheryl. She's...