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How to Find Your Dream Customers with Russel Brunson’s Traffic Secrets
“This post is sponsored by Russell Brunson but honestly, I was stoked to try his methods!”
If you work in digital marketing as I do, Russell Brunson is a known name. He is the co-founder of ClickFunnels and is a boss at moving product like hotcakes. When the opportunity arose to get an advanced copy of his new book, Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers, I was all in.
About Traffic Secrets
For the past 30 days, I’ve been diving in and soaking up Traffic Secrets while learning key strategies to increase site traffic. Don’t get me wrong, it has been a lot of work but work that has been rewarding. The goal of the 30-day challenge is to help you find your dream customers by utilizing people who already do what you’re doing. Might sound crazy but it works!
Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come.
Why I took The Traffic Secrets 30-Day Challenge
As most of you know, after years of friends and family begging me to create something that teaches them how to work from home, I’m finally doing it! I’m creating a series of courses to teach women creatives, stay at home moms, women wanting to be entrepreneurs, how to become bloggers and influencers.
Believe me, when I started out blogging and learning Instagram specifically, I struggled to find the information I needed. So many others would read my messages and ignore them which I found disheartening. I believe in teaching women how to do exactly what I do and choosing community over competition.
So what does this have to do with the challenge? Well, since this is a new product and the first time I’m going to be selling something that’s not a service, I needed to find the best way to market myself and fill my own funnels with my dream customers.
As Russell states, typically the biggest problem entrepreneurs run into isn’t creating the product, it’s getting their dream customers in their funnels and discovering that they even exist. Every year, thousands of businesses launch and fail become they don’t understand the skills of getting your dream customers to find you.
Your dream 100 is the foundation.
My Experience
Russell starts the book off with information then slowly adds more and more secrets to his methods. Each secret builds off of the last before coming to the end and seeing how it all goes together to create an amazing funnel.
I absolutely love the Dream 100 method. It boggled me at first and I didn’t know what direction to go with it but once I really started getting my groove, it was cake. My Dream 100 kept growing to a larger and larger list.
Without giving to much away, I’m filling my funnel daily by using his methods. The launch for our first set of course will be in July and I’m so excited to see how the launch will go. So if you’re tinkering on the edge on wether or not Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers is worth reading for your product or business, do it! You can get a FREE copy by simply heading to this link.
Reset Your Day with a Lunch Break Routine
Everyone always talks about the importance of a morning routine, and numerous books, interviews, and podcasts preach its benefits. CEOs, influencers, entrepreneurs, and more all have big opinions about morning schedules as well. From the benefits of bulletproof coffee, morning meditations, yoga, exercise, goal setting, or practicing gratitude, it’s a lot to fit in before breakfast even starts. The advice on creating your morning routine is overwhelming.
If you have trouble mastering a morning or evening routine, it might be better to focus on other parts of your day that are more flexible. If your day is unpredictable, mornings and evenings don’t have the be the end of any semblance of structure for your entire day. So, what about a lunch break routine?
Why Start. Lunch Break Routine?
A lunch break routine can help you give more structure to your day and set the stage for good habits. It also gives us a chance to pause and reset in the middle of the day. You can use your lunch break to retune your mind and body for the rest of your day. A mid-day break also gives you something to look forward to in the earlier part of the day because you know you’ll get a break.
You might be thinking to yourself that your lunchtime is one of the least flexible parts of your day. However, if you know you have a working lunch at your office or you have a lunch meeting, you can reschedule your reset time to earlier or later in your day. You can also shorten or lengthen your routine so that it adapts to your daily schedule. Even ten minutes sometime in the middle of the day can be beneficial to keeping your mid-day routine. No matter how well you slept the night before or how well your morning went, you can always use your lunch break reset to start anew.
The first thing you should do is decide when you’d like to schedule your routine for days that are more predictable, then decide how long you have to practice your routine. By having an expectation for when and how long your routine lasts, you can ensure that it is an important time of your day that you make room in your schedule for. This time should help you relax and take a break from your daily grind, even if it’s just for a few moments. Be protective of this time. Say ‘no’ to accepting calls and block it out on your calendar to avoid getting scheduled for a meeting.
Related Reading: How to Use LinkedIn for Your Freelance Business
Your lunch break routine should aim to focus on three things: Resetting, Refueling, and Refocusing.
Your time to reset should allow you to give your eyes a break if you’re looking at a screen, stretch and move around if you’re constantly in the same seated position, or just relax if you have a more active job. This time should allow your mind and body to rest momentarily. Turn off your phone, avoid screens, and pause any work during this time. If you’re able to, maybe go for a short walk or sit outside if the weather allows. You can consider doing some simple stretches or using this time to meditate.
Because it is lunchtime, part of your routine (unless you’re working around a lunch meeting or need to work through lunch) should focus on refueling your body. Eat a light, but filling meal that is nutritious and will take you through the rest of your day without bogging you down. Drink water, which can also help you feel less sleepy in the afternoon. If you’ve already eaten, you can refuel your mind by continuing to rest or extend your reset time to clear your head even more.
Towards the end of your lunch break routine, you can begin to refocus your mind back to work and the day ahead. You can think about how your morning went, celebrate any victories, or spend time goal setting, Time spent goal setting can be big goals such as buying a house (Crediful has lots of financial resources) or smaller goals like rocking your next meeting. This time should be treated as a new beginning for the rest of your day. Move on from anything stressful or things that don’t serve you.
Let’s stop quickly shoving food into our stomachs without taking a break in the middle of our day. Use your lunch break or mid-day break to create a small routine that will have a big impact on your day.
7 Ways People Earn Money Through Blogging
You must have heard about blogging and how so many people are making a decent wage, sitting at home and blogging. But how do people earn money through blogging?
7 Ways People Earn Money Through Blogging
When we think of blogging, we imagine writing articles. Though writing is a big part of blogging, if you want to make money through your blog, you have to treat it like a business. And when you think of a blog as your business, there are many ways you can make money through blogging:
Sell Products or Services
What do you blog about? Is there any product or service linked to the topic that you can sell? Think of your target readers. Is there something missing from their lives? Create your product or service around that.
For example, if you blog about arts and crafts, you can write your own craft book and sell it on your blog. You could even sell craft subscription boxes.
If you plan on selling products and services on your blog, you need to install WooCommerce. Plan your distribution channels. We recommend keeping it simple in the beginning otherwise you might not be able to continue or scale it later on.
Affiliate Marketing
Many companies pay bloggers and influencers commission for selling their products and services. One common example is Amazon. You can sell their products by placing links on your blog post or putting up banners on your website. Other than Amazon, you will find many other affiliate programs. Start with a google search. Also, check out if your favorite brands or shops have any affiliate programs.
When choosing an affiliate marketing program, go with a program that works well in your region. Local affiliate channels are always better. You should also check their cookie length and commission percentage. For instance, Amazon usually offers you a commission of 5%. There are others that are offering as much as 30% in commission.
Cookie length is also something you should take into account. Cookie length refers to the amount of time the company gives you to convince your viewer to buy the product. For example, you put an affiliate link on a learning toy. Most customers when they click on the product won’t probably buy it in the first go. They might come back in a day or two to actually buy the purchase. So cookie length is the time your company gives your customer to buy the product for you to get your commission.
For instance, the cookie length for the learning toy is 30 days. If your viewer buys the product within 30 days of visiting the product through your link, you get the commission. Otherwise, you don’t.
Membership Site
Membership sites are also becoming quite popular. You can write a separate section in your blog for premium members. Members get access to exclusive content and news. Kayla from Ivory Mix has a membership site where members can download free photos.
Online Courses
Have a skill? Why not teach it? For instance, VA coach, Abbey Lynn has a site where she sells her VA Bootcamp course. You can register with her to learn the ropes of the freelance business.
Similarly, we offer blogging courses where you can learn all sorts of skills, tips, and tricks to make a living from your blog.
Some examples of other courses you can sell online are language courses, special skills, digital courses, or even teaching courses. Creating an online course might seem tricky, but websites like Teachable make the process so much easier.
Display Ads
Display Ads won’t make you a lot of money. Display ads are basically banners put on your website. When your site viewers click on these banners, your advertising partner pays you a small amount. Google Adsense is usually the most preferred choice for bloggers for display ads. Other websites you can sign up with are Media.net, infolinks.com, and Chitika.
When it comes to displaying ads, many seasoned bloggers often shy away from it. That’s because it gives your blog a spammy look. If you want to make your blogging money through display ads, make sure you don’t overdo the ads. Place them strategically on your website.
Sponsored Content
You can also make money by writing sponsored posts on your blog. This usually happens when you have high viewership. You can then approach companies and offer to write a review for them in exchange for their products or for money. Most small brands usually offer products in return for the post while bigger brands are willing to pay money. How much money you make from writing the content depends on your blog viewership. If you are planning to explore this avenue, we recommend you create your media kit.
A media kit will give your company a brief description of what your blog is about. Remember to include figures and statistics about your blog viewership and followers.
There’s a lot of money to be made through blogging. But it won’t happen overnight. It will require consistent work on the blog. Start with just one of the above methods and later you can try out more to see which one works for you the best.
If you are truly serious about making money through blogging, we recommend you approach it professionally. Invest in a good blog theme. Remember all businesses require some form of investment in the beginning. It’s the same with blogging.
How to Use LinkedIn For Your Freelance Business
LinkedIn is a social media platform built for professionals. As a freelancer, using LinkedIn is a commodity that can’t be missed. There are thousands of potential leads just sitting there so, if you haven’t started to use LinkedIn for your freelance business to find clients, you are losing a big chunk of your target market.
How To Use LinkedIn For your Freelance Business
Though LinkedIn can be intimidating, it is worth finding your way around and learning more about the platform. These pointers will help you explore the full potential of LinkedIn for your freelance business:Profile
What will your potential clients see when they visit your page? Give them something to be impressed with. Let’s breakdown the parts of your LinkedIn profile:Profile Picture
That’s your first impression so we recommend going with a professionally clicked picture. If you don’t have one, book a session with a photographer before you start pitching for clients on LinkedIn. Include a clear headshot. Crop the picture so that only your headshot is visible. Cut out all background noise from the picture. Choose a solid background. When taking the picture, smile. It makes you appear approachable and friendly. And remember to choose your outfit clearly. Go for neutrals if you want to give a professional impression. Some people also go for bright colors to make their picture snappy and bright.Headline
The next thing your client is going to see after the picture if your headline. Your headline should say what you do. What services are you offering? Keep the headline crisp.Summary
If your client likes your picture and your headline, the next thing he is going to do is read your summary. Your summary should tell the viewer what you can offer to them. Sell your services through your summary. List your achievements and your successful projects. Include a link to your website or portfolio in your summary. End our summary with a call to action. What do you want your readers to do once they read the summary?Portfolio
LinkedIn gives you a chance to show your potential clients your portfolio directly on their website. Don’t make the mistake of putting up all your work. Nobody is that interested. When you put up too many pieces, you not only confuse the viewers but you also take away the limelight from your great projects. Choose 5-8 pieces of your best work to put up as your portfolio. On LinkedIn, you can share both images and articles as a portfolio.Work Experience
This is quite straightforward. List down all your work experience. If you already have a resume, this part would be very easy. Just copy and paste. Be sure to list all the information accurately. When listing your work experience, don’t forget to write freelancer as your current position. This will make it clear for any client or recruiter to understand your position. This also helps improve your search visibility as a freelancer.Recommendations
Testimonials go a long way in convincing potential customers about your worth. If you have any past clients, add them to your LinkedIn connections. Ask them to write a recommendation for you. In exchange, you could offer them a discount on future orders. This will encourage them to write a flowery testimonial quickly. You can also ask former colleagues and clients to endorse your skillset on LinkedIn. For instance, if you choose writing as your skill, you could ask a friend to endorse it. Remember, when choosing skills, check the ones that relate to your line of business. Don’t go overboard.Start Making Connections
Once your profile is complete, the next thing you should be doing is start making connections. Add people you already know to your LinkedIn list. LinkedIn will give you plenty of suggestions. Also, actively start adding people. Any of these people could be your potential customers. Search for your ideal customer. Add them. You could later even approach them with a pitch if they add you to their list.Be Active
Having a stellar profile and 1000s of connection isn’t going to do you much until you start being active on LinkedIn. Make it a point of visiting LinkedIn at least once every day. Comment and like other people’s posts. Share posts that relate to your target audience. Every once in a while, write your own post. Remember, LinkedIn has great potential. You could be earning a five or six-figure income through LinkedIn only. If you feel LinkedIn isn’t your forte, don’t leave just yet. You could always hire a social media manager to manage LinkedIn for you. It might cost you more bucks, but a good social media manager will earn his worth by getting you, clients.3 Side Gigs You Can Do Now to Earn Money
There are a lot of people who are earning a part-time income, even more, doing what they love as a side gig. You probably already know a few of them which is why you’re currently researching side gigs you can do now to earn money.
The internet has made it possible to earn money cooking, creating crafts, or even helping others make the right fashion choices. However, you need a lot of passion, and a good amount of skill to actualize your side gig into an earning.
3 Side Gigs You Can Do Now to Earn Money
Here are three side gigs you can do now to earn money:
Sell Your Work
There are bloggers looking for those who will create recipes and crafts for them to sell on their blogs. You will not get credit for your work, but it’s a good way to start.
Start by creating some of the favorite recipes and taking pictures of the entire process. Once you’re finished, take pictures of the final product with good lighting, angles, and props. Take three to five pictures of the same dish or craft for a variety of themed photos of the same product.
Once all your content is in order, you can directly contact food or craft bloggers or join content Facebook groups to start making money. There are two ways you can go about selling your work: exclusive or semi-exclusive.
With exclusive selling, you only sell to one blogger. You can price your work anywhere between $100-250 dollars depending on the quality of the work.
With semi-exclusive, you sell the work to multiple bloggers. This means the final product is the same but you are selling each “themed” photo set individually. The in-process pictures are usually the same. Semi-exclusives are priced a little differently from $15-50 per set.
Sell Finished Products
You can also sell the finished products online. Sell your crafts and food. Create a website. For crafts, you can create an Etsy profile. You can also use Shopify to create your e-commerce website. Even a Facebook page is a good place to start, promote, and advertise your craft until you have the funds to do more.
Start a blog
It might seem like everyone has a blog these days, but there’s big potential when it comes to earning money through a blog.
Some ways you can be earning money through your blog:
- Affiliate Marketing – Make money through commissions when you promote and sell products.
- Sell products and services – You could be selling your products and services through your blog. Create a Woo-Commerce page on your blog and direct your readers to the page and specific products from your blog posts.
- Sell a course – You could also be earning money training your viewers. This is something like tuitions, only you don’t have to be present for every class. Prerecord your entire course and start selling your course. There are websites that offer great support to create courses. Check out Teachable.com.
- Influencer Marketing. Once you are able to get a good number of regular readers to your blog, you can also approach brands to promote their products. Start off with smaller brands initially. You could signup with PR companies in your region to let them know you are available for reviewing and promoting products on your blog.
- Selling Ad Space. You can put up ads on your blog. Ads make you money when your readers click on the ads and visited the advertised website. Start by signing up with Google Adsense. Consider putting up 2-3 ads at different places on your website. Some places you can put up ads are at the top of the banner, on the ride-side menu, in the footer, and also within your blog posts.
If you are planning on starting a blog, decide on a specific niche. That can be your hobby. Think of something you are good at, and passionate about. This could be reading, and you can write book reviews on your blog. Some other niche blogging topics:
- Motherhood
- Travel
- Finance
- Debt Management
You can blog about everything and anything. Start with a niche topic and offer useful, actionable advice to your reader. And once you are able to build your authority, there are so many ways you can be earning money. You can use all the above methods together to earn money through blogging.
Network Marketing
If you love skincare, wellness or health product, or even if you love traveling, you can earn money promoting a specific brand.
That is network marketing and typically one of the first side gigs people try out to earn money.
Network marketing is a little like affiliate marketing but in network marketing, you also earn money when you add new members to your team.
With network marketing, you get all the training to promote and sell the products. Look for profitable network marketing companies that offer good support and training.
These are 3 easy side gigs you can do now to earn money but there are many more out there. What have you tried previously?
5 Strategies to Finally Take Control of Your Emails
If you’re like most working professionals today, you’re inundated with emails. The average worker receives hundreds of emails a day, and many report spending hours sifting through messages. How are we expected to get any work done when we’re responding and reacting to emails all day? The tide of emails in the workplace is becoming a tsunami we can’t avoid.
We dread trudging through these emails, with important messages often buried under piles of inevitable junk. Then there are the ten to twenty replies to trivial messages that could’ve been avoided with a phone call or instant messaging. We all hate the two-word “thank you’ messages that need sorted, terrified of missing that one email that actually did need to be read.
So how should we be handling email overload? Many try unsubscribing from as many mailing lists as they possibly can, leaving only what is actually valuable (like favorite daily news or deals from your favorite shops!). Some offices have policies regarding skipping email altogether if the message is urgent, instead favoring a phone call or text message.
Here are some strategies to incorporate to take control of your emails and get your inbox back:
Use a scheduler to coordinate meetings
If you need to coordinate a meeting, use a scheduler, or if you have an assistant, let them handle it. Calendar booking will leave no doubts about the time and location of the meeting and helps you avoid another needless email chain.
Try setting email office hours
Setting designated times to respond to email will keep the task from taking over your day. Once you stick to a schedule, it’ll become a habit and common knowledge that you respond to emails in a certain time frame. This may not work in every setting, but give it a try and see if it works for you.
Try the Open-til-Done System
This strategy requires some organization but works for many people. Go through your messages as quickly as possible, flagging messages that need responses. If your day is interrupted by meetings, you can always come back to your flagged emails as soon as you’re back at your desk.
Use a Folder System
Some individuals have success with a folder system. Try using a folder for “action required” emails, and another for “immediate emails”. By sorting your emails, you can respond to the most important messages first. Be careful to avoid letting these folders get out of control.
Use a Priority System
Utilizing this system, quickly review your messages and then sort them by priority (High, Medium, Low, whatever works for you). High priority tasks are those that need to be dealt with that day, but Medium priority tasks could potentially be delayed. Set aside some time on your calendar to tackle the medium to low tasks.
Taking control of your inbox is a challenge. Some of these strategies may not work for you, or some combination of strategies might be a winning system. Use the tools available to you such as calendars, flags, and folders to organize to the best of your ability. Delegation is your friend and not every email is an emergency. If you’re a problem-solver, resist the temptation to treat every email as a problem you personally have to handle. Test and stay in learning mode to make your inbox work for you!
