START HERE – Build an audience
Connect with people around you (online or offline) that share some of your values and interests. You need to build a bridge between “i/me/myself” and how it assists “we/us/ourselves.”
Contribute to what they post and share online. Build a conversation with them. First and foremost, try to understand them. You aim to create a community.
PAY ATTENTION
Pay attention and take notes:
– what do they ask?
– where do they need help?
– what inspires them?
– what is the problem they have?
Create content generously answering these questions: meaning for free and with the best quality you can (don’t try to be “perfect” that is just hiding from posting the work. Just do your best)
Save this content in a library (folder with documents in GDrive, Dropbox, local PC). You will thank yourself later!
GET’EM EMAILS
Once you get a feel of your audience, get them to subscribe to a newsletter. Use a free landing pages feature from AWeber, MailChimp, or some such.
By now, you should have a list of topics of interest that you can write about:
– full newsletters – best
– a weekly or monthly update where you send the best posts from Social Media – OK
– curated content – where you recommend other people’s work that relates to your audience – lazy, but it can save you in an emergency when you don’t have something scheduled.
WAIT FOR THE QUESTIONS
At some point, you should be getting inquiries about private consultations or help with a specific problem. The way to respond is to send them to the appropriate post or article that talks about possible solutions and, at the end, let them know that you are available for a one-on-one session for this price.
People will likely choose the free alternative initially, but eventually, some will pay for the “one-on-one.” Regardless, take important notes of these questions as they are ideas for valuable content or a potential product.
KEEP TALKING – KEEP CREATING
Continue the discussion with your audience.
When you have collected some 4-5 excellent questions to address, announce a free Zoom call where you will talk about those. Invite your audience to participate. At the end of the call, be sure to mention your one-on-one offering for those who need to get specific details. As a reward for giving you their attention so far, you can discount that price just for the live participants.
Be OK with the fact that this first call will not be so great. Things will not work; you will forget to mention something important. All that matters now is to practice. You cannot get to “mastery” by skipping over “beginner.”
LOOK FOR FRIENDS
Continue the conversation with your audience.
Look for collaboration opportunities.
The WRONG way to do this: “Hey, can you feature me on your blog/podcast/FB page?”
The RIGHT way to do this: “Hey, your work is awesome! Do you mind if I feature you on my blog/FB page/newsletter?”
Continue the conversation with your audience.
CAN YOU CREATE A PRODUCT/SERVICE
Based on your work so far and the community’s interaction, get an idea for a product or a premium service. Before you start working on it, ask your community what do they think? Are they interested? Would they pay for it? Bounce some numbers off of them. If you get a YES, then it’s great! If you get a NO, then also great! Ask what would need to change for the product to be more useful? (and it may not be the price!)
ONLY NOW YOU ARE READY TO BUILD A WEBSITE
– you have a much better idea of the name of the site – in some cases, it makes sense to use your own name, in some cases the name of the solution, in some cases the name of the problem.
– you have a massive content library
– you know what your audience wants, so you know how the home page should look like
– you know if you will sell a physical product, or if you will teach or if you will do coaching
If you will sell a physical product, check out Etsy or Shopify. (there is a difference between the two, but that’s a story for later)
If you sell teaching or coaching, have a look at Teachable.
If you don’t plan on selling anything, but you want to level up your blogging game: get a WordPress website (you can even start with free hosting at WordPress.com). This will build your brand and authority in your field, but you still need to have some offers to sustain the project.
BECOMING KNOWN
Continue the conversation with your audience.
You are much better at this now. Collaborations happen more often. You may be invited to podcasts, or live YouTube shows, or even get speaking engagements, if that’s your thing. Always be prepared to say in one line what do you do and who do you help.
YOU NOW HAVE A BUSINESS
At this point, you have some history with your audience:
– you know what works and how well
– you know how many people become customers
– you have a rough idea of a monthly income
You now have a business, and it is at this point when I would suggest you hire a business coach or participate in some business workshops to help you move forward efficiently.