Hey there Lovely, I can’t believe it has been so long since I took to my keyboard to type out some monetising tips for you. Some people like to blog spontaneously as and when they feel like it, and I did too when I wrote my personal blog (The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife). But for business I try to be consistent about publishing my content regularly. Anyway, for the last few weeks consistency went out of the window while I was off sick. So here are 4 awesome lessons I learned from having to take time off.
Batch Your Content
Oh my gosh! I should have known better, because this is one of the earliest tips I picked up as a freelance blogger: Batch your content. If you write a bunch of articles on a similar topic together you really get into the mindset and flow of it, and so you’re working more efficiently. Plus this means you have blog posts ready to roll out in advance. Ideally I like to be a month ahead for all of my blogging clients, but recently I have made the mistake of letting my own blog slide. If you can manage to blog weekly it makes you part of your reader’s weekly routines.
This advice doesn’t just apply to blog articles. You can batch videos, podcasts or whatever medium you like to offer your audience on a regular basis. You can also repurpose written content into another format.
Make a Content Plan
Brainstorm a load of ideas into a mind-map or spider diagram, and then divide those ideas into the main categories or topics of your blog. You can then plan out some rough ideas, for weeks in advance. The same goes if you are planning for podcast topics or videos.
Automate What You Can
Social media scheduling software like Hootsuite or Buffer means that you can line up social media content in advance, making it appear as if you’re online even when you’re not! Make use of autoresponders with your email marketing provider (e.g Aweber or Mailchimp) and you’ll be drip-feeding content to your subscribers while you sleep! If you are out office make sure you put a simple automatic reply onto your email so that clients or customers receive a reply, even when you’re not there.
Delegating
When your business grows big enough to have the budget to delegate tasks don’t be afraid to pass some tasks over to someone else. Taking on a VA or some other kind of assistance allows you to concentrate on your strengths, and means there’s someone to help with keeping things ticking over if you are ill.
Passive Income
No matter what kind of business you’re in, there’s probably a passive income product you could create that will complement what you do. Examples of passive income products are an art print, a book, e-book, e-course or audio download. These are products that can be bought from your website without you needing to be present. It means you can leverage your skills and knowledge without giving up a load of your time. You probably already have some content on your computer that you could re-purpose as an audio product. Take a popular blog post that you’ve written and turn it into a $1 audio lesson, or make a quick 3 minute meditation for people who don’t have time to meditate!
Passive income gives you freedom. Not just the freedom to take a sick day, but also the freedom to take a holiday, a sabbatical or go on maternity leave!
Start small.
Take action on creating your first audio download.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, just begin it. My free masterclass: Create and Sell Your First MP3 will show you how to make an audio download in just 60 minutes.
Create something small that people can buy from you straight away, and this affordable “taster” product, may encourage them to work with you further.
Don’t let sick days gamble with your business! Create an audio download today!