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Tips for a Successful Launch with Jenny Melrose

May 21, 2017 by kirstenoliphant@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Whether it’s a podcast or a blog or a book or a course, launching can make or break you. Break is a LITTLE extreme, but your spirit can definitely feel broken after a not-so-hot launch! According to Jenny Melrose of the Influencer Entrepreneur podcast, it’s all about the strategy. In this episode we are going deep to learn tips for a successful launch!

And don’t miss a live workshop with Jenny (and me!) on May 24 at 9am CST where she’s going to teach us how to run a successful challenge– a key component to her launching success. Register HERE!

Listen to Episode 103 – Tips for a Successful Launch

Connect with Jenny Melrose

The Influencer Entrepreneur Podcast

Jenny Melrose dot com

The Melrose Family

 

Tips for a Successful Launch with Jenny Melrose

There are so many kinds of launches. You can launch tons of different products, first of all, and then you can choose to launch just to your list or do a joint venture (JV) launch with someone else. You can launch with affiliates. You can use ads. You can have open and closed cart or evergreen. You can use webinars. You can go on podcasts as a guest. YOU CAN DO ALL THE THINGS.

But what really works? 

It will vary depending on what you’re launching and what your goals are, but here are some great tips for a successful launch from Jenny Melrose, who has done a number of launches for different products and in different ways.

Learn practical tips for a successful launch with Jenny Melrose.

If you Build It, They WON’T Come

I’ve busted the Field of Dreams myth with books, blogs, and even podcasts that I thought would naturally bring in the right audience in DROVES because they were quality. Nope.

Without a strategic plan, your launch is not likely to be a huge success. It seems obvious, but I think most of us have done this at least one time. Do NOT build a book or product that you assume everyone will want and find without strategic planning.

Note: If you have something you truly love and want to build it for the sheer love of it, go for it! Just realize that this is not the most strategic path for launching success. 

Launch with Challenges

Jenny creates evergreen challenges so people can come as they want to. The challenges up engagement, give people a taste for the content and quick wins that make them feel successful.

To promote her challenges, Jenny utilized Facebook groups, but not in a smarmy way. (Read my full post on how to not be smarmy in Facebook groups.) She searched for questions that people were asking related to her challenge, answered the question as fully as she could, then let the person know she had a challenge and invited them in a no-strings-attached kind of way. After some time of this, even group owners started tagging her as the expert when people had questions related to her topic.

The purpose of the challenge is to show them that the next step is your product, whether that’s your tripwire or your bigger course or product. You don’t overwhelm with information, but give just what people can handle in a 5-10 day period.

Evergreen challenges connect to evergreen products or that add people into a group in your email list that you target with a related launch. Another option is to have a live challenge that runs during the launch of a course where every person in the challenge starts and ends the challenge on the same day.

Another place to use this same kind of strategy is Quora. See this post from Teachable for ideas!

Use a Tripwire Product

Jenny recommends using a tripwire product, one that’s less than $20.This could be an ebook or a video training that’s evergreen. Many people fear selling too much, but this early introduction to an affordable price gets people primed as customers. Once people have given you money once for a product, they are much more likely to give you their money again (assuming you’re creating quality content).

Work Backwards with Aligned Products

Start with what your final product will be and work backwards to the smaller, tripwire product, and then to the challenge (or other kind of funnel you’ll be using to attract people). For an evergreen launch, you can pitch your larger product sometime after the time after the challenge (or email series) ends.

Evergreen or Open-and-Closed Cart?

Jenny has found better results with the open-and-closed cart, where there is a limited time for the sale. This urgency results in more conversions. People (like me!!!) wait often until just before the cart closes to make that decision. Other people know going into a webinar that they are planning to buy something.

When Launches Aren’t Working

The first failure you have can really keep you from doing more (read about my failed launch and thoughts on this), but you should consider where you can fix things.

  • Were you using a strategy?
  • What could you tighten up?
  • Can you ask your audience?
  • What tweaks and changes affected the sales from one launch to the next?
  • Were you in front of your audience enough?

Jenny found that doing more Facebook lives and webinars really helped with her launches. People don’t expect Facebook live videos to be perfect, so you can put less pressure on yourself. Instead, they help people see the REAL you and are often winsome and attractive to people because they see the real person behind the product. Being authentic builds trust.

Jenny’s Big Tips for a Successful Launch

  • Find a way to engage with your audience as soon as possible, whether through a challenge, welcome sequence, or live videos in a group
  • Remember people purchase because of the WHY (see the link to Simon Sinek below), so show them YOUR why

Links mentioned in the interview: 

  • Simon Sinek on Start with Why
  • My podcast episode: When Your Launch Fails
  • My interview on Jenny’s podcast
  • The 80/20 Rule for Sales & Marketing by Perry Marshall
  • Buy Our Future (currently closed) from Jason Zook & Caroline Zook

Filed Under: Monetizing, Show Notes

Non-Smarmy Marketing with Nathalie Lussier

May 15, 2017 by kirstenoliphant@gmail.com Leave a Comment

If you’ve been around for a while, you know that at Create If Writing, I’m all about growth without the use of smarmy tactics. The kind that make you feel gross in your SOUL. Who better to talk about non-smarmy marketing than Nathalie Lussier of Ambition Ally, one of my favorite companies, both in terms of products and values. In this interview, Nathalie shares about starting her company, what’s working in list growth right now, and how she commits to non-smarmy marketing.

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something after clicking through, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you!

Listen to Episode 102 – Non-Smarmy Marketing with Nathalie Lussier


Links from the Show:

  • Our Sponsor, PopUpAlly Pro from Ambition Ally
  • This week’s free training: Email Automation

Non-Smarmy Marketing

Nathalie recently shared a post on her blog about the dangers of income-claim marketing. This is essentially selling your product based on the success you’ve had in the past, not the value or service or outcomes they’ve provided.

These numbers CAN be a good thing because we are curious. We’d like to know what goes on behind the curtain and behind the scenes. But those same numbers may not be the best way to get people to BUY. It can be a trap for both the consumer and the producer because neither may be able to replicate those numbers. The consumer may be disillusioned or dissatisfied and the business may find themselves trapped trying to go bigger or repeat the same numbers. It’s not a sustainable way to grow a business. 

Whatever we are offering needs to solve the problem that people are having. Go back to your core values. For Ambition Ally, the values are solving problems through software.

(PS- I LOVE how simple that description is. Can you describe what you do in this concise, clear way??) Sell products & services while keeping your values. Tips for non-smarmy marketing with Nathalie Lussier, creator of Ambition Ally and PopUpAlly Pro.

Tips for Non-Smarmy Marketing

  • Start by solving problems
  • Test and find what works before you market it (like Nathalie did with the 30-Day List Building Challenge)
  • Consider marketing by sharing the outcome, not based on your own past successes
  • Don’t lose sight of your core values & your WHY

What’s Working in List-Building Right Now

Exit Intent Pop-Ups – Since Google has made its update penalizing sites that are using intrusive pop-ups on mobile, it may be a good idea to consider that desktop might be next. An exit intent pop-up shows up when someone moves to click away from your site and doesn’t impact the user experience while reading the post.

Scroll-Based Pop-Ups – On mobile, these don’t show up until someone has scrolled through 80% of your post. This keeps you Google-friendly and is great also for the reader.

Content-Based Pop-Ups – Using a tool like PopUpAlly Pro, you can choose for certain pop ups to show up on certain categories of pages. This gives a more targeted invite to your email list.

Mistakes That People Are Making

Vanilla Calls to Action – When you run across a sign-up form that says “Sign up for my newsletter,” there is no REAL incentive. Write unique copy that is inviting and clearly shares the incentive for signing up.

Make It PERSONAL – Your language should speak to a person so they read it and KNOW it’s speaking to them. Being specific and speaking to exactly to what people are looking for really helps.

Don’t miss the Idea Sanctuary, the newest video series from Nathalie Lussier helping you sift through all your ideas and refining and polishing them so you can launch them. (I just finished the first video and love it!)

What is YOUR biggest non-smarmy marketing tip? Share in the comments or hop into the Facebook community so we can discuss!

Filed Under: Email List, Monetizing, Show Notes

Should You Presell Your Course Before You Build It?

March 6, 2017 by kirstenoliphant@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Last week I shared details about my disappointing course launch. Reader (and one of my students) Kaitlin from Ink & Quills emailed me asking a question I hear a LOT: Should you presell your course before you build it?

Course creators hotly debate this and I want to break down reasons why you should NOT and why you should presell your course before you build it. Plus one option you might try instead!

Listen to Episode 92 – Should You Presell Your Course before You Build It?

Should You Presell Your Course Before You Build It? 

I’m going to give you a spoiler alert here and say that I think you can do EITHER. Preslling before building might really work for you. Or it might not. I definitely DON’T think it’s unethical. Unless, that is, you’re running off to Paris with the money you make and not delivering the product. (Listen to the episode for more on THAT story.)


Should your presell your course before you build it? an argument for and an argument against.

WHY YOU SHOULD PRESELL YOUR COUSRE BEFORE YOU BUILD IT

  1. Preselling Validates Your Idea.
  2. Preselling Motivates You to Finish.
  3. Preselling Can Finance the Course.

Let’s break those down into the dirty details.

Preslling Validates Your Idea. 

Preselling your course before you build it shouldn’t be the primary way you validate your course idea. You could be surveying or getting people on the phone (yes, the PHONE) or listening in groups to see what people are asking or paying attention to the responses of your email list for what they want from you.

But preslling your course before you build it makes people put their money where their mouth is. I’ve heard many stories of people who build out what their audience SAYS they’ll buy, but their audience doesn’t actually buy when push comes to shove. Preselling before you build your course will let you know for SURE. Until you get paid, all that validation seems like guesswork.

Preselling Motivates You to Finish. 

When people have given you money, it puts a mighty responsibility on you to finish. It lights a fire that makes you GET ‘ER DONE.

Contrast with people I know who have been building courses for months or years without finishing because there is no fire. Nothing is at stake for them. It’s easy for life or kids or other projects to get in the way.

WARNING: This isn’t for everyone. Some people don’t work this way and a deadline with this kind of pressure would paralyze them and shut them down rather than getting them to work. Only YOU know how YOU operate.

Preselling Can Finance the Course.

When I interviewed Bjork Ostrom from Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro, he talked about preselling memberships to Food Blogger Pro. They built the membership site with that money.

Some courses or program may not have a lot of overhead, but the presale allows you to have money to invest back into the course you’re finishing up to get things polished and in order.

Best Practices If You Plan to Presell

Be Clear That It’s Not Complete! 

I totally bought a course in presale that I didn’t realize hadn’t been finished. It was a huge disappointment to me. I’m sure they made it clear, but you need to realize that some people (like me) skim and just click buy without reading the fine print. Make it bold and clear. The last thing you want is someone who is disappointed or feels cheated.

Have a Good Portion Complete. 

Make you don’t have the bells and whistles. Maybe your course isn’t shiny. But your course should have an outline and a solid bunch of content before you presell it! Don’t start from scratch after you have money in hand. That WOULD be paralyzing and too much pressure. Definitely have things in place. Otherwise, how would you present the course for sale to people? How would you have content for a lead magnet or webinar or anything to even PRESELL the thing in the first place?

Relevant Links about Why You SHOULD Presell Your Course before you build it:

Presell Your Online Course and Get Paid to Make It – Halley Gray via Teachable

How to Sell a Product Online – Lewis Howse

Exactly How I Marketed My Online Course – Melyssa Griffin

 


WHY YOU SHOULDN’T PRESELL YOUR COURSE BEFORE YOU BUILD IT

  1. You might not finish.
  2. You might ruin your reputation.
  3. You won’t have validation that your course works.

Again, let’s break these objections down.

You Might Not Finish.

Only YOU know how YOU work. For me, having that deadline and the money on the table mean that I had to finish and would do a killer job. For you? That might be too much pressure. It might be paralyzing. If you don’t work well with this kind of pressure, please do yourself a favor and don’t presell!

You Might Ruin Your Reputation. 

If you don’t finish or don’t finish on time or don’t have people find your course awesome, you may really affect how people see you and talk about you online. That’s never a good thing. This is a big risk. Make sure it’s a well-calculated one.

You Won’t Have Validated Results That Your Course Works. 

This is the biggest reason many have for NOT recommending a course sale before it’s built. If you haven’t had people go through the course, how can you promise results? (I’ll get to my OWN problem with that statement in a minute.) You won’t have testimonials or feedback. In a sense, your course won’t be PROVEN. This is a valid point! You’re selling something blind, in a sense.

Best practices if you DON’T presell your course

Tweak as necessary.

Take the feedback and change from it. Let those first people really help you with the updates that you need to make.

Ask if your course is about information or transformation. 

For some courses, this idea of transformation (ex: I went from 10,000 pvs a month to 100,ooo after taking this course!) is more important than in other courses. Some courses may be more about INFORMATION. We are in a period where the transformation seems like the big sell. I get it. But sometimes you just need to KNOW something. Like the tech behind running a webinar. Period.

Don’t oversell.

I personally hate when people promise results, through testimonials or just flat-out saying that you’ll get them. To me, these don’t give the full picture either. Success and change depends on the student as much as the course. I think there are so many factors that THIS makes me way more uncomfortable than selling something that isn’t done yet. I hate overpromises.

Some relevant links about why you SHOULN’T Presell Your Course:

Never Presell Your Course You Haven’t Built

5 Reasons Most Online Courses Fail


CONSIDER A THIRD OPTION: THE BETA LAUNCH

This looks different for different people, but overall, you would have either an application process or a smaller payment to get people in beta. You wouldn’t fully be launching without a product, but maybe you would start with the first week and drip out the content rather than having everything ready as you plan to do on launch day.

I personally recommend having people pay. I have not had good experiences with people doing something for free in order to give a testimonial or give feedback. There is no skin in the game. No push to DO it. So unless you have someone SUPER motivated (this is where an application process could come in handy), you may get nothing from letting people in for free.

 

However you plan to sell your course, do it in a way that doesn’t feel smarmy to YOU. Keep your integrity. Be smart. Make intentional choices. I stand by the idea that there isn’t a right one, just a right one for YOU.

How have you (or would you) launch YOUR course? Presell without a product or no?

Filed Under: Course Creation, Monetizing, Show Notes

When Your Launch Fails – 091

February 27, 2017 by kirstenoliphant@gmail.com 6 Comments

Today I’m getting real about something that makes me feel INCREDIBLY vulnerable. Mostly because I don’t read a lot about this from other people. I’m going to share what you do when your launch fails.

Recently, I re-launched my email course, Own Your List, and it totally failed to meet my expectations. I want to share my own personal thoughts on this and on why I think this happened so that I can help YOU succeed with your launch. Or so you can get back up on your feet if and when your launch fails.

When your launch fails, you're still not a failure.

Listen to Episode 91 – When Your Launch Fails


Get a free month of ConvertKit with my affiliate link! Thanks for sponsoring the show! Read WHY I love ConvertKit here!


When Your Launch Fails

In the podcast episode, I share all the nitty gritty about the background from this course, how it started as a terribly named course (How to Build an Authentic Email List) that didn’t sell well and was built on one password protected WordPress page. It had good content, but I clearly had NOT taken enough courses to see different ways to build them or what should be included.

Now, 18 months later, I updated the course to a full video course built on full course software on a webpage dedicated to courses. (See my course site here!) I had some reservations about rebuilding, just because I never validated this idea in the first place to see if it was something people wanted when I created it the first time.

It was really important to ME to redo the course into something I was proud of, and I stand behind the content. It’s pretty stellar. But in the back of my mind, I knew that I was again creating something that people didn’t necessarily say they were NEEDING. And I decided to build it anyway.

That’s the back story.

In a ten day launch, I added about ten people to the course. My goal was to make $5000. And I fell super short of that. Clearly.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?

I’ll share what I did and what I suggest YOU do at the end, but first: let me help you avoid getting to the point when your launch fails.


How to succeed with a launch and what to do if your launch fails.

How to Avoid a Failed Launch

VALIDATE YOUR IDEA

Before you build a course or write a book, you should first do the best you can to make sure that people can and want to buy it. If you still want to create it even without validation, realize that it’s a passion project and you’re doing it for YOU.

Tips for Validating Your Idea

  • Do NOT just present your idea and ask if people will buy it. They will likely say yes because of the psychology of wanting to confirm. Ex: Would you guys be interested in buying a course on email lists?
  • DO ask more targeted yet open ended questions to help you see what people DO want. Ex: What are you struggling with the most right now in terms of connecting with your audience? <- Email is really about audience connection, but this question will help you find out if your audience is more concerned with blog traffic or email subscribers.
  • DON’T try to convince people of what they NEED. In the above example, maybe people NEED to be concerned about email as much as they need to be concerned with pageviews. (Or MORE.) You aren’t likely to convince them of this, as least not in order to buy your course. Maybe over time. But not in a launch.
  • DO hang out in your own and other Facebook groups and see what questions people are asking related to your potential topic and how popular the threads are. How many people have issues? Are there easy answers that people share in the group? Do you NEED a course or book on this topic?
  • DO create a survey asking about what people are wanting to learn this year and what price point they want to pay.
  • DO get some of your people on the phone or a video call to ask about their struggles and pain points.
  • DO give people a choice. When you narrow your idea down (doing the above things) then you can ask if people are more likely to buy A or B. Do NOT do this at the very beginning.
  • DO presell. I know some people say not to and that’s totally okay. But as long as you are up front that it’s a presale, this is a great way to see who is interested in buying your course before you invest the time and the money to DO it.

PLAN FOR YOUR AUDIENCE’S BUDGET

This is really a part of validating that idea. If your people cannot afford the price point that you were planning, you should really reconsider.

Tips for finding your audience’s price point

  • See what they have bought from you in the past. Was it a $200 course or a $20 product?
  • Know where they are in their journey. Are they just starting out? Are they five years into building a business?
  • Consider your niche. Are you in a niche that helps people MAKE money? Is this a hobby?

It’s also important to note that people may SAY they can’t afford it, but what they MAY MEAN is that they have the money, but not for your particular product. Really hear what they mean, not just what they say. I had some people say in the follow-up survey that they didn’t have the money, but that they were interested in my one-on-one coaching, which has a high price point that might exceed the cost of the course, depending on the option they choose.

COMMUNICATE THE BENEFITS AND FEATURES

When you are selling, you need to show people the benefits (the transformation that will occur as a result of taking your course or buying your book) and the features (the details about what exactly they will get). Typically, the benefits sell a course. But I know that I am not alone in being a features girl. I look for how many modules, how long it will take to complete, and the exact subjects. I totally skip all the long sales page stuff with all its benefits.

The benefit is why MOST people buy. They want to know what will happen as a result. They will start out stressed and confused and finish your course with an exact strategy that’s easy. That is how you need to present your course in terms of benefits.

Be sure that you are accurately presenting BOTH. I missed out on some sales by not letting people know that every video had an audio MP3 for those people who don’t want to watch. I also didn’t explain fully why my course was different than my book, Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers, which is only $4.99. (The difference: monetization is not included in the book, but plays a significant role in the course. Among other things.)

It’s important to think about whether or not you have a sales copy problem as well. You can always improve and work on this, so print out any copy you used in email or watch back your video to see what you said and how you could sell better.

TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE TIMING

When I started doing what I’m doing now almost two years ago, the webinar space was much less crowded. I had 200 people sometimes show up for a live workshop. My attendance and registration this time were MUCH lower, I think because of the crowds. There are also way more courses, and a lot of people communicated that they already had too many courses to go through.

While many people are still having success with webinars and with courses (and it’s still not too late to start), it’s MUCH MORE CROWDED. That means you have to do more work to stand out and succeed. Just keep in mind the context of what’s going on in the space that you’re in. It matters.


What to Do When Your Launch Fails

Those are some great ideas to avoid this, but if your launch DOES fail, here are some things you should do afterward to recover.

WALLOW A LITTLE

I really do think it’s important to spend some time mourning or being bitter or angry or depressed. I feel depressed whenever I finish ANY project, whether it was a raging success or not. Give yourself some time to complain to a friend or just be miserable. But no more than 24 hours or so. Then get up and do the rest of these things.

RESET YOUR LANGUAGE

Stop saying that it failed. Say that it failed to meet your expectations. When I started talking to friends who are NOT in this space about my launch, they were blown away. “You just made money doing WHAT?” was a common response. It IS pretty awesome that I can create something online once and sell it again and again. It was amazing to get some emails during a night out with friends, letting me know I just made money while having dinner. Give yourself grace.

EVALUATE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE

I knew almost immediately WHY my launch didn’t work well. I identified those four things up above pretty quickly. You may have some insight right away into what went wrong.

ASK OTHERS TO EVALUATE

I created a super quick, three question survey asking why people didn’t buy, what would have made them buy, and what they WOULD be interested in. Those three questions alone tell me so much! I did a random drawing to give away one spot in the course to the winner. Then I followed up and offered all of those people a free copy of my book Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers as well as a coupon code if they DID want to buy the course. I also let them know about my coaching packages (though there is a wait list).

REPURPOSE

One great thing about creating something is that you can keep on using it. My course does rock. And I have a few ideas on how I can continue to get revenue from it in the coming months and year. I’m not sure if I’m going to do a bigger joint venture launch in the later part of the year because of how low the response was. I’ll share more about how I plan to use the course in the future, but for NOW, you can check out the episode I did last week on repurposing content to see how I’ve done this in the past (not a launch failure, but just a repurposing).

KEEP MOVING

Don’t give up when your launch fails. Don’t. Learn lessons. Get up. Keep moving in a forward direction. There are so many lessons to learn when something fails to meet your expectations. If you give up on something, you’ll never learn the lessons and get better.


Have you had a launch that failed your expectations? Let’s talk about it in the Facebook group. It’s a safe space, I promise.

 

Links from the episode:

Register for the Profitable Blogging Summit!! It’s going to be killer!

 

Filed Under: Monetizing, Products, Show Notes

Repurposing Content Like a Boss – 090

February 21, 2017 by kirstenoliphant@gmail.com 1 Comment

Smart bloggers don’t just know how to create content; they are experts at repurposing content. Repurposing a blog post into another format is a way to get the most miles out of a popular post. This episode is going to share some creative ways to repurpose content and how one three-night workshop into over $2100.

Want the free case study? Get it now! (Then keep reading.)


Listen to Episode 90 – Repurposing Content Like a Boss

Repurposing Content Like a Boss

When you create content (like a blog post, for example), you should never think that it’s DONE when you hit publish. That’s only the beginning. Repurposing content can be a way to effectively utilize what you’ve already created, save time in the creation process, and to build on ideas that have already been vetted by an audience.Tips for repurposing content to increase subscribers and grow your sales!

Tips for Repurposing Content

Choose content that has done WELL. When it comes to repurposing content, you want to choose the kind of content that is already resonating with an audience. Whether that’s your podcast episode with a ton more downloads than usual or a blog post that just keeps going viral, find what’s already working for you. Then make it work HARDER.

Choose a new format. You COULD take a blog post that is doing well and turn it into a series. But where repurposing really gets going is when you translate that content into a new context. Think about making your blog post into an ebook. Or creating a video. Or taking the video that’s doing well and turn it into part of a course or training series. This not only gives the same people who liked it something more to read or engage with, it might capture people who prefer to consume in a different way.

Create freebies to grow your list. A super simple way to repurpose existing content is to turn it into a freebie that you can offer to grow your list. Take that blog post with a ton of views and create a checklist related to the content and put an opt-in box in the post itself. If you’re sharing tips or resources, make it an attractive printable that people can receive in exchange for their email. Or maybe you can take a topic that really drew people in and break it up into an email series and create a free course as a list-growth tool.

Consider making paid content. When you have content that has legs, consider how that might be the starting point of a sales funnel or even how you might promote right within that content itself. Becky Mansfield saw that her blog post on Potty Training kept getting shares and comments. She created an ebook (and then had me record it into an audiobook for her) and now makes sales every single month. If you need potty training help, you can check out the book with my affiliate link HERE for the book.

How repurposing content can grow subscribers and make sales.

Examples of Repurposing Content

Talk > Podcast > Blog Post > Freebie

Last year I spoke at the Business Advancement Conference on branding your writing voice. To practice, I spoke out my talk and utilized that as a podcast episode. Then I created show notes (aka a blog post like this one) and a free guide as a content upgrade. You can check out my post on branding your writing voice to see this in action!

Email to Subscribers > Blog Post

Often I will pre-test a blog post idea by writing on that topic for my email subscribers. My tone is usually a bit more personal and different than what I use in a blog post, but the idea is the same. If I get a good response (usually in people responding to my emails by hitting reply), then I will make that into a full post. Even if I DON’T get a huge response, I’ll sometimes still turn it into a blog post but rework it in a way that may make it resonate better with an audience.

Popular Blog Posts > Book

Back in the day when bloggers were first creating freebies to grow their list, the popular advice was to utilize old blog posts by putting them together in a book and offering the book for free. I made the mistake of choosing posts I loved but that weren’t super representative of my blog and using that as my freebie. (I LOVE the book, but it wasn’t great as a freebie. Read more about how to create the perfect freebie!) This is a super-quick way to write an ebook, whether you sell it on Amazon or

Monthly Challenge > Book

If you’ve ever created or run a challenge, you have a ton of content that you could potentially turn into a book. I always suggest beefing up the amount of content if you are turning something free into something paid. You don’t want to sell something that people could totally get for free. But often people will pay for convenience. I’ve taken part in Nathalie Lussier’s 30 Day List Building Challenge (this is my affiliate link!) and one of the first emails you’ll get is one asking if you just want to outright buy it instead of getting the content dripped out over 31 days. I totally paid for that. Someone else will too.

Here’s my FAVORITE example of repurposing content from Create If Writing. 

Last year I had a 3-part workshop called the Foundation Series on applying your why to your blog, your email, and your images. Once a week for three weeks, I went live in a workshop fashion and shared slides and free content for an hour. No sales pitches. Just info.

I grew my list through hosting the series and made deeper connections with people who showed up. (Because that’s the beauty of webinars or workshops.) Then I taped one more video privately on applying your why to social media. I packaged all three together as a mini course with a $50 price tag, then promoted to the 200 people who registered for the workshops and sent three emails over the course of a few days, making about $600. I also included it in a bundle and made another $1500 in sales, plus email subscribers. You can check out the Foundation Series here and even watch one module for free!

I’M STILL REPURPOSING.

Want to see all the dirty details? Click to download the case study! Plus you’ll receive a handy guide to walk you through creating profit through one of your pieces of content!

How have you succeeded in repurposing content? Share a link or example in the comments!

 

Filed Under: Blogging, Monetizing, Show Notes

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An epic course for fiction authors with practical strategies to create a six-figure income.

Hey, I'm Kirsten!

(Rhymes with BEER-sten.) I am the author of Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers and the host of the Create If Writing podcast. My goal is to help writers, bloggers, and creatives like YOU turn readers into raving fans and learn to make a living doing what you love...without being smarmy. Questions? kirsten at kirstenoliphant.com

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