3 Principles to Take Your Blog From Side Hustle to Supporting You--and Your Family

In my day-in, day-out work with bloggers, these are the principles that I've seen work no matter what "niche" the blogger's targeting. Once I realized just what the commonalities were, I decided to talk them through on video. Are you doing some or any of these things? Let me know! 

This Brilliant Viral Video Actually Teaches Us Something About How to Go Viral

Viral videos. The first time I gave "viral videos" a serious, work-related thought, I was working for Howcast. It was 2009 or so and our entire (small) organization was tasked with creating a viral video. 

At the time I rolled my eyes  at the earnestness. The neediness. But beneath my not-quite-hipster scorn, there was real terror. How DO you create a viral video? What was the formula anyway? Was there really a formula? Or did it just... happen? 

Spoiler Alert: I don't know the formula. Maybe there is one, but I don't know it. If there is one, it's certainly not what it was in 2009. 

But actually I do think there's a clue in this Chatbooks video. The screen shot above was taken when the video had about 5 million views, less than a week after it was published. Maybe not the hugest number in our post- Chewbacca mom age, but it ain't bad. 

And I was thinking about what made this video so watchable. What made me want to share it with everyone? And then I figured it out. 

It was me! 

Or rather, it was the fact that I fall into the bullseye center of Chatbooks ideal audience.

And that made me realize the counterintuitive key to this video's success: it is targeted. It IS NOT for everyone. But it captures the attention of a very high percentage of a very specific audience. Because its creators know who that audience is and how to talk to them. 

They want to reach moms who want to create photo albums out of the thousands of pics on their phones, but haven't done it yet.

That's all. 

This video went viral because it: 

1. Identifies the pain points of its ideal audience, using that audience's language

• no time ("My children are growing like weeds, but I barely have enough time to keep them ALIVE let alone print pictures of them.") 

• not very much money ("When Sara does something adorable, I have to say, 'That's cute, but not $50 cute.'") 

• tons of unorganized photos collected on the phone, not archived anywhere else

• not a ton of technical/design expertise

• no energy to get all of that stuff organized, printed, designed, shipped! What a headache.  

• But it would be really nice to have photo albums. I want photo albums. I love my crazy life and I want to be able to look back on it! 

2. Explains how Chatbooks address all these pain points

• Prints and ships automatically "without you having to lift a finger"

• But you will be notified if you want to edit your order or send it back

• Chatbooks are made with high quality materials for a low price "so you can send the savings on your little thumbsuckers." 

• "Live your life and let Chatbooks print it." 

• Go straight to the app from the video (for the many people in this audience who look at Facebook on their phone primarily or exclusively). 

What I really think is worth noting, in both the "identifying pain points" section of the video and the "here is Chatbooks can help" section, is that the script uses the language of the ideal audience member. It uses the words that this mom would use to talk about why "making photo books sucks"! 

One of my friends, who is a mom of two small boys, commented,

“They have tiny spies in my mind.”

So yes, the production values on this video are high, the script is well-written and funny, and they had money to buy the Facebook ad. All of those factors helped make this video go viral. 

But one thing you and I can learn from this video is: are we talking about the problems our products and services solve so clearly that our ideal audience would say, "They have tiny spies in my mind" ?

Get your checklist for more tips on what speaks to your ideal audience. 

How to Get More Out of Your Facebook Posts

"Why doesn't anyone see my Facebook posts?" 

I get this question a lot from clients, non-clients, friends, Romans, etc. And I understand why. You write a post telling people what is so great about your business, what you've been up to, something that really matters to you.

You do this because want to create a post  that inspire engagement, that connects with your audience and help them remember you, right? Posts that make them love you, trust you, remember you, CHOOSE YOU!? Any then no one even looks at it???

Frustrating.

When I managed the Facebook page of a nonprofit online resource with a following of about 250,000 fans, I thought about how to get people to look at our posts a lot.

We actually higher than average "engagement" (likes, comments, shares, and clicks on our posts). But I was always looking over my shoulder at the specter of the Facebook Algorithm. 

Via http://postplanner.com--The Facebook algorithm looks JUST like this. For sure. 

It looks like this, right? In all seriousness though, we know that Facebook curates every single user's feed. It's the reason most people's Facebook posts (whether they be personal or business page posts) don't get seen by all of their friends and fans. 

Another thing we learned while I worked on that awesome site's social media:

This chart is basically saying that if you post something your page, the likelihood that your audience will see it ... has fallen off a cliff. 

Facebook decides what each of its users sees, and it's pretty mum about the exact combination of factors it uses to make those individual decisions. 

But there are still plenty of business pages that get PLENTY of engagement. So, we must know some things. Right?

• Use beautiful photos to get noticed. 

• Or don't. 

• Write short posts! The shorter the better.

• Or ... don't. 

• Post links to your website.

• Or ... you get the idea. 

Here's my point: there isn't one specific format for getting your Facebook posts seen by an audience who might really care about what you have to say. 

What does your audience care about? What matters to them? Or, if you want to think about it like this: 

“How does the thing that matters to you HELP them?”

What does your message do for them? What does it mean to them?

And this is where studying what others have done can be really helpful and important. 

In fact, studying what other people do is the best way to make a list of what to test on your own Facebook page and other social media profiles. 

So, here I've dissected a couple of Facebook posts. One that got a lot of clicks to the owner's website (which you can view here once you sign up for my list), and one that got a lot of comments on Facebook itself (which you can view here). 

They are both great examples because they garnered lots and lots of engagement--higher than average for the profiles they came from, and higher than average across the entire social media landscape. 

They are also great examples because they served a purpose for the business owners who posted them. 

And they are great examples because they use completely different tactics. But I break down why they worked. 

Test out these tactics for yourself! Let me know how it goes. 

3 Pinterest Accounts That Drive Traffic--And What You Can Learn From Them

Pinterest is a powerful way to drive traffic to your website. Maybe you already knew that, and maybe you didn't.

In either case, I love these three Pinterest profiles because they highlight the unique features this social platform has for curating ideas through images: .  

1. Sociological Images is the most creative use of Pinterest I've seen. Lisa Wade curates boards of "needlessly gendered" products like "Mancan" wine for men and images like this, (with clickthrough for full commentary):  

Another thing I learned from this account: you don't need the most compelling images to make Pinterest work for you: but you do need to use images that can help you tell the story of your idea. 

2. Teachmama: It's true that many of these images are pretty, but what I love about Teachmama's account is that she constantly updates her boards so that the most timely of her content is at the top.

Also, each pin gets specific: one activity, or one tip, for one type of child. Each pin will appeal to a discrete, identifiable audience looking for this kind of info. 

3.  Natalie Jill Fitness. Printable workouts, with links to more detailed explanation. Many of these require no equipment and no need to click through: just follow the directions on the pin itself and you're good to go. A great way to hook an audience. 

Answers to the Most Common Questions about Facebook Ads

We moved, which has resulted in me driving a lot more each day. This gives me extra time to listen to a lot more podcasts. So somewhere within this hectic week, I listened to a terrific episode from Amy Porterfield. Episode number 58 is nearly a year old, but the advice in it is so spot on that I almost choked on my coffee when I heard it. 

Amy takes a question from a fan who leads with, "How do I increase my FB followers?" 

If you've read my post about vanity metrics, you'll know that I hate this question. It turns out, so does the extremely successful (and very succinct!) Amy Porterfield. 

Amy doesn't use the word "hate," though. Here's how she puts it: "This is where we need a reframe."

The reframe: Facebook followers don't translate into the number of clients your business has. Ads can help you build your client base, but only if each of your ads has a clear strategy behind that you implement and monitor, tweaking along the way as you see your results within Facebook Ads Manager. 

As Amy says, " I want to help you see FB as a place where putting in a little bit of money will result in bringing back a lot of money."

Seriously! Or as I have said to new and prospective clients, to friends and family, to my dog Toby as he sits at my feet while I hammer away on my laptop keyboard:

Don't buy a Facebook ad unless you have a clear strategy for how you will receive a return on that investment. If you can't draw a line between that Facebook ad and how it will get prospective buyers/clients in the door, don't spend the dough. 

This doesn't mean you won't have to experiment with some trial and error as you figure out the target audience for your ad, the right text and images, times of day (in some cases), and the most rousing calls to action you can.

But you can only figure these things out if you have a clear goal in mind. You can only know whether the ads are "working" if they are moving you closer to that goal, or if they aren't. 

For example, if you set up an ad with the goal of getting those who see the ad to join your email list, and no one joins your e-mail list, you know the ad didn't work and you need to try something else. 

But I just love how Amy handles this question because she puts to rest the idea that your number of Facebook page likes has much to do at all with the effectiveness of your online marketing. 

Check out the full episode. 

How Brilliant Mom Beth Anne Schwamberger Grew Her Online Business

I met Beth Anne almost a year ago here in San Diego, and her online business, Brilliant Business Moms, has sky-rocketed since then. 

Whenever I talk to her about BBM or see her online marketing efforts, I think a big reason for her success is that she knows the community she serves and how she helps them. She offers support, tools, and tips for stay-at-home moms who want to grow their side-project businesses. 

“I’ve finally learned my lesson when it comes to focusing, and I can tell you that it has made a world of difference for my stress level, my income level, and my ability to balance my work life with my family.”

We could all earn from her clarity around who she serves and what she offers as we try to get the most out of our marketing efforts. 

So,  I wanted to give Beth Anne a chance to talk about her strategies in her own words. Below is our Q&A.

And check out her answers to a "lightning round" of 6 work-life balance questions I tossed her way in the video below. 

(Skip to 1:15 to get her Number 1 tip for anyone juggling work and family time.) 

More on

More from Beth Anne on the birth of her business and what she's learned: 

1. How did you decide to start your business? Did you have a moment of inspiration or did it evolve? 

“Since we couldn’t find a resource that really did that in detail, we decided to create our own—the Brilliant Business Moms podcast.”

My business has completely evolved! It's definitely been a "one thing led to another" type of scenario! Initially, I started out with an Etsy shop selling butterfly terrarium kits. My sister and I opened that shop together in November of 2012. 

We made some side income from our shop, but we wanted to grow it more. We thought a mommy blog focused on outdoor activities would be the perfect way to get more traffic and sales for our shop!

Well... it turns out growing a mommy blog is much harder than we anticipated! After several months of crazy hard work in early 2015, we realized we needed to find a way to pick the brains of other Mompreneurs and figure out how they were growing their online businesses. Since we couldn't find a resource that really did that in detail, we decided to create our own--the Brilliant Business Moms podcast.

Through serving the community at BBM, we discovered we could help our audience solve the problems of time management as Mamapreneurs--so our book and planner were born. Then, I created other digital products such as the Get-Found Guide to Etsy, and more recently, courses on Pinterest and Facebook.

I think, though, that very quickly after starting the podcast, I realized that we had something special. For the first time, Sarah and I were building a true community online, and we were so committed to serving the women that came into our path. From that point forward, the business became much more clear - because we knew who our audience was - and it was just a matter of helping them and serving them well.

2.  One time you told me you tell yourself, "I'm just trying to teach that lady that was me, one year ago." If you could go back a year and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be? 

“Remember this: It’s not the idea that’s bad, it’s your lack of focus that’s bad.”

Focus! Seriously, it's that simple. I wish I would have dug into Pinterest wholeheartedly sooner, and I wish I would have created a course sooner. Instead, I pursued all sorts of little ideas at once. Some worked out,and some didn't. But hindsight is 20/20. 

Also, I think it's much easier to spot lack of focus in others versus yourself. I look at the businesses of other Mamapreneurs all the time and do a facepalm because they're pursuing 3 completely separate things at once.

Don't do it. Give your initial idea a fair chance by diving in wholeheartedly. Until you've spent at least 150 hours doing nothing but marketing your business, you can't say you gave it a fair shot.

Remember this: "It's not the idea that's bad, it's your lack of focus that's bad." Give your idea room to flourish. Water it with loads of outreach and marketing, and if it still doesn't work, it may just need some tweaks. Don't give up so easily. Dig deeper instead of digging a new hole.

3. What would you cite as the big pivot point for your business? A moment that happened inside, or a big win that really made you feel like you were on your way? 

“There are so many women out there I can help, and I’m now much more confident in my ability to find them and market to them online.”

I think the big pivot for me happened quite recently! It was really with the launch of my first course which happened at the beginning of March. I was amazed at how many of my loyal audience members showed up for the webinar, and how many of them said yes to the course! It made me realize how important it is to build relationships and serve your audience well. If you show them how much you have to offer, they won't mind voting with their wallet. Seriously, I feel so grateful for them!

And part two of that pivot is this: I'm focusing on one signature product right now. Instead of going back to the drawing board and creating something brand new, I will continue to market my new course for the next 6 months. There are so many women out there I can help, and I'm now much more confident in my ability to find them and market to them online.

4. What is the accomplishment that you're most proud of up to this point?  

“I have no idea how I got lucky enough to know all of the kindest, most helpful ladies online, but somehow I did!”

I've finally learned my lesson when it comes to focusing, and I can tell you that it has made a world of difference for my stress level, my income level, and my ability to balance my work life with my family.

It sounds strange to list "people" as an accomplishment, but I'm really most proud of the Brilliant Business Moms community! They're amazing! People tell us all the time that our private Facebook group is full of the nicest people around, and that makes me so happy. I have no idea how I got lucky enough to know all of the kindest, most helpful ladies online, but somehow I did!

Seriously, I'm so proud of them!

What Is The Key to Producing "Binge-Worthy" Content?

Why is this podcast binge-worthy? 

I listen to a lot of podcasts. Maybe you watch a lot of YouTube videos or stream a lot of TV shows.

The thing these three kinds of media have in common is that they have the potential to be "binge-able": you can find yourself playing the back catalog for hours until you've heard or seen every minute. 

They feel like a book that you just can't put down. You just have to know what happens. 

When you blog, one of your aims should be to create binge-worthy content. I know it's one of mine.

I don't want to create a blog that just anyone can binge on. I want to create a blog that my ideal client just can't stop reading; she's compelled to immediately start scouring the back catalog. 

How does one do this? 

I thought I'd try to figure it out by looking at my own experience. The shows I've binged on all have one thing in common--a well-defined format. The format allows their audience to know what they will get from the show, and it allows their shows to appeal to a narrow audience. A narrow audience means a smaller audience, perhaps, but it also means a much more passionate, devoted audience.

These are people who love talking about and thinking about your content, who will share it across social media, talk to their friends and family about it. They are advocates. 

One show that I think epitomizes this theory is the podcast Denzel Washington Is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period. The format: review each Denzel Washington movie in alphabetical order.  

That's... pretty narrowly focused. 

But, because the hosts are smart, funny, and in show-business themselves, they are able to discuss an endless array of issues within this frame that involving show-business, race and ethnicity, movie tropes and stereotypes, talent, luck, fandom, making it as an artist, and much, much more.

So, because DWITGAOATP has an crystal-clear format that its hosts are committed to, all those topics don't seem disorganized or unrelated to each other. They all relate back to the show's reason for being. 

I think a blog can cultivate the same kind of following by promising a certain format and then continue to deliver within that framework. 

What do you think? 

How To: Gain Exposure for Your Business in 20 Minutes

"Social media is a two-way street." You hear this statement a lot from social media gurus.

But what does it mean? How should you reply to the grand cacophony of social media users, and how can interacting with people on social media help you find people who love products and services like yours, and connect with them?

Here are the two essential ways you should be making audience interaction a part of your daily routine. 

20 minutes a day 

If you can set aside 20 minutes a day for this, you can do it. I find these 20 minutes by looking at my own personal (non-business) social media channels for 20 fewer minutes each day than I used to. 

It's been worth it. 

Now that you've found the time, here's what to do with that time. 

First, you should definitely reply to comments on the posts that you create on your own social media profiles. If someone asks a question in the comments of one of your posts, you should definitely be responding promptly. 

If that took you 20 minutes, then you can stop here for the day. But if you still have a few minutes left: 

How to "join the conversation" 

You hear people talk about this a lot. A big online conversation is happening! Online! It has something to do with hashtags! You should join it! 

Here's how I think you actually can join into online conversations that matter to your potential audience, and help grow an audience of people who are actually interested in the content you produce. 

Use Hootsuite. Here's how to set it up. 

1. Look at the Twitter and Instagram accounts of some of your favorite current and potential audience members. What are they sharing? What hashtags are they using?

2. Make a list of those keywords and hashtags. 

3. Sign in to Hootsuite.com with your Twitter account.

4. Once you've signed in, you'll be taken to your Dashboard. It may already be populated with several columns. At the top of the Dashboard, click +Add Stream.

5. On the left side of the box that pops up, choose whether you want to look for posts on Twitter or on Instagram. In this example, I'm going to choose Instagram. At the top of the box I choose Hashtag.

If you choose Twitter instead of Instagram, you would choose "Keyword" from the top menu instead of "Hashtag." Otherwise, the instructions are the same. 

6. You can add any hashtag here. Let's say you're a craft brewer (a good example here in San Diego, where there are over 100 craft breweries). Let's say you decided after researching that you wanted to create a stream to follow #SDBeer on Instagram. 

7. The stream is added. Now, every time someone posts to Instagram using the hashtag, this column will update.

How does this help my business? 

There are two really good reasons to use Hootsuite streams instead of just searching hashtags on Instagram or Twitter itself. 

1. You set this up one time in Hootsuite, and it'll be there every time you log in to Hootsuite until you delete it. 

2. You can monitor multiple hashtags at once on both Hootsuite and Twitter. If you see a profile come up in multiple streams, you know that that person has a lot of the same interests as your ideal client. That's definitely someone to follow, double-tap on Instagram, and @-target on Twitter. 

In my craft beer example, let's say that I noticed that user er_in regularly shares photos of craft beers that she's tried on Instagram, but she hasn't talked about my brewery. Yet. 

I could follow her on Instagram and double-tap some of her photos so that she sees my profile in her Instagram notifications. I may comment on one of her photos with an honest comment about how much I enjoyed a particular beer that she's posted.

I wouldn't try to sell her anything in this space. These interactions are strictly one craft beer lover to another.  Maybe she notices; maybe she doesn't. But as Austen Allred points out in his incredibly helpful article Instagram marketing, "Commenting 'Hey, check out my products at @username' is among the worst ways one could initiate a conversation with anyone."

Seriously, go read Austen's article on this.

Use Your Authority to Build Your Business

Starting off a piece of writing with a dictionary definition ranks among the hokiest of openings. But, as is often the case, the dictionary provides inspiration to the fact-checker and copy editor in me. Authority (clears throat): 

: the power to give orders or make decisions : the power or right to direct or control someone or something: the confident quality of someone who knows a lot about something or who is respected or obeyed by other people: a quality that makes something seem true or real

Authority confers power (1), respect (2), and authenticity (3). Establishing your authority is incredibly important when you're building your business. 

Here's one example: over the past few months, I've spoken to a lot of real estate agents in San Diego because my husband and I are thinking about buying a house. We've met them haphazardly, often at open houses. One real estate agent stuck out.

Why?

She didn't wow us with details of the deals she'd brokered; she didn't make promises about prices. She didn't push us with talk of scarcity and a hot market. In fact, she impressed me not by talking about houses for sale at all.

Instead, she talked about the neighborhood she'd lived in for nearly two decades. She was helping to organize a block party celebrating the neighborhood, and in talking to her about it, it became clear she knew her neighborhood inside and out. She knew her neighbors, knew the other agents selling in the neighborhood, knew the schools, parks, and hangouts. She provided that same attention to detail to other San Diego neighborhoods: she knew their histories, their ups and downs, their potential for resale value. 

Her authority earned our trust. We wanted to look at houses with her because she'd proven in conversation that she was an authority on this town.  

How about an online example: Facebook ads. When you see an ad exhorting you to click, sign up, buy, whatever, how often do you take them up on it? If you've never heard of the company, do you go for it? 

When I think about my own interaction with Facebook ads, I realize that one of the only companies whose ads I click on are Amazon's Daily Deals. Why? 

• I've bought from Amazon before

• Every time I buy from them, I get exactly what I ordered, and it arrives on time 

• And most of all, I go for it because Amazon's prices have consistently matched or beat other retailers where I've shopped

So what do the real estate agent and Amazon have in common? 

Trust. 

They've both developed expertise in their respective spaces. Their expertise shows in the way they interact with me, the potential customer. And those interactions have established them as authorities and inspired my trust.  

And this is a lesson that you, me, and everyone else can use. Is there a subject, a place, an industry related to your business that you know a ton about? When you get started on this topic, do your family members roll their eyes? 

That's a topic in which you have expertise. Sharing that knowledge with potential customers, on- or offline, will help you build your authority on that topic. You'll gain power and gain respect in an authentic way--also known as gaining trust. 

PS: My favorite guru on the link between gaining trust and doing business is Ian Altman, who talks a lot about "same side selling." I love what he has to say on this topic. 

How to Blog If You Don't Feel Confident as a Writer

When it comes to writing, I've already shared my difficulty getting started. The truth is, though, I like to write. 

But what do you do if you don't like writing or you don't feel like you're any good at it? 

Tough to write when you’ve just stolen an antique typewriter and a banquette used on the set of Goodfellas. 

Is content marketing—which establishes your authority in your industry and attracts potential customers—still for you? UH HUH. 

Here are three ideas for you to create and share content even if you don’t feel confident in your writing. 

1. Don’t write. Yes, maybe you thought of this one already. But I’m here to tell you that rather than stifle your creativity, try sharing your knowledge using other media.

• Video: Get a tripod for your iPhone, find a spot with good lighting (near a window, for example), hit record, and start talking!

Amy Schmittauer of Savvy Sexy Social has fantastic tips for getting started on camera. Two of my favorites: Don’t forget to look straight into the lens at your ideal client! Imagine her on the other side of the lens. Some public-speaking coaches even recommend taping a photo of your favorite star or crush just above the lens. Uptoyou.

Also, don’t introduce yourself at the beginning of your video. As Amy says, “Give them everything good first,” meaning, start with information on the topic that drew them to your video title. Start with content.  

Embed the video on a blog page on your site, and voila! A blog post. 

• Images: You can also experiment with sharing a gallery of photos with short captions, or a series of charts. Or an infographic. 

Telling people how to do something: How about a step-by-step post with a photo representing each step? Just remember to include the images on your website, and link to them, driving traffic from social media to your website. 

2. Do write, but change your point of view. 

When you come up with a blog post idea, think about the knowledge you want to share from the POV of your potential client. You’re not writing an essay or a short story.

You’re solving a problem. Their problem.

That’s what you got into business to do, right? You saw that you could provide a service or a product better than the way it'd been done before. You have the ideal solutions for your audience—a set of people whose problem you can solve. So, make it about them. How does knowing about this topic make their lives easier? Organize your post around the answer.

3. Find your voice. 

If you’re not a chummy, buddy-buddy kind of guy or gal in person, you don’t have to adopt that tone in your writing. Conversely, if you balk at formality, and your casual style allows you to meet people where they’re at, use that to your advantage.

You don’t have to write like a poet. You just have to know what you want to say. Sharing your knowledge in an authentic way will help you stick with writing, and employing point #2 (what problem of your audience’s are you solving) will help you structure your writing. 

These three tips involve taking the time and allowing yourself the freedom to experiment with new media, a new way of approaching content, and with your voice. 

You can’t take shortcuts to good content, but if you put the time in, you can share your knowledge effectively, even if you don’t love to write.