SEO is something we all know we're supposed to do. So we get the Yoast SEO plugin, name our images with relevant keywords, follow some of the tips from Yoast and aim for the 'green light' from Yoast (I won't get into readability right now, because as I've been testing posting my emails as posts and those never get a decent readability score, but we'll leave that for another conversation). Deciding to re-focus my efforts on a solid content strategy led me back to looking at SEO and what I can do to improve what I'm doing (or simply do it correctly... no shame here, it is what it is). If you're going to take the time to create content, share it and go so far as to do content upgrades (again, that's for another conversation), then isn't it worth it to make sure your content continues to work for you after you've hit publish? Needless to say when I started diving into all of this I knew who I wanted to talk with. Rebecca Gill of Web Savvy Marketing I've been following Rebecca and her team at Web Savvy Marketing (full service agency that also sells their own Genesis child themes) and have had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca through a mutual friend, Carrie Dils. Not only is Rebecca wicked smart when it comes to SEO but she's pretty fun too (and I've only connected with her through Skype calls. I have no doubt she'd be a blast in person). I'm going to be jumping into Rebecca's DIY SEO Course soon and will be blogging the journey (what I'm learning, data beforehand, etc.). I've been holding off jumping into the course because I know I need to set a certain amount of time aside to implement everything (mind you... the longer I wait the less optimized my site is, right? #assbackwards). Regardless, that will be happening this month (November, 2016). Questions I Asked Rebecca What were you doing before you launched Web Savvy Marketing? Can you share what Web Savvy Marketing is with the listeners? What does your agency do? What made you decide to create a DIY SEO course? We've all heard "SEO is dead"... what's your take on this? If you could recommend people do one thing with SEO, what would that be? You've got an SEO even coming up in January with Cory Miller of iThemes and our lovely friend, Carrie Dils: Is this your first event? What made you decide to host a live event? What's going to be covered? What can people expect? What's coming for you & Web Savvy Marketing in the next year? What You're Going to Learn Why SEO isn't just about getting a 'green dot' on your content (or a green 'Y') Where you should start if you're new to SEO Why SEO & content should be a primary focus for your website What free tools Google gives you and why you should use them ( nothing like a little free data, right?) What SEO can do for conversions on your site and in your business Why you should attend the live SEO event (O.K., this was more me plugging than Rebecca) Where to Connect with Rebecca Website | Twitter | Facebook

I don't know if this is a distraction or real issue I need to solve. Well... it's probably a little of both. Let me back this up a bit and give you a little 'why' behind this so-called dilemma. I have done my fair share of setting up membership sites with WordPress plugins. I've used most at one time or another but tend to go back to Wishlist because I have a developers license for it (probably not the best reason, but hey, I can be practical once in a while). Last December like much of the rest of the online world I was anticipating the release of "New Kajabi" because I was tired of using different tools and piecing solutions together (we've all been there, right? After you have the website sorted, then you add the membership plugin, set up the payment gateway, connect it to your auto responder, create your landing pages... sheesh. Makes me tired just thinking about it and I know how to do all this stuff). So I jumped in with both feet. Purchasing New Kajabi that is. I had set up a new community (now defunct... I've learned a lot about myself in the past year, but I'll try not to go too sideways with that) and after I got the hang of it things seemed to be O.K., yet for some reason there was a disconnect. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful platform...I just found I never really wanted to login and do what needed to be done (and no, I'm not going to hire someone to do that for me). Then I though, I'll move my WordPress Genesis for Beginners course into New Kajabi... start selling that again. Only I didn't. I even moved the Selling with WordPress course Jon Perez and I had done into Kajabi. I still didn't sell it (or promote it). Why? That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Before I get into the mindset issue here, let me share a few of the other platforms and options I've looked at and tested: What is it with Kajabi that I cannot wrap my head around? I don't know... but I'll let you know soon enough because I have a call with them tomorrow. Now that I'm doing these 'daily emails' I'm getting better at posting them as blog posts as well (more on that in a minute). I recently shared something about my decision to NOT renew New Kajabi in December and lo and behold I got an email from someone at Kajabi today asking if I would be up for a chat. They saw I said I was leaving and they wanted to get some feedback and see if they could keep me if it was a possibility. Not too shabby on the customer service side of things if I do say so myself. And here's my two cents on customer service in general: You can ALWAYS find someone who has had a crappy experience with a company and you can ALWAYS find someone who has had an amazing experience with a company (O.K., most of the time. Just play along with me, k?). It's kind of like cars... some people hate a certain brand of car because they had a lemon. You can also find someone who has only bought that brand of car because they've been so reliable. Anytime you have people involved you're going to get a variety of experiences and opinions. This is something you have to decide for yourself. Here's what I'm doing before my call with Kajabi: First, I'm going to go through all their latest updates (they're kind of kicking ass with updates. #justsayin). I'm going to go through the blog (obviously I can't read everything since the call is happening tomorrow), log back into my site and spend some more time with the platform so I come to the call with less than "I don't know what my issue is".... and ideally, get the points of disconnect connected! When I started thinking about the benefits of using Kajabi it's a no-brainer. Everything in one place, I don't need to lay anything out, sales pages, checkout pages... they're all there. It's also ONE place for my customers to login if they've purchased more than one product from me (novel idea. Teachery actually does this too). It will save me $300 a year on Wistia (you get a Wis...

Social Warfare is one of those plugins that you need to dive a little deeper into so you can understand what makes it different than all the other social sharing plugins. I had actually bought Social Warfare a while ago, had an issue and forgot to go back to it (issue was nothing major). Like many of you I'm sure, I've tried multiple different social media plugins over the years. Not all the social media plugins have the same result (some are for sharing, some are for connecting, some are for data... you get the picture). Part of making the most of any plugin that you use is understanding the bigger picture/ end result. In this case, it's not just about having options for social sharing on your site. It's about understanding how the different social media platforms work, what works better on different social networks and how you can maximize them for connection and results. Not only did I have a great time talking with Dustin, I learned a ton from all of his wisdom and experience. Questions I Asked Dustin Before we get into Social Warfare, can you share your background with the listeners? How did Warfare Plugins come about? Social Warfare is a popular plugin - what made you guys decide another social sharing plugin was needed? What were some of the challenges & struggles in launching a premium plugin company? What would you recommend to someone in this space? What's your business philosophy? What's on the horizon for Warfare Plugins? Wait until you hear the simple thing that made a huge difference with the Pinterest sharing feature in Social Warfare. Initially Dustin wasn't putting too much attention on Pinterest. Until he learned what he needed to do differently with Pinterest. He implemented a few changes that were recommended to him by friends in the social media space and saw a HUGE difference in the traffic from Pinterest. Within 1 month he saw a 300% increase. A year later he saw 1000% increase in his traffic from Pinterest. What I want to point out with this is we're not just talking about shares... we're talking about traffic. Which every website needs. What You're Going to Learn How Social Warfare doesn't slow down your website The biggest issues Dustin wanted to solve with Social Warfare (what made it different) The human psychology behind Social Warfare (and why it works so well) How Dustin became a well known name and trusted authority in social media and content creation Who influenced Dustin and how his own personal journey was the driving force Why Dustin feels every piece of content should be written for one person Where to Connect with Dustin & the Social Warfare Team Website | Facebook  | Twitter Links From this Episode Warfare Plugins Dustn.TV John Saddington Desk App Pomodoro Technique

Elementor Page Builder is fantastic! Yep... another front-end visual page builder for WordPress has joined the scene (even though it seems like these tools are coming out overnight, I can assure you these take a lot of time to build and test). Personally, I couldn't be happier. Maybe that's because I'm not a developer... many developers are anti-page builders. That's fine. They're not for them. Page builders have been built for users and people who want to get things to market quicker (and more efficiently). Asking a developer to endorse a page builder is like asking a vegetarian to endorse a hamburger. It's an argument that is irrelevant. And now that we got that out of the way, let's jump into Elementor. When I first saw Elementor I was really impressed with it. It has a really smooth UI, tons of features in the free version and is really easy to work with. Needless to say I was excited to have Ben Pines on the show. I'll definitely be doing a full post, review and video on it... but I didn't want to hold up the interview any longer (I have a list of 7 posts to write, so it will be coming soon). Elementor is created by the team at Pojo.me and Ben Pines is the CMO. Questions I asked Ben Fill us in on how you connected with the team at Pojo? Why did you decide to join the team? Visual builders for WordPress are getting much more popular. What made you decide to create Elementor? What makes this different from other visual builders? I'm sure you have this question before, but Elementor is free. How are you guys going to monetize this awesome tool? Where do you see page builders heading? Features of Elementor You're Going to Love Where to find Elementor & Connect with the Team Website | Twitter  | YouTube

The last few months in my business have been interesting to say the least. And by interesting, I mean good. I've been taking consistent small action in a number of areas in my business and the results are paying off. Every day. And I love it. Before we get into 'How to Be Your Own Case Study & Profit in The Process', let me share a little bit of how this all came up. I've been sharing with you guys a little bit about my affiliate journey on this site and on the Freedom Papers Podcast site (which by the way is getting a complete brand makeover, but more on that in another episode. Let me just say that the decision didn't come lightly but it's one we're really excited about). When I made the decision to start shifting away from service work (and by the way, if you're a current client please know that I'm not abandoning anyone. This is more about who I choose to work with and the type of work I choose to do) I had to step back and get clear on what I DID want to do (yes, this is uber obvious, I know). This is the beauty of making changes. It requires you to find a different perspective on things and fortunately, my personal life provided that perspective. The most obvious choice for me was to increase my affiliate income on The WordPress Chick. You've heard me talk about CPA marketing and affiliate marketing with niche sites and through things that aren't related to this brand, but I've calmed down about that. It's still something I'm going to pursue but not right now. Trust me though, there is a method to my madness. I have to admit that as I acknowledge all this it seems so obvious... the problem with obvious is that you have to be in the right frame of mind to see it. And I wasn't. The changes I was going through in my personal life were a little consuming (I'm sure you guys were as sick of my house move as I was). But hey... that's one of the reasons we run our own businesses, right? So we can live our lives too and not have our schedules dictated by what someone else dictates. Now that all of that is behind me and I'm settled in my new place, I feel a fresh excitement and clarity with everything. Yes everything. My business and my personal life. For the sake of not boring you, I'm going to stick with the business side of things today. Let's talk about Being Your Own Case Study When I got into my first big mastermind group the model was: Create a case study, record a video, drive traffic to an opt-in page so the lead can then watch the case study video, then get them to apply for a strategy session where you can offer a high ticket service. Simple enough, right? But what if you don't have any case studies? You go get them. What I did at the time was send an offer to my list stating that I was looking for case studies (I never said it would be free). I got about 8 responses immediately to my email and I set up the calls. Of the people I talked to I got 3 to sign up for a 3-month coaching program so I could get some results. At the time I also had two other coaching clients so I was gaining traction with what I was doing. From there I created my 'case studies', made my case study video and went into promotion mode. This was in late 2013 so Facebook ads were much cheaper, but it worked. From less than an $90 ad spend I made $500 in strategy session calls ( I charged for the appointment) and $10k in coaching clients (this was paid over a 3 month period). The next time I did case studies was for my Influence Podcasting program (done-for-you podcasting). We produced podcasts for 3 different people (show, show notes, website... all of it) at NO charge so we could get this process down. Only one of those people is still doing their podcast but it's worked extremely well for him (he got a $5k coaching client within the first two months directly from the podcast). We built our systems and ironed out the bugs in doing that. The trick with podcasting is that it's a marathon...

This post is brought to you buy Sitelock I've been talking about Content Upgrades for a while now. Not that I'm an expert by any means, but it's definitely a focus and something that I have first hand experience with. And it works. I don't quite remember when I first tested using content upgrades (it was a while ago)... actually, I think it was when I created a PDF for a tool called Reachly (they don't exist anymore) that was for Pinterest. It was the early days of Pinterest and I was using it quite a bit (more for fun than for marketing) and when I came across Reachly (which I think eventually became Pinerly), I fell in love with it. It had a beautiful interface and was super easy to use. I have no idea what inspired me to create the PDF, but I just got caught up in the moment and went to town. I had heard about content upgrades before but hadn't paid too much attention to them. At the time I had an opt-in offer on my site but was not focused on building my list (more on that in a bit). First, let's talk about what a Content Upgrade Is I know... it sounds pretty obvious, but there are a few different schools of thought on the matter. Some might tell you it is only when you provide more/additional content that is relevant to the content the visitor is reading /consuming. For the sake of keeping things simple, I'm going to say a content upgrade is anything that provides additional value to your visitor. Meaning, if you have amazing content that your reader might want to reference in the future, then providing that content in the form of a downloadable PDF is helping them (I don't know about you but I suck at bookmarking things and coming back to them. I just don't want to do it, so instead I save links and rarely go back to them. I know... doesn't make much sense). Keep in mind though if you're going to copy & paste a post into a PDF for easy reference, simply be transparent about it. Don't position the opt-in like they're getting something more. What I've done in the past is something like "If you want to download this post for easy reference click the button below" (or however I've linked to it). Personally I prefer creating something additional to the original content. It gives you more credibility with your audience and creates an asset for you in the process. Content Upgrades aren't just PDFs I think the default for creating a content upgrade is something in the form of a PDF, usually an ebook or guide. Here are a few other options for content upgrades (and yes, I know some of these are in the form of a PDF but think 'not an ebook'): If you're stuck with what type of content to create for your content upgrades (I'm starting to feel like I'm keyword stuffing here with the amount of times I'm using the word content), take a step back and think about what would help you the most. One thing I find most helpful is an actual example of when something has been used or implemented. Take this podcast & post as an example (this literally just came to me as I was writing this). I'll be including some tools and resources for content upgrades below. I could (can?) easily create a downloadable PDF with links to all the tools, a checklist for the process of creating a content upgrade (which may vary depending on what tool you're using) and maybe a video with one of my favorite tools (this could actually be a product to sell.. hmm... maybe I'll just include the checklist ;-) ). I could also include the audio download of the podcast for easy reference (no point in making someone come back and listen to it, right?). How you do this depends on your own personal creative process. There are times when I get ideas out of the blue (when I'm not at the computer) and I'll send myself a note or save a note in my phone so I don't forget it (the joys of getting older), but most of the time my creative juices start flowing when I'm doing the work.

This episode is sponsored by Sitelock Yes folks, she's back. Holy moly though... a lot has changed with Carrie since she was on the show last (she was episode 7! One of my first guests and I was/am super appreciative of that). Fast forward a few years and knew I needed to have Carrie back on. Her business has exploded (my words) since we spoke last. She's created more products, creates Genesis tutorials for Lynda.com (how awesome is that?), runs the OfficeHours.FM podcast and spent some time working with Crowd Favorite. Oh... and she has added speaker to her list of accomplishments (I haven't had the pleasure of seeing/hearing her speak but I can only imagine it would be awesome). We talked about the disconnect that happens when you want to shift from freelancing to something else. Carrie had some great insight as to why this happens (which tends not to be for one reason only) and of course I had to get a little esoteric with her (I don't know what my obsession with that word is lately). This conversation went in a whole bunch of different directions with this conversation... and let me just tell you... you will be laughing. Carrie is not only uber smart, but she's pretty damn funny (I was laughing throughout the interview and again when writing the show notes). Questions I Asked Carrie Since we last spoke you had gone over to Crowd Favorite and are back working for yourself again. I have a couple questions regarding that shift for you. First, what brought about the decision to work for Crowd Favorite and then what made you decide to go back to working for yourself? When I was on your show last, we talked about changing directions and shifting gears with business. Obviously WordPress isn't going anywhere... where do you see opportunities for people in this space? What do you fee are some challenges with running a profitable business in the WP space? Where do you think the disconnect happens for people who are freelancing and decide they are DONE? Since you've been online for a while, how do you think the landscape has changed and is changing? Where do you want to take your business? Anything you'd go back and tell yourself, say 5 years ago if you wanted to dispel a little wisdom?   What You're Going to Learn  Where the landscape is headed for opportunities in WordPress How to pick your own space within WordPress How funny Carrie is (yes, I thought that was worth adding here) Carrie's thoughts on marketing and where she can step it up How Carrie's podcast, OfficeHours.FM has helped her business The struggle of keeping sponsorship going with a podcast To say I adore Carrie would be an understatement. I'm sure you can tell by listening to this show that it was a ton of fun and Carrie is a wealth of knowledge. Where to Connect with Carrie Website | Podcast | Twitter

This episode is brought to you by Sitelock If I could bottle up the energy of the Merrymaker Sisters I would do it in a heartbeat. I first discovered Emma & Carla Papas (aka, The Merrymaker Sisters), through Dan Norris. I had a feeling based on their name that they were going to be a blast to talk to  (which they were) and I loved what they were doing. I loved their story of getting out of dieting and how it changed their lives. They made a conscious choice to get off the merry-go-round and eat whole foods, stop pushing themselves at the gym and start enjoying their lives more. Novel idea, right? Their story into finding what was right for them (from a health perspective) really helped them shape their business in the process. Their story truly represents the saying "ignorance is bliss". They simply kept going with what was working and continued to share it. Their business continues to grow (cookbooks... a new book coming out in October! and a private membership). Emma & Carla are a huge inspiration and I know you're going to love the interview. Questions I Asked Carla & Emma Before we get into your business today, can you share what you guys were both doing before launching The Merrymaker Sisters?  I'd love to hear more about your story of getting fed up counting calories & fad diets (amen!)... where did you go to start changing things? When did you decide to take your business online? Explain what your business is all about? Your blog & content seems to be a mix of lifestyle, health and business (which I love). How has that worked with your audience? You also launched a podcast... how's that going? What are some of the ways people can work with you? What's on the horizon for The MerryMaker Sisters? What You're Going to Learn How they went from government jobs to their dream business How they came up with the brand (the name took 5 minutes) but the brand took time to grow. What Merrymaker actually means How they've allowed their interests to evolve and shift their business in the process Why they let their audience change and grow with them What allowed them to stop dieting (stepping into Paleo), feel great and start shifting into a whole food diet How they found a new way of living... and how it created a business Where to connect with The Merrymaker Sisters Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

This episode is brought to you from Sitelock. When I was coming up with this post title and I decided to go with 'Google Money' I had sort of a scary thought. That 'Google Money' probably isn't as far fetched as that sounds, right? I mean... we have bitcoin (although I can't say that I totally understand bitcoin). Then of course if you're a fan of Mr. Robot there's e-coin (I think that's what they call it). But since we don't live in the fictional world of Mr. Robot nor is Google creating its own currency... let's get back on topic. If you've been listening to this show (and hopefully Freedom Papers), you know that one of the things I've been talking about a lot lately is the 'Acres of Diamonds' idea. Meaning, what do you already have that could bringing you income but you're sitting on it or not even aware that it's there? I think as business owners we're so close to our own stuff that we forget to take a step back and look at what we've created or accomplished from a different perspective. I know I did that... and still do at times. But not as often as I used to. So what is Google Money? In this case, it's Adsense revenue. I finally took a harder look at my YouTube channel and have begun doing some tutorial videos again (I got away from them over the last year and a half because I didn't like Camtasia for the Mac and couldn't really get into Screenflow, until the recent update. Which I love). I had always put my videos up on YouTube but never dove into what I need to do to ensure they were optimized and working for me. The videos were working for me in terms of building an audience and people connecting with me but there was so much more I could do. Which is when I reached out to my friend Steve. Who I knew had a much better grasp on YouTube and what I should be doing. I knew I wasn't interested in becoming a 'YouTuber', nor did I want to go buy some huge YouTube course. I simply wanted to do a better job with what I had already uploaded and would be uploading. Remember, I'm not trying to create more work in my life... no more hustle for this chick. So after having Steve take a look at my channel and what I was doing wrong (which was really more about what I wasn't doing) I followed a few simple suggestions of his and went about my happy way. Then got a #notifcationofpayment from Google. I had just received a $120 payment from Adsense for the month (i.e., Google Money). Thank you more please! I have a decent amount of subscribers and views. Of course now I have to go back and tweak all my previous videos, but that's O.K., that's the kind of thing I can do at night when I'm watching TV (I've gotten pretty good at knowing which tasks I can do when). This is a perfect example of 'Acres of Diamonds' in action. My Favorite New Tools You guys know by now that I'm a complete geek about finding tools and plugins to use. As I write this I'm wondering if this is something I should bring up with my therapist?... kidding of course. There are a couple new tools and plugins I've been using a LOT lately and decided it was high time I share them with you. You'll be hearing more about each of these in individual posts or follow up podcasts (I have a couple interviews done with a couple founders), but I didn't want you to have to wait until those posts went live. The first tool I'm having a ton of fun with is actually a WordPress plugin, by one of my favorite companies, Thrive Themes. Thrive Headline Optimizer This isn't a new plugin by any means (although it was released this year, so it's kind of 'newish'), but I've finally started using it more. It's about as easy as it gets too. You enter your headline, then you can enter additional headlines (you can split test two or as many as you'd like). Thrive Headline Optimizer will then alternate showing the headlines to different visitors. You get to decide how long you want to run the test for,

This episode is brought to you by my sponsor, Sitelock. Plugin development goes much deeper than the technical side of development. My guest, Gordan Orlic of WebFactoryLtd. went deep with me in this episode. Gordan and I connected through something so simple... and yet not many people do it. Email outreach. Gordan and his team at WebFactoryltd. have been selling their plugins through the Envato Marketplace for a while now and they've made a decision to start transitioning out of that marketplace. When he emailed me to see if I was interested in talking with him of course I said yes... I'm fascinated with the premium WordPress marketplace (plugins, themes and tutorials...it doesn't matter. And it's exciting to see it growing). Gordan and his team have a bunch of plugins over at Envato (CodeCanyon... to be specific) and definitely have their work cut out for them (but it will be well worth it). Questions I asked Gordan Before we dive into WebFactoryLtd., can you share what you were doing before you launched WebFactory? When did you decide to launch WebFactory? What would you recommend to someone who wants to get into premium plugin development? Why are you and your team moving away from Code Canyon? How big is your team? How do you market your plugins? Tell us about the white label plugin side of your business? What You're Going to Learn How the pricing models are shifting in the WordPress premium marketplace Why Gordan & his team are leaving Envato Why paying for support is necessary Who should actually be using Code Canyon The real cost in keeping your plugins up to date and compatible What the process is for moving off of Code Canyon What Gordan really thinks about Code Canyon's support The new WordPress news site Gordan & his team has launched Some of WebFactoryLtd.'s plugins: Google Maps Widget Optin Ninja Security Ninja Super Agency 5 Sec PayPal buttons Core Scanner .... and more! The first plugin that Gordan and his team have moved from Code Canyon is the Google Maps Widget... which makes it super easy (literally... you won't be banging your head against the wall trying to figure this out), to add a Google Map to your website.   Where to Connect with Gordan Website | Twitter | Facebook