The Blogger Genius Podcast

Want to know why the blogging riches are in the niches? Today's episode will explain it. I'm interviewing HollyAnne Knight from String & Story, who not only teaches people how to quilt, she teaches free motion quilting, a modern form of quilting. And she's built a very successful business in a very niche lane. HollyAnne shares how, as a way to deal with her postpartum depression after her first child was born, she got started quilting. This lead her to open an Etsy shop where she sold t-shirt quilts. From there, she started blogging about quilting, while she discovered free motion quilting and began honing her skills. She grew a community on social media, an email list, and created a successful course where she teaches quilters how to get over their fears and try free motion quilting. I've split this interview into two parts because we spoke for close to an hour and half. In this first half, we talk about HollyAnne's origin story. In part 2 we get into how HollyAnne built her business. So if you had any doubt about niching down, this episode will make the benefits very clear. Get My 4 Biggest Takeaways from Each Blogger Genius Podcast Episode and Stay Up to Date Want to stay up to date on what's really happening now in blogging and online business? Then please join my email list. Just head to bloggergenius.com and sign up. Once a week, I send you my four biggest takeaways from each episode. It's like a cheat sheet or Cliff Notes.  So, please head to bloggergenius.com and sign up and don't miss a new strategy to grow your business! Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party Blogger Genius newsletter The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group String & Story Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Spotify Amazon Music Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

I'm excited to share my newest podcast interview with Cheryl Garove, from the blog, Grounded by Grace. In her blog, Cheryl doesn't hold anything back. She discusses her food addiction and her family's addictions to drugs and alcohol. She does this with bravery, clarity, and of huge dose of grace. Many people would feel uncomfortable writing so deeply about their struggles. But what Cheryl has done is shed the light on what going through difficulty is really like. And the response to her writing has been overwhelming positive. In these challenging times, Cheryl feels a need to help, as people suffer in shame and silence. Recording this podcast touched me in a way that was very deep. I know it will touch you too. Please leave 5 stars on iTunes Hello friends. Welcome back to the show. This is Jillian Leslie, founder of the MiloTree app. Founder of Catch My Party, host of this podcast, business coach and business translator. I take what's working in blogging and online business today. Break it down so you can use these tips and strategies in your own business. Before I get started, I wanted to read a review somebody left of this podcast, The Blogger Genius Podcast in iTunes. So, it's a woman named MrsDollyMama and she wrote, "I'm so happy I discovered this podcast from using MiloTree. Jillian has such a calming and kind presence and her podcasts are filled with insightful and actionable advice any business owner can take immediately. Thank you, Jillian, for the value you bring to the business community." Well, I am super touched. Thank you, Mrs. Dolly Mama. And please, if you are enjoying the podcast, head to iTunes, and leave a review and hopefully five stars. It helps other people find the podcast. It helps it grow so that I can continue to bring you awesome guests. Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party Grounded by Grace The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Spotify Amazon Music   Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

Happy New Year! For those wanting to up their SEO game in 2021, this is the episode for you. I’m interviewing Marieke van de Rakt, the CEO of Yoast, the must-have WordPress SEO plugin. She shares all about how to get your content to rank in Google. In this episode, we discuss: Why you need to write something people want to read The importance of keyword research before writing your blog post How to optimize your content for the screen How to think about your content hierarchy What cornerstone content is and why you should create some The importance of structured data so Google knows what you’re writing about Why niching down is so important! Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party Six-Week MiloTree Entrepreneur Coaching Group The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group Yoast SEMrush Ubersuggest Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes YouTube Spotify Join Our MiloTree Entrepreneur Coaching Group Starting January 12th And the majority answer was people are really excited to crush it in 2021. If you are one of those people, but you feel uncertain, you need direction, guidance, motivation strategy, please join our upcoming MiloTree Entrepreneur Coaching Group. It's starting January 12. We meet twice a week for six weeks in there's a private Facebook group, and I teach it with David who is my husband, my partner, super cute guy, tech genius. It's a really good time. And the best part about it is you get personalized attention. People ask all the time, "Well, who's this for?" We coach people who are just starting out. People who are somewhere in the middle. Even people who are advanced, but they want fresh eyes on their business. I think the beauty of it is the idea that it's live, and that you get to grow your business in real time with us, and our guidance and be part of a larger community. If this sounds interesting to you. I welcome you to get on a call with me, you can head to milotree.com/meet.  And you can sign up for a time we can get on a phone call. I can hear about your business, your goals, your struggles, and I can share how we can help you get there. If you want to learn more about the group and all the details, head to our landing page at milotree.com/group. I think this is the only time David and I are going to teach this, this year. So, please, if this sounds interesting to you, don't miss out. Also, there is a money back guarantee. Of course, I want you to be happy if you're not happy. I'm not happy. So, there's no risk. Again, get on a call with me. I would love to talk to you.  

I want to announce that if you are ready to grow your blog in 2021, join our MiloTree Entrepreneur Coaching Group, which is starting January 12. This might be the only time we host the Coaching Group in 2021, so don't miss this chance! It's for six weeks. We meet twice a week, live on Zoom. There is a private Facebook group for connection and questions. This group is all about personal attention. David and I roll up our sleeves and get to know you and your business. If you want to learn more about it head to MiloTree.com/group. Please read the testimonials. If you want to get on a call with me, to see if the group is right for you, I am home this week and next. Head to Milotree.com/meet and you can schedule a time to chat with me so I can hear about your business -- your goals and struggles -- and I can share how we can help you grow your blog. Hear what one of our past members had to say: “Oh my goodness. Everything in this course is GOLDEN for entrepreneurs wanting to take their blog and/or business to the next level.  I have never been coached the way Jillian and David do. Not only are they super encouraging, but their actionable strategies WORK. I changed the entire course of my business within the 6 weeks, doubling my revenue in that time frame.  This course helped me discover my “special sauce,” and pairing that with the perfect audience has caused dramatic changes in the way I view myself and my business!“ Kaycee Geeding ROOST AND RESTORE Now for the episode! It's true! The riches are in the niches! Today’s guest on the podcast will show you how to easily monetize a niche blog. Cassidy Tuttle is the founder of Succulents and Sunshine, a blog solely devoted to the care and propagation of succulents.  Sounds too niche, doesn’t it?  I think you might be shocked at all that Cassidy has been able to make money with her blog: products, courses, and more.  To read the entire transcript head here.

This episode is one of my most popular from 2020. It explores how  Lauren McManus went from a blogging failure to massive success.  I find Lauren’s story interesting, especially the part where she and her business partner started a blog that didn’t go anywhere. Not everybody hits it big with that first try. After the failure, they started another blog that was a huge success by all standards.  This time they listened to their audience and built content and products that they knew people wanted. They followed that success with a business teaching others how to grow online businesses.  Before the pandemic, Lauren lived as a digital nomad. She traveled the world while running her businesses. In fact, she joined me for this conversation from Chile.   

Here are my 9 ways to get your blog off on the right foot in 2021. After a crummy year, I'm starting to feel much more optimistic about the New Year. So, I recommend you take this time during the holidays to get yourself prepared to jump in in a new way come January. Some of the ideas I present relate to mindset shifts, like believing in abundance and focusing on your audience's needs over your own. While, some of the ideas I propose are strategic, like figuring out what you can sell to your audience, getting comfortable showing your face on video, and joining our next six-week MiloTree Entrepreneur Coaching Group to grow your business in real time with our help. If you want to jump on a call with me to discuss your goals for 2021, and how I might be able to help you, please click this calendar link and schedule a time. I'd love to connect with you and help get your ready for what's to come! Show Notes: MiloTree Catch My Party MiloTree Six-Week Coaching Group Blogger Genius Facebook Group Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Amazon Music Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

What is Pinterest saying now to be successful on the platform? I’ve got Alisa Meredith from Tailwind back on the show for her fourth visit. She is a dear friend and alway willing to share the most cutting edge news about Pinterest. As we all know, Pinterest wants “new content” on the platform. But what is new content? Back in February this was a new pin. Now they’ve now come out and said that a new pin connected to a new URL (a new blog post) counts as “new content.” So does this mean you need to blog every day to be pushing out new URLs? Or that your old content won’t work on Pinterest anymore? Absolutely not. Listen to the episode now, to understand how you can still have a lot of success driving traffic from Pinterest. Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group Tailwind Tailwind Facebook Page Pinterest Creative Agency Advertising Guide Tailwind "How to Create New Content for Pinterest" Tailwind Create   Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Amazon Music   Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

If you listen to this podcast, you know I talk a lot about how to write content that attracts your ideal audience. If you listen to this podcast, you know I talk a lot about how to write content that attracts your ideal audience. I think of my content as the top of my purchasing funnel. If I can get it right, I've set myself up for success—whether that be selling MiloTree subscriptions, selling coaching or workshops, collecting an email address, or getting someone to join my Facebook group. But the question is how does I come up with the right content on the first try, without feeling like I'm throwing spaghetti and the wall and seeing what sticks? My guest, Shondell Varcianna, a professional content creator for the banking industry, shares her tips for figuring out what type of content your audience is looking for. She shares about the importance of keyword research, spending time in Facebook groups in your niche, making yourself easy to find online, and interacting with your ideal customers one-on-one. Shondell demystifies content creation so you can spend more time creating, less time guessing, and have much more success growing your blog or business. Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group Shondell Varcianna Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Amazon Music Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!  

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I'm releasing a guided meditation on gratitude. Given how strange and unsettling this year is, I thought intentionally focusing on something positive in our lives—all things we're grateful for—could help make this time a little easier to stomach. My hope is that this will offer a few minutes of peace and calm. Just recording it, offered that to me. It's so easy to feel overwhelmed right now, and for those celebrating Thanksgiving without family, this can be a deeply lonely time. I feel it myself. I miss my parents and my normal life desperately. May this meditation help us all remember and cherish the blessings in our lives, as we invite them to our Thanksgiving table. If you enjoyed this meditation, please reach out to me at jillian@milotree.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts.   Show Notes: #136: SPECIAL EPISODE: A Guided Meditation on Perfection Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Amazon Music Guided Meditation on Gratitude Given that it's Thanksgiving week, and this year is a little unusual. Instead of talking about business and blogging, I wanted to offer up something a little different to help with maybe some of the unsettled feelings we're all having. This is my second guided meditation. I did my first meditation on perfection a few months ago, and I'll link to it in the show notes. If you're interested. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this meditation is on gratitude. Find a comfortable place where you can sit down or lie down and close your eyes. And let's start breathing. Breathe in and out. And in and out. On this breath, picture, a giant wave crashing over you. So, ready, breathe in. A giant wave crashes over you. And as you exhale, the water retreats, and so does a little bit of the tension you're holding in your body. So, let's try that again. Breathe in, let the wave crash over you. And as it retreats, exhale feel a little more tension, leave your body. Let's do that one more time, breathe in. Feel this wave crash over you. And as the water retreats, a little more tension leaves your body. And now, let's scan our bodies because there are usually some extra places where we hold tension. When I mentioned a place, see if you can relax it just a little bit more. Let's first focus on our eye sockets. Can you feel them relax just by focusing on them? And now let's move down to our jaws. We tend to hold a lot of tension in our jaws. Oh, feel it relax. And now, let's move down to our throats and to our shoulders. And to our solar plexus which is the spot right under your ribs. Like if you got punched in the stomach. That's where your solar plexus is and just put a little softness there. Let's move down to our bellies. We tend to hold a lot of tension in our bellies. So, see if you can soften it so, that you have soft belly. Ah. Let's move down to our hips and to our thighs and to our calves. And now focus on your feet and see if you can flex them really hard. And then point them really hard. Oh, and then let it go. Let them just melt. So, now, as we start talking about gratitude, I want to invite you to open yourself up to receive guidance, wisdom, almost like you're an empty vessel. Let's start with the breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. And now please repeat these words in your head. And I want you to see what shows up. Ready. I am grateful for, what materialized? What popped into your mind? So, give it a second. Visualize it. Is it a certain person, pet, thing, event experience, maybe a circumstance? Who or whatever it is, please welcome that into your heart. Surround it or them with love. And give thanks for playing such an important role in your life. Then invite it or them to your Thanksgiving table. Let's do it again. Please repeat the words, I am grateful for in your head and see what materializes. Was it another person? Again, a pet, experience? Whatever it was, welcome this person or this thing into your heart. And invite it to take it or them to take a seat at your Thanksgiving table. And let's do it one more time. Please repeat these words I am grateful for and whatever pops into your mind, hold it or them in your heart. And again, invite them or it to join you at your table. Now think of a challenge in your life that you have overcome. It could be an illness, a circumstance or relationship. Feel your bravery. Build your inner strength for getting to the other side. And welcome that challenge into your heart. Thank the challenge, thank your strength. This has helped transform you, helped you evolve. So, invite this experience to your table. Now, think of someone in your life. Who could use a little grace, a touch of kindness. A little bit of love and warmth right now. Who in your life is struggling? And in your mind, hold them tight. Send lots of love their way and invite them to your table. Are there other people who might need that little touch of grace? If so, invite each one to your table, surround them with love. And now as our final act of gratitude. Please welcome yourself into your heart with all your strengths, and all your weaknesses. Your fears, your loves your foibles, your best qualities, your worst qualities, the whole package of who you are without judgment. Please thank yourself for being uniquely you. Nobody else is like you. And thank yourself for hanging in there in this unusual time. Thank yourself for showing up in whatever way you've been able to. Please, place your hand on your heart. And feel the lifeforce inside you as you breathe in and out. And in and out. Feel how alive you are in this mysterious incarnation. Now, sit yourself at the head of your Thanksgiving table and look around at all that you are grateful for. And those that you love. And please take this in. So, let's breathe together. Let's breathe in and out. And in and out. Notice the abundance people experiences, challenges. Know that this is life and it isn't always easy. And a lot of times, it's messy. And it's also a deep and beautiful mystery. And we keep showing up. For that, let's give thanks and let's celebrate. When you're ready, wiggle your fingers and your toes. Feel yourself coming back into your body. And when it feels comfortable, open your eyes and notice the subtle shift that has taken place. I wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you again next week. 

Want to learn how to drive enormous traffic to your blog? Today I'm talking with Melanie Ferguson from Southern Crush at Home for a Part 2 interview. Melanie starting focusing on her blog about a year ago, and since then has grown it large enough to be accepted into the ad network, MediaVine, which has a minimum of 50k sessions per month. You will learn the strategies Melanie used to leverage her large Facebook page to grow her blog.   I was impressed with how strategic she was at directing her traffic from social media to her blog. Because building a business on Facebook is like building a business on rented land, we talk about the value of making your blog the hub of your business, and treating all the other areas as spokes. We also talk about the importance of showing your face on video to build your community of fans. Melanie share all her best tips for going live. And even she admits that it still feels weird, but gives her reasons for doing it and why you should consider it, too. If you are looking for concrete strategies for driving traffic and engaging with your audience, this is the episode for you! Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group MiloTree BlogStart Southern Crush at Home Southerncrushathome.com/sixfigurefollowing Mediavine Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Amazon Imagine a world where growing your social media followers and email list was easy… If you are looking for ways to grow your community whether that be email whether that be social media, right now head to Milotree.com install the MiloTree app on your blog and it will do the work for you. Let it do the heavy lifting for you. Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!