The Blogger Genius Podcast

Hi friends. This is Jillian Leslie. I am founder of MiloTree and Catch My Party, host of this podcast. Typically I talk about business growing online businesses and blogs. But today I thought I would do a special episode, because we live in Austin, Texas. So many people have asked me what this experience has been like with this crazy weather situation, I thought I would share what the experience was like. And also some of my biggest takeaways having gone through this. And by the way, we're not through it yet. So I'm recording this on February 19. At 12:15pm in the afternoon. The sun is shining, things are starting to melt. We've been snowed in since Sunday. And we also we have power. But we don't have running water we have our pipes froze. And we know we have at least one leak or hoping our plumber can come today. But we shall see. However, my spirits are a lot brighter, I think because I am hearing icicles falling and just seeing puddles of water for the first time. What It Was Like When it Started So this whole thing started for us on Sunday night when our power went out and temperatures plummeted. And it began to snow. And by Monday morning, again, we had no power, no internet, there was eight inches of snow on the ground and the temperature had gotten down to I think eight degrees. And then we noticed too, that we had no running water and our pipes were completely frozen. So I always assumed because in the past when our power has gone out that it would come back relatively quickly. But that wasn't the case. So all day Monday. Again, no internet, no power and temperatures are plummeting snow on the ground. We can't take our cars out because the streets are treacherous. And we live on a very big hill. So we had to stay warm. How We Stayed Warm And we used our burners on our stove, which was the only thing that was working because our burners are gas, to heat our house. And I know that that can be very dangerous, but really we had no choice. Otherwise, I was heading down to my car to warm up and to charge my cell phone. One thing that I learned is how important a cell charge is even when you have no internet and charging my phone in my car was a slow undertaking. One thing that I will definitely be buying are some external batteries for my phone that I will always keep charged. A couple things that we did that were good. We went to the grocery store the day before because we knew that the temperatures were going to plummet and there was snow predicted, forecasted, we filled up on just some easy food crackers, chips and apples, things like that, which totally came in handy. And we got water we got bottled water. I think now I will always have bottled water in my house. And I will always have just finger food because really that's what we lived on. The first night our house temperature was dropping down into the 40s down into the 30s. So what we did was we piled up a huge, a huge pile of comforters and blankets. And we all slept together. So my family is David, my husband, my partner, I talked about him a lot. And our daughter who's 13 and we just all piled in the bed. And it was warm. I was wearing sweat pants and I was wearing two sweatshirts and a jacket and a scarf. And I had two pairs of socks on. But ultimately that was fine. When Things Got More Difficult It was when we got up in the morning on Monday, when it was really cold in our house, and we couldn't heat our house that things got more difficult, more challenging. It's a little bit like you're on a deserted island. And I think at the beginning you think help is on its way. And then after a little while you realize that maybe help is not so is not coming or it might take a lot longer. I think that's how we felt on Monday. It was starting to get a little depressing. I don't think we were ever scared for our lives. Because we could always just get in some blankets. But I think it was really starting to wear on us and then our heat came back Monday afternoon. I will tell you that I don't think I have ever appreciated heat as much as I did in that moment. It took me forever to warm up, which I thought was really interesting, like hours and hours. Heat is so much more important than running water, it really is. And so at least we had that without running water. What you can't do a shower. So it's Friday, and I haven't showered since Sunday, hoping we can get our pipes back today. If not, I think we'll either shower at our neighbors or even get a hotel room just to shower. But you don't even care. That's the thing, you don't even care. What's harder is that you can't wash your dishes. And you can't really wash your pots. So you don't want to cook and we've been using some paper plates, and plastic silverware. And I recommend that as well. I had to really dig out that stuff. So I'm going to go to the grocery store. Hopefully today and buy more of that. What becomes really important is water. And I think now we'll always have water on hand. Another thing that is super important, our neighbors. I think that I've met more neighbors during this experience than ever before. And you have to rely on neighbors. So our neighbors are the ones who are filling up our water jugs, just so that we can flush our toilets. That is the other thing that you don't recognize when you don't have water. You can't flush your toilets. So every day, we have been trudging up to our neighbors and they've been so graciously filling up like seven water jugs for us. The Fragility of Systems And one thing that I noticed is how how fragile systems are, how complicated they are like the power grid. And now water in Austin is becoming difficult, because so many people's pipes are are bursting. And so all of this water is escaping and they can't clean the water. So right now there's an ordinance where we need to boil water to drink it or to cook with it. And there's even there's some rumors that they might have to turn off the water in Austin. Who would have thought that water would become such a scarce good. I'm hoping to go to the grocery store today. But I've read and heard that there's been a run on bottled water. So we'll see how that goes. At least we have water that we can boil. Another thing that I would say, I will be buying are some gloves, jackets and boots, we have a little bit of that stuff. But here, coming from California living in Austin, we really didn't have it. And I didn't think we would need it. And I think just having it on hand is a smart thing. One other thing that was really helpful was reframing our situation. I think when we were starting to get really down, when things were getting really cold, and we had no internet and no water. I think that my husband decided that we were like pioneers. And we thought that was funny that here we are pioneers, you know in our SUV trying to warm up. How Reframing Our Situation Helped But just reframing stuff, and trying to find the humor in it was so important, like managing our mental states for our 13 year old daughter became really important, and I don't think I've ever appreciated how much that's worth. I do know that of course our thoughts affect her feelings. But I could really see it playing out in real time that if we could make the situation a little bit lighter, it was really helpful. And the other thing that I realized is I'm a planner. And that is incredibly helpful because I am looking for solutions. However, I can also be a catastrophic thinker, and trying to thread that needle can be really tough. And there were times where I wasn't sure what side of that equation I was on. What Survival Mode Is Like Going through this experience. I saw myself in survival mode, and I don't think I've ever really been in it in such a deep way. I didn't want to talk to anybody besides my family. I would text my parents and tell them we were okay. But I wanted to conserve my cell phone battery, but also it just felt like we needed to hunker down. I wasn't reaching out to friends. And what was interesting too, is the ones who were going through the same experience weren't reaching out to me. It's like we all had to just take care of what was right in front of us. I didn't want to be posting on social media. I just didn't know how this whole thing was gonna end. And until we got to the other side, I just had to be on high alert. Time just was suspended. But it also weirdly, went quickly. We did get to play some games, especially when we had no electricity. And we played Exploding Kittens and Coup. And that was fun and did add some levity. And I think that was really good for our daughter, just keeping our spirits up was really important. Because if one of us went down, I feel like it could take us all down. Wanting to Be Anywhere But Here One other observation I wanted to share with you, that I could really see myself struggling with, was this feeling of not wanting to be here in the experience, it felt in many ways, like watching paint dry, being cold and watching paint dry. All I wanted was the snow to melt so that we could get our cars out, which by the way, we still haven't so that we could get our pipes fixed and get our life back to normal. And I noticed I was thinking about how unlucky we were. Why did this happen to us? Why aren't we on vacation, and I was having a hard time just being in it. And so I have this marquee keyboard, where I put up little sayings, inspirations. If you follow me on Instagram, and I highly recommend you do, our account is just @milotree, you will see that this is like a something that's been really meaningful for me since the beginning of the year. And so yesterday, I put up the little saying, "Be where you are," just as a reminder for me to say, you know what, this is my life. And this is my reality. And I don't want to miss this day with my family by wishing it away. And that has really helped ground me that life is uncomfortable. And can I be in that discomfort? And somehow when I was able to think about that, and I walk by this now, multiple times a day, and every time I I see it, and I read it, it, it makes me more grateful for what I do have rather than trying to be somewhere else trying to wish my life away. This will be a story that we will always have a shared experience, we will look back on this. And it will be something that we got through and that makes us stronger. So reminding myself of that, I think has been really powerful. And I think this is one of those lessons that I will have to learn over and over again. But I really wanted to share that. Frequently Asked Questions About Surviving the Storm in Austin I want to also just answer some of the frequently asked questions I got from friends and family who were texting me or emailing me just because I thought it was really interesting what their questions were. Because people were reading about this on the news and trying to understand what it was like. What were we eating? So the first question that I continued to get was: What are you eating? And again, as I had said, we'd gone to the grocery store, we had a lot of snack foods, and we weren't hungry. You're when you're going through something trying. The last thing you're really thinking about is food. We had made brownies the day before. And those were such a treat to still have in the house. But otherwise, you're just grabbing anything and you're not really tasting it. So food was not that important. As long as we could just not be hungry. That's all we cared about. Was it Relaxing to Be Off the Grid? Another question that people asked me was like: Is it relaxing? Because you're off the grid and your Internet's down and there's nothing to do? And the answer to that is categorically No, it was not relaxing. It wasn't like we were all in the bed under the covers having a pillow fight. It was really stressful because you're constantly looking at what problems you have right in front of you and trying to solve them. Especially when it came to heat to internet and of course to water. I think water has been the one where we've really had to figure out what to do. How did we deal with not showering? A final question that I got is: Do I feel gross because we haven't been able to shower when the stress was high. The last thing I could even think about was taking a shower. Now that things are starting to melt. I'm starting to feel really gross and I do want to take a shower. I just reserved a hotel room for tomorrow night so that we can shower because I don't think our pipes are going to be fixed soon. Those were the three main questions that I got asked. I am hoping we're on the other side of this. I want to thank everybody who reached out to me to see how we were doing. I feel really lucky. I know that people had to wait a lot longer to get their power back. I think the worst part of this was being so cold, I think everything else was really manageable. And once we got our heat back, I think we were all so grateful. What this says to me is to be prepared for the unexpected. And to recognize that this is all part of life. And we have an idea of what tomorrow is going to look like. And most of the time it looks that way. And then every so often, it doesn't. And the more flexible we can be I can be, the happier I can be. Because I can't control what happens, I can only control my reaction to it. I hope this was interesting. I have learned now to have water on hand, food on hand, warm clothes on hand, we're looking into whether we get a generator, I will have cell phone batteries charged on hand, I won't let my car gas get low. And I will recognize that we can get through a lot and that we are a lot stronger than we think we are. At least I've learned that about myself and my family. And at the end of the day. I think we've done really well. Please reach out to me at jillian@milotree.com if you have a question or comments. I love hearing from you. And follow me on Instagram at @milotree and you can see my marquee board with my daily inspirations. Also what is coming up on the podcast, what we're building at MiloTree to help you grow your business. And I will be back here next week with a regular episode about exploding your business so that you can live the life you want to live.

I want to talk about why video and showing your face are so important right now. It's because we are starved for connection. In this time when we are isolated and confined, there's no better way to let people in to get to know you. This is why platforms like TikTok are exploding right now. Who doesn't want to see people dancing, showing their personality, and having fun? And this can be such an advantage for you in your business right now, as you try to connect with your audience. To help discuss this, I have Jessica Stansberry on the show. She calls herself a "digital marketing lover, a content creator, and a passive income fanatic." Jessica teaches people how to grow successful online businesses using her big YouTube platform. She is all about sharing herself with audience, advice she recommends you take, too, to grow your own business! MiloTree Social Media Tool Catch My Party Jessica Stansberry Share and Grow Your Traffic FB 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!

Want to know all about the new Google updates and cutting edge SEO strategy to take your blog to the next level? I'm interviewing SEO strategist, Casey Markee, about all this and more. You will see that he is an expert and we break it all down. In this interview, we cover: The best long tail keyword strategy for creating posts How to optimize the "tech" side of your blog How to optimize your content for Google search How you can build external links to your blog to show your authority What is the Google User Experience Update coming in May 2021? Does work count matter in your blog posts? If you want to get your blog into the best shape ever, definitely listen to this episode and reach out at jillian@milotree.com if you need any blog technical help. We'd love to help you! Show Notes: MiloTree MiloTree BlogStart Casey Markee 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!

Yep it's time to discover how to sell and win big on Etsy. We see it over and over again. The bloggers and online entrepreneurs who figure out how to sell products to their audiences are the most successful. But selling products can seem intimidating. And there's where selling on Etsy comes in. We don't think there's any platform better for validating your ideas and setting up shop. In this podcast episode, I'm interviewing Etsy expert, Morgan Nield. And we go step by step talking about: How to find a product to sell How to do customer research How to test your product How to set up your Etsy shop How to market your Etsy shop How to build long-term relationships with your customers so they come back again and again. If you already have an Etsy shop, I bet you'll pick up some good tips in this episode. If you haven't yet started an Etsy shop, I think this episode will inspire you to do it now! Show Notes: MiloTree Catch My Party MiloTree Blogstart Morgan Nield The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Spotify Amazon Music Jillian Leslie 0:11 Hello, friend. Welcome back to The Blogger Genius Podcast. I'm Jillian Leslie, host to the podcast, founder of the MiloTree app, Catch My Party, business coach. And as I like to call myself, business translator. Jillian Leslie 0:28 I take what's working in online business and blogging today. Break it down, so you can use these strategies in your own business. Okay, before I get started with today's episode, I want to invite you to join my Facebook group. It is the Share & Grow Your Blog Traffic group. If you go to Facebook, and you search for Blogger Genius, you will see it show up. And it is a place where we all share links to our blogs, links to our social media accounts, ask questions. Share about our process. It's a really wonderful community, and it will help grow your business. So, please head to Facebook, search for The Blogger Genius, you'll find the group. I've shortened the name to Share & Grow Your Blog Traffic. So, come on over and join. 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!

In this episode, we're talking about how to launch a successful course through trial and error. This is my Part 2 Blogger Genius Podcast interview with HollyAnne Knight from String & Story. If you haven't listened to Part 1, I recommend you do that first. In Part 2, HollyAnne shares how she honed in on free motion quilting as her quilting niche, then how she created her first course teaching quilters. And the course was a success. But the story doesn't end there. HollyAnne struggled launches her course for the second time. So she had to take a step back and figure out how to put all the pieces together for it work. It was a lot of trial and error. But she ultimately figured out how to build out each piece, and her business exploded. Her last launch brought in $100k. And for HollyAnne, this is just the beginning. You'll definitely want to listen to this episode because HollyAnne shares her content strategy, social media strategy, email marketing strategy, and course launch strategy. If you want real takeaways, don't miss this episode! Show Notes: MiloTree App Catch My Party Blogger Genius newsletter The Blogger Genius Share & Grow Your Blog Facebook Group String & Story String & Story Entrepreneur Resources Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Spotify Amazon Music

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.