I honestly feel like the second you try to level up in your business, there’s a new obstacle or challenge you have to face that’s bigger and scarier than the last one. As if the powers-that-be decided they were going to Truman Show the crap out of you for their entertainment.
I can’t prove that AT ALL but some things are far too coincidental to not be perceived as some kind of divine meddling! 🤔
Exhibit A: Only three weeks after quitting my job, my wonderful Macbook Pro decided it was DONE being a loyal companion to my needs and wants and committed the ultimate offence.
A kernel panic.
If you’re not sure what that is, a kernel panic is a system-wide crash that takes down your entire Mac. There’s no warning, no signs and no way to save ANYTHING if it happens.
Of COURSE this would happen now! The irony! I bet the Truman Show gods had a right old cackle about it!
As luck would have it, I purchased an extended warranty when I bought the Mac , so after spending 3 days troubleshooting with an Apple Care Specialist in Australia – a lovely guy named Rohan – it was apparent that I needed to take it in to a tech wizard to get the hardware replaced.
And so I was stranded for 10 days, unable to run my business, suffering withdrawal symptoms, twiddling my thumbs and watching a lot of movies – not that I was complaining.. oh hello Chris Hemsworth! 😏
BUT – and it’s a big one – even without being able to work on my business I still continued to make money.
Yep, each and every day I still made consistent sales and received sales notifications. My favourite thing out of an otherwise crappy situation! But how? Systems, my friend. Plain old boring systems. Here they are:
SYSTEM #1: Automating Marketing
While it takes a little time to set-up initially, automating your social media marketing is one of the best things you can do for your blog and business. Not only does it eliminate hours from what would otherwise be you scheduling updates and scheduling updates and scheduling updates, but it also brings consistent traffic to your blog whether you’re online or not.
If I hadn’t already set-up automated systems for my marketing, I would have had an entire week where I was pretty much invisible to the blog world since I get 65% of my traffic from social media alone.
You can set up social media automation with these platforms:
- For Pinterest > Use Tailwind
- For Facebook > Use SocialBee
- For Instagram > Use Later
- For Twitter > Use Buffer
I usually schedule anywhere between 20 – 50 updates on all platforms a day. I’m not perfect at it. But that’s what I aim to do. Consistent marketing is key!
SYSTEM #2: Setting up an Autoreponder
Setting up an autoresponder early on in your business helps you to do several things:
- Converts blog visitors into subscribers
- Automatically builds long-term relationships with your new subscribers
- Drives regular traffic back to your blog
- Takes a load of continuous work off your shoulders
- Helps you build major credibility in your niche
If you have to go MIA from your business for a while, an autoresponder is a fantastic why to cultivate a bond with your new readers.
How to create an autoresponder:
- Decide on the information you’re going to send them. Is it a course? A round up of your best posts over several days? A sales funnel? You decide!
- Create a lead page and opt-in boxes throughout your blog.
- Create a welcome email that sends to your new subscribers immediately
- Write 3 – 5 emails with lessons, previous blog posts of your best-of round up and schedule them to send over several days.
You can create more than one autoresponder to keep teaching your audience about different topics of your niche. Have fun!
SYSTEM #3: Monetizing my Website
Some bloggers and business owners say to wait to monetize your blog until you have more traffic and readers, but I recommend to start as soon as possible!
If your plans are to make money from your website, then you’re going to wind up monetizing your blog anyway. Therefore, monetizing from the start will save you a lot of time! Here’s how..
Selling your own product in a sales funnel: If you have your own product, you can team it up with an autoresponder to create a mini course that pitches your product throughout it, (something I teach all about in my course Flawless Funnels), this way if you’re absent from your business, your funnel sells for you on autopilot.
Monetizing your blog with affiliate products: Affiliate products are an awesome way to increase your income from your blog. A few ways to do this is by creating a super helpful resources page, scheduling social media posts that link to the affiliate products and going back through old posts and monetize them by linking to relevant products you talk about in your posts.
Implementing ads on your blog: If you’re getting a good amount of traffic, anything from 5000+ pageviews per month then you can definitely make money through ads. Not a ton initially, but the more your traffic grows, the more clicks your ads will get and the more money you’ll make. The best and easiest place to start with ads is Adsense.
SYSTEM #4: Back up your Website & Computer
Oh man, you need to back up EVERYTHING to do with your business. If running an online business is what you do full-time or want to do, it’s your lifeline! I know, because I didn’t. And I’m sooooo so grateful the tech wizards were able to salvage what I thought was the loss of everything I had.
So, learn from me – get an external hard drive and back up your site and computer on to it! You can also use a cloud storage software like Dropbox or Evernote to store items as well. You really don’t want to be sorry!
It’s a fact, we cannot plan or foresee EVERY challenge or obstacle that comes at us in our businesses. But we can take the necessary steps to fully prepare ourselves for when it happens. Whether it’s a personal issue or a technological issue, implement the systems above to help you continue making money when the chips are down.
