Launch Your Blog Biz

In this episode, I'm sharing some brand NEW content -- straight from our updates on our Six-Figure Course Creator course that I'm working on right now. It's all about the pros and cons of selling products on marketplace platforms like Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare, Udemy, etc. We're big proponents of selling your products on your own platforms like Teachable, Clickfunnels, Kajabi, etc. But you can make really great money selling on marketplace platforms too. It's just really important to have the right expectations in place when you sell on these types of platforms. Episode Highlights For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website. P.S. The above text contains affiliate links, which means that we receive a commission when you purchase from these recommendations. This is no way affects what we recommend but it does help support our podcast and the content that we share at Create and Go! For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

In this episode, I'm sharing some brand NEW content -- straight from our updates on our Six-Figure Course Creator course that I'm working on right now. It's all about the pros and cons of selling products on marketplace platforms like Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare, Udemy, etc. We're big proponents of selling your products on your own platforms like Teachable, Clickfunnels, Kajabi, etc. But you can make really great money selling on marketplace platforms too. It's just really important to have the right expectations in place when you sell on these types of platforms. Episode Highlights For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website. P.S. The above text contains affiliate links, which means that we receive a commission when you purchase from these recommendations. This is no way affects what we recommend but it does help support our podcast and the content that we share at Create and Go!

We have something exciting to share with you today - our first ever VIDEO podcast! You can watch the video on YouTube here. As many of y'all know, we've been spending the last couple of months updating our blogging courses - from scratch. These updates feature us fully on camera for the first time. In honor of these content upgrades, I think it's only fitting that we finally record one of our podcast episodes on video too! As I was thinking about these updates, I thought it would be great to get Noah back on the podcast to talk about some of the updates in the SEO world - ahead of our SEO course updates. Consider it a little sneak peak of sorts. The rise of AI writing tools like Jasper (our favorite) has brought with it a need for change in the Google algorithm. Now that everyone and their grandmother can write blog posts about any topic in the world, in a fraction of the time, Google needs to be even better at making sure helpful content stays at the top. Their Helpful Content Update was designed to do just that with these two key components: Sounds pretty obvious while also being pretty vague, right? Watch or listen to our latest podcast episode to learn more about the helpful content update and what this means for the current and future SEO landscape. Episode Highlights For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

Today’s topic is actually one that was requested by Greg. In the last episode, I mentioned at the end that if anyone had any topic suggestions that they wanted to share, please do so. You can comment below on this episode page and share your thoughts or suggestions! At first, I wasn’t sure about this topic of motivation over discipline. My brain immediately went to “avoiding procrastination” and I think that’s a very high-level and over-discussed topic. We all know to procrastinate less and put in more work, right? I’m also a pretty disciplined person. I always have been. So my first thoughts were also that maybe I'm not the person to help here when it comes easily to me. But then I realized... Wait, it's not always easy for me. So, I thought about how I feel when I'm struggling with discipline. What DO I feel and WHY do I feel it? What’s hindering my discipline? Maybe this is different for everyone, but I do think that what I'm sharing in this episode can help everyone in some way. We're here today because motivation is the easy part. It's easy to get motivated for a new diet, to learn a new language, or to even start a business. What's not so easy is turning that motivation into discipline to follow through on your desires and intentions. Sure, having a plan helps tremendously. But it's more than that. That's what we're discussing in today's episode. Episode Highlights For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

Finding some stability in your online business can be really tough in a get-rich-quick-ai-enhanced world. It seems like there are 5 billion side hustles out there and every 5 minutes, you're getting an ad or a post from someone making $5,000 doing something online. But what does this mean for business sustainability? A lot of these side hustles and platforms provide income and traffic that come in waves. But what happens when the wave crashes? Sure, you can pivot to the next hustle. Been there, done that. It can be really profitable, but if you don't do it right, it's certainly not going to be sustainable. We're very much living in a time right now of quantity over quality and I think it sucks. There is way too much shitty content on the internet and on our phones and on our TVs, and it's because of us. It's because we spend too much time on these devices and this is what makes others profitable. How do we ensure that we are building our business in a sustainable way that is going to survive the next 2-5 years and beyond? That's the real question and this is what I'm talking about in the latest episode of the podcast. Episode Highlights: Additional resources and show notes For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses and what you bring to the table in your business is so important. Identifying the characteristics in your personality that make you really great at a particular task and also what makes you not so great at other tasks can help you remove blockers to your growth. Sometimes and for some people, this can be really easy. But in some cases, people have huge blind spots when it comes to the areas they are lacking in. This isn't about pigeonholing yourself or creating limiting beliefs around the things you suck at. It's about identifying what you're GREAT at, knowing that this is where your strength lies, and knowing where to fill the other gaps. This applies to whether you’re running a business by yourself or as part of a team – and it’s also good to know this because it can help you understand your colleagues better. Episode Highlights Additional resources and show notes For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

Since Noah bought out half of Create and Go, we have been super hard at work on new content - YouTube, podcast, and course updates. It's all very exciting but not always easy. Noah has definitely felt a huge responsibility stepping into an already-established business and learning where he fits in as a new owner. We've been cutting costs and taking on the responsibility for almost all of the work again as we begin to rebuild our foundation from the ground up. I'm talking about everything except for customer service and some affiliate program management, which is still handled by Cathy Dean on our team. But down to every video edit, thumbnail, and email... We're back to basics for the moment as we decide what's truly important in this business both for ourselves and especially for our audience. Sometimes, that's just necessary in order to move forward in the right direction. There have been some struggles along the way and definitely some burnout here and there. Noah is on the podcast today talking about taking navigating new responsibilities in the business. We're also sharing some insight into our thought process for what's going on right now in the business. Episode Highlights Additional resources and show notes For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

We are [FINALLYYYYY] back with another episode of the podcast – after a 1 year and 4-month hiatus. Wow! This hiatus wasn’t necessarily planned, although, at some point, there was a conscious decision to drop the podcast from our priorities. I never recorded anything to let y’all know that we were going to stop recording episodes. Actually, I did record an episode and then I deleted it. I’ll explain more about why in this return episode. But it saddens me to know that we went from being a really big inspiration to our audience to kind of a ghost town somewhere along the way. We never actually went anywhere. I never stopped working on the business, but I let myself fade further into the background because of a lot of personal and business-related reasons. The truth is, I lost my mother and I very nearly lost my father as well. Alex and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on much as business partners anymore. We became pretty terrible co-parents to the business. Our lives were just on different paths with different goals and that’s okay and to be expected but our business has suffered because of it. But a lot has happened in the last year and a half. Noah, our SEO and YouTube manager, bought Alex’s ownership in Create and Go! Since then, Noah and I have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to rebuild the foundation of our business to make it stronger than ever! To hear the full story of what has happened over the last year and a half as well as what we’re working on now, listen to the latest podcast episode! Episode Highlights For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. For more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

029. Hey, y’all! This episode is a little different from my usually-at-least-somewhat-planned-out content. Sometimes I actually script out entire episodes because I have a lot to say on the topic and I want to make sure I say it right or say everything I want to say. But this time, it’s the opposite. I had 3 words written down in my notes before I hit the record button: Ads, Redesigns, and Rebrands. The truth is that I’ve been super bogged down by a lot of difficult things going on in my personal life. Both of my parents went into the hospital around Thanksgiving of last year. My mom passed away and my dad damn near did too. Because of all of this, it’s been hard to find the time or desire to create a creative space in my business these past few months. I’ve been trying to keep my head above water and juggle a lot of personal stuff. Long story short… this episode is just an honest chat about some of the things I’ve been prioritizing lately. They're not flashy or particularly exciting topics, but advertising and optimizing your products is an important part of any business--especially if you’ve hit the stage of growth that we have. Today, I’m sharing some of our experiences with paid ads for our blog, including using an ads company for almost a year now. I’ve also been spending most of my limited work time on redesigning our sales pages, and I’ve found a helpful work-around for improving the sales pages within Teachable, which should lead to higher conversion rates. Finally, I’m talking about why I’ve rebranded one of the courses, and what that means for our students. So if you’re dealing with any of these business steps right now, or might be in the future, I hope the info and experiences I’m sharing today will help you in that process. What I’m talking about in this episode: Six-Figure Course CreatorFor additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: LeadPagesTeachableSix-Figure Course CreatorHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

028. I have some exciting news to share today: I sold a website! Well, okay–Alex and I sold our first website together. (Technically it’s our second website, but we don’t count our first failed website for obvious reasons.) If you’ve been following us at Create and Go for very long, or if you’ve taken any of our courses, then you’ve definitely heard us mention the blog we’re talking about today–Avocadu, our health and wellness blog. It’s crazy to think about how a health + wellness website I started with Alex after we met on Tinder changed the whole trajectory of my life. We wouldn’t have started Create and Go without this first successful website. I definitely wouldn’t be talking to all of you on this podcast. And I probably wouldn’t have met my husband, most of my friends, moved to Germany, or had anywhere near this much financial freedom. This website is truly my first business baby, and deciding to part with it was no easy task. So join me today as I take a look back at this journey, and how it changed my life. I’m also sharing some helpful tips and resources for those of you who might be thinking about buying or selling a blog, including our favorite marketplace for doing that. In this episode, I’m discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: Avocaduteam pageHealthy AmbitionsYouTubeTikTokInstagramPinterestFacebookEmpire FlippersHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

027. If you’ve ever found yourself hesitating at the starting line… Or suddenly feeling unqualified to present your content… Or deciding you just need to do x, y, and z, and then you’ll get started… You’re probably struggling with imposter syndrome. Almost all of us experience imposter syndrome at some point or another, whether you want to give it that label or not. It’s that little voice in your head that says, “Can I really do this thing? Am I really qualified? Will anyone actually like this?” It keeps a lot of people from ever getting started. I still struggle with it–although I do a pretty good job of hiding that in most of my content. And that’s a big reason why I wanted to record this episode–because I guarantee you that even the most successful, confident creators you follow sometimes feel imposter syndrome, too. So today, I’m sharing my experience with imposter syndrome, and how you can learn to recognize it so you don’t lose momentum on your journey to blog biz success. In this episode, I’m discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone This YearHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

026. Ok, y’all–it’s time to talk about the big, red elephant in the room: Pinterest. The platform we all love to hate. All the changes to the algorithm, video pins, idea pins, pins without links…it’s all so frustrating and enough to make you think about dropping Pinterest altogether. Most content creators (including us), have been negatively impacted by Pinterest’s many changes–especially over the last year. And it has left us all wondering… Whyyyyyyy!!!?? Is Pinterest even worth it anymore? To help answer these questions, I’m speaking with someone whose entire business is focused on driving traffic from Pinterest–Kate Ahl of Simple Pin Media. Kate has been on Pinterest twice as long as we have, and is deep in the Pinterest trenches all day, every day–so she has a lot of valuable insight and perspective to share. I know the Pinterest changes are frustrating, and it’s easy to just dismiss Pinterest as a viable traffic source when you see your numbers dropping. But while getting traffic from Pinterest isn’t quite as easy as it used to be, it can still be an incredible source of relevant, high-quality blog traffic–if you know what you’re doing, and are willing to stay flexible and determined. In this episode, Kate and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: SimplePinMedia.comThe Simple Pin PodcastThe Simple Pin Media BlogIs Pinterest Still a Search Engine?Simple Pin Media on PinterestPinterest Traffic AvalancheHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

025. Making money from a new blog can take quite some time. It took us months before we finally turned a profit on our health and wellness blog, and y’all already know about how our first blog failed miserably. But just because it can take a while to start making money blogging, doesn’t mean it has to. Our student, Amira Irfan–business lawyer, blogger, and coach at ASelfGuru.com, is the exception. Amira made $1,000 from her blog in her very first MONTH. She made her first $10,000 in 4 months, and has since earned more than $1,000,000 in a single year with her online business.. And she didn’t achieve that quick success by accident, or by luck. Amira definitely put in the work, including doing a ton of networking and collaborating. But what really set her apart was that she didn’t let fear or perfectionism hold her back from making important strategic moves. So today, Amira and I are taking a deep dive into how she was able to make her blog profitable so quickly, and how she has achieved such a high level of success. We’ll also be digging into Amira’s specialty–the legal side of blogging–and how you can protect yourself and your blog biz. In this episode, Amira and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: ASelfGuru.comFacebook GroupLegal TemplatesNew ADA Compliance BundlePro Blogger BundleHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

024. Happy New Year, y’all, and welcome to 2022! It’s that time of year again… Lots of people are making resolutions, setting goals, and planning for the brand new year ahead. So today, I’m taking a deep dive into the place where growth happens: Outside of your comfort zone. Getting out of my comfort zone is something I’ve always struggled with, both personally and professionally. The pandemic definitely hasn’t helped matters for me, and I’ve been finding it more difficult than usual to put myself out there. But I know from experience that growth doesn’t happen in the safety of your comfort zone, and I don’t want my business or my personal life to stop growing. So, we continue to push forward. If we don’t, that little world will take up more and more space, until you’re isolated in a prison of your own making. So if you’re ready to make this your year of change, growth, and personal and professional improvement, you need to figure out where the boundaries of your comfort zone are, and push yourself past them as much as possible. In this episode, I’m discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: From $206k in Student Loans to Super Successful Entrepreneur (with Natalie Bacon)How to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

023. Well, y’all, we finally made it to the end of 2021! And what a year it was… Everyone said 2020 was really rough, and it was in some ways. But financially speaking, it was a great year for us. So, naturally, we went into 2021 expecting more great things. And we definitely created some awesome things: our podcast and new SEO course. But we’ve also hit a few speed bumps this year. Overall, it was a year filled with a lot of change and a whole lot of learning and adjusting. There were a lot of opportunities this year for me to get discouraged, but I did my best to keep my mindset in check and continue looking forward. It’s about more than positive thoughts. It’s about being flexible, learning how to adapt, and trusting in your abilities. Every year, I like to reflect back on the ups and downs, the wins, the failures, and everything in between. It’s the only real way to pave the way for new growth. I encourage all of you to take a few moments to listen and reflect with me, and make sure you’re starting your new year with the right mindset and direction. In this episode, I’m discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: Launch Your Blog BizPinterest Traffic AvalancheSEO Blueprint for BloggersSix Figure BloggerPro Blogger BundleHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

022. Do you ever wonder about the sustainability of a business like this? The evolution and growth that you need to make this work in the long-term? I certainly wonder about it pretty often… If you do too, you’ll want to stick around for a minute today. Many of you that have followed us for a while are familiar with Natalie Bacon’s story: $206,000 in student loan debt to very successful blog (500k+/year). She’s another classic case of someone that started a blog with a few ideas and then found a way to monetize it and turn it into a full-time career. Natalie quit her job as a full-time lawyer (with all that debt) and took a job and a paycut as a Certified Financial Planner to have more time to work on her blog. We’ve shared Natalie’s story before, as she was our first student to reach six figures after taking our courses, and has since become a great friend. But today, I’m diving deeper into Natalie’s story and you’re going to get to hear more about how she started. But also… We’re talking about what’s going on now. Transitioning from selling traditional online courses to membership programs and overall long-term, sustainability in the online business world. I personally loved recording this latest podcast episode with Natalie because I also am finding myself at a turning point in my business where I’m often wondering what’s next and what direction I want to take to ensure my business is successful in the coming years... In this episode, Natalie and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: NatalieBacon.comDesign Your Dream LifeAppleSpotifyStitcherSix Figure BloggerHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

021. The beauty of running an online business is that you can do so in the comfort of your own home. In your pajamas, yoga pants, whatever your jam is... You can create your own schedule and really just do you every day. If that sounds like an introvert paradise to you, you’re not alone! For introvert Mia Brox of She Dreams All Day blog, blogging seemed like the perfect way to express her creative side and make some extra income, while staying out of the limelight. She even launched her blog in secret, and didn’t share her name or picture with her audience for quite a while. But eventually, she realized if she wanted to grow her blog to the next level, she needed to create a personal connection with her audience--which meant actually sharing more about herself as a person. Mia has been a Create and Go student since 2018, has taken all of our courses, and is one of our favorite success stories. With the skills and knowledge from our courses, plus a lot of passion and determination, she was able to grow her blog from fresh start-up in 2018 to making over $10,000 each month in 2021! Today, Mia is sharing how she went from anonymous blogger to popular YouTuber and business coach, and how you can do the same. In this episode, Mia and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: SheDreamsAllDay.com@shedreamsalldayMia Brox: Introvert Life & MindsetLaunch Your Blog BizSEO Blueprint for BloggersPinterest Traffic AvalancheSix-Figure BloggerHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

020. Earning six figures is a pretty big motivator, but you know what’s even more compelling? Needing to pay off six figures worth of debt... That’s exactly what Debbie Gartner of The Flooring Girl blog was facing back in 2016, when she lost her flooring company, and suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of impending financial doom. Debbie actually started her first blog to help her get local clients to her physical business. She was a flooring consultant that helped people, mostly women, navigate the complexities of choosing and installing new flooring in their homes. She didn’t have a care or a thought in the world about actually monetizing the site itself. But through a series of unfortunate events (that she can’t even discuss in detail due to a non-disclosure agreement), she found herself suddenly with no job, almost no money, and more than $238,000 in debt. Oh, and to top things off, she lived just outside of New York City, so she needed to be making $10,000 a month just to manage the debt and put food on the table. *Cue the panic attack!* With few options in front of her, Debbie turned to her online blog for answers. She didn’t know anything about monetizing it at the time, but she had learned a lot about SEO in her efforts to use her website to bring in more physical clients to her business. So, from there, she learned. And through a lot of hard work and what Debbie refers to as “grit,” she was able to: Debbie’s journey to blogging success was anything but smooth, and she’s sharing all the gritty details with me in today’s podcast episode. In this episode, Debbie and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: TheFlooringGirl.comDebbie’s books, courses, resources, and moreDebbie’s free SEO courseDebbie’s free Amazon Associate guideSix Figure BloggerHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

019. We’ve probably said this a thousand times now, but we made some big mistakes with SEO when we first started Create and Go that still haunt us to this day. In our last episode, we talked about our dark history with SEO, and how Noah and Alex managed to dig us out of the hole we accidentally made for ourselves. Y’all, I can’t tell you how much it hurts me to think of all the time, effort, energy, and money we could have saved (and how much more successful we could be even today) if we hadn’t blown off focusing on SEO in the beginning. It wasn’t that we didn’t know SEO was important (although we didn’t realize exactly how vital it was). But we were doing so well with the traffic we drove from Pinterest and YouTube that we figured SEO was something we could focus on later. We kicked the can down the road, and boy, did it come back to bite us! Our strategies with social media were great in the short-term; but every blog needs a plan that includes SEO, or you won’t make it long-term. Period. Today, Noah and I are going over: Ignorance might be bliss, but y’all...knowledge is power. And SEO knowledge is the most powerful and valuable knowledge you can have in the blogging world. We want you to empower you to get this right the first time, get an SEO strategy in place, and avoid making the major mistakes we made. (But if you’re like us, and have already been kicking the can down the road, you can still fix it!) In this episode, Part 2, Noah and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: SEO Pt 1: Do You Need an SEO Strategy for Your Blog? [With Noah Riggs]SEO Blueprint for BloggersBlog SEO: 10 Step Beginner’s Guide to Ranking Blog PostsSEO for Beginners: 10 Steps to get More Organic Traffic to Your BlogHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.

018. You know what they say… Ignorance is bliss. We made a lot of SEO mistakes when we started Create and Go. But for a while, we were blissfully unaware of those mistakes. For a long time, we didn’t even care about SEO. Pinterest and YouTube traffic were enough for us. But when we did start caring… yikes, that was a tough road to go down. It became apparent pretty quickly that some things were just wrong. And it took us a full year to really figure them out and get on the right path again. We owe most of this credit to Noah Riggs. Noah didn’t have any SEO experience or background before he started working for us. He learned all of it along the way -- working with Alex to right these wrongs. After a year of deep-diving, hard, focused work learning everything they could about SEO, Noah and Alex were able to: It wasn’t easy, but for us, it was SO worth it. This is part 1 of a 2-part series on our SEO journey. In the next episode, Noah will return again to give us the biggest SEO mistakes he sees people making along with a couple of the specific mistakes that WE made along the way. In this episode, Part 1, Noah and I are discussing: For additional resources and show notes, visit the episode podcast page on our website. Resources and Mentions: Blog SEO: 10 Step Beginner’s Guide to Ranking Blog PostsSEO for Beginners: 10 Steps to get More Organic Traffic to Your BlogSEO Blueprint for BloggersHow to Start a Successful BlogFree 5-Day Blogging BootcampFor more information and resources, check out the podcast page on our website.