Marc's Blog

There are lots of businesses you can start easily from your own home. There are businesses that you can get off the ground for little or even no investment.  All you have to do is find out what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. 

To establish what you are good at, you need to make a list. List all of your strengths and weaknesses and from here you will be able to narrow down business opportunities that are right for you. Making a list that includes your personality traits will allow you to see opportunities that suit your lifestyle and most importantly your personality.

One of these opportunities that you may be interested in pursuing could be becoming a life coach. If for example you are passionate about supporting others, and helping others to achieve success, then why not create a life coaching business. Start up costs are minimal, especially if you set it up from the comfort of your own home. As a coach you will get to meet lots of diverse and interesting people along the way. It is ideal if you love and thrive on networking, meeting new people and helping people be the best that they can be.

Skills and Traits Needed to be a Successful Life Coach

Helping others achieve success is super rewarding and can be quite addictive. Some of the traits and skills listed below will allow you to be the best life coach you can.

1. Dedication – All your clients will be different and so you must be dedicated to helping them achieve their goals and aims no matter how challenging.
2. Focus – Do not try and do everything. A successful life coach builds up a good core network of other professionals that they can turn to, be it nutritionists or even business advisors.
3. Persistence and Perseverance – No two clients are the same, and so no two have the same needs. You will need to persevere with clients who may struggle to change or adopt processes you are teaching them.
4. Organization – You will be juggling lots of things including other people’s work and emotional baggage and so it is very important you are highly organized. Having things cluttered and in a mess is not going to help you or your business succeed.
5. Drive and Direction – Keeping going even through the rough patches – having a clear direction and path to go down is a must. Supporting your clients requires drive and direction. Your drive and direction to succeed will positively rub off, and influence your clients.

Building a brand and a reputation as a trustworthy life coach will of course not happen overnight, but over time it is achievable. Take some time out to plan who your target audience is, pay attention to trends, and follow closely what clients are looking for in a coach, and you will not go far wrong. Finally it is important to take some time out for yourself. Coaching other people is emotionally and mentally draining. Looking after yourself, eating right, exercising and putting your mental well being first is crucial to your success, and longevity as a life coach.

Launching a podcast is exciting. You get to embark on a new project that enables you to meet many people along the way whether it be the guests you interview or the people who listen to your show.

When most people think about launching a podcast from scratch, they get overwhelmed with all of the moving parts. A podcast launch can be as simple or as complex as you make it, but it’s important to focus on implementing each individual step rather than the entire picture.

If you’ve ever considered launching a podcast, this article will provide you a shining path you can use to go from idea to launched podcast.

Start With The Topic

Some podcasters in the making want to launch a podcast but aren’t sure which topic to choose. If you’re using your podcast as a business, ask yourself what topics you have no problem talking about for the next 10 years.

If podcasting becomes your main source of income, you won’t want to stop in the middle of the journey. Continuing to host a podcast becomes more difficult if you stop enjoying the topic or the topic becomes less relevant (i.e. if your podcast is centered around a fad).

If you already have a business, connect your podcast with your business. If you teach people how to paint, host a podcast around painting. The podcasts that are easiest to monetize are the ones connected to existing businesses. That way, you can promote your services to your guests and listeners and start making money before you land your first sponsor. 

Get Guests On Your Show

Once you figure out your podcast’s topic, the next step is getting guests on your show. For the sake of momentum, it’s important to reach out to guests before you figure anything else out…even the tech or how to be a great host.

This is how I launched Breakthrough Success after failing at two previous podcast launches and giving up on them halfway. When you reach out to guests and some of them say yes, you’re suddenly committed to learning the tech and how to be a great host within a limited timeframe.

It’s a hard deadline you force upon yourself, and we all perform better with deadlines.

When looking for initial guests on your show, look for other podcasts in your industry and reach out to people who have guested on those shows. These people have already been on podcasts and understand the experience. If you can, interview fellow podcast hosts in your show’s early days as you can ask them for feedback after the interview and know that you’re getting an expert opinion. 

You can also reach out to friends and colleagues to be on your show. As you get more comfortable with interviewing guests, get more specific about the types of guests you’re looking for. 

Some people use their podcasts as lead generation resources and interview guests who fit within their client avatar.

Selecting The Right Hosting Platform For Your Podcast

Before you start recording interviews, it would make sense to determine where these interviews will go. Which platform will you use to publish your podcast?

While there are many options to choose from, my two favorites are Libsyn and Captivate. Libsyn is better if you’re only looking for basic stats and publish 1-2 episodes each week. You can start a podcast on Libsyn for as little as $5 per month. The price increases based on gigabyte storage, so uploading many episodes to Libsyn each month may force you to select a higher package.

Captivate is a better option if you want to start multiple podcasts, want some extra assets, help with marketing, and more detailed analytics. Captivate starts at $19/mo and is based on downloads. If you have 3 podcasts that get a combined total of 5,000 monthly downloads, you pay $19 each month versus having to pay $5 per month (or more than that) three separate times on Libsyn. This can add up if you have to select higher packages on Libsyn.

However, if your show becomes massively popular, you’ll have to pay more on Captivate although you should be getting sponsors at that point.

If you want to save some extra money with Libsyn, you can use the coupon code Breakthrough to get the rest of this month and the following month for free.

Get Comfortable With Zoom

Zoom has become a popular choice amongst podcasters and podcast guests. Consider doing a practice recording session with a friend so you fully understand how to use the platform.

You will have to provide each guest with your Zoom link and password so they can properly join the meeting. Also, make sure you record the interviews. Forgetting to record the interview will result in a lot of time wasted from you and the guest. 

You can either automatically record Zoom meetings once they start or manually hit the record button when you are ready to go. I prefer the latter option as this makes editing much easier. You can keep a sticky note nearby that says “Record” so you won’t forget. 

Prep For Each Interview

Preparing for an interview isn’t as challenging as it sounds. All you need is a topic, your guest’s bio, and some questions. It’s common for beginner podcast hosts to write some questions in advance, but as you get more experienced, you should stop writing questions in advance.

If you don’t write questions in advance, you are forced to listen to your guest and come up with questions based on how the conversation flows. This will also reduce your prep time.

Using a calendar app like Acuity or Calendly or Sprintful to schedule interviews will significantly speed up the communication process and allow the guest to provide their bio for you. I copy and paste the topic and bio the guest gives me and then don’t have to do any prep work for my episodes. 

The Post-Production

Once you record an episode, the last steps are editing the episode, writing show notes, uploading the episode, and then publishing it.

I suggest starting with very basic editing where you just cut out the beginning and end. If there is a notable blip in the middle of an episode, you should cut that out as well.

You can speed up your editing and show notes writing process with the Podcast Show Notes Workbook. This workbook is essentially a cheatsheet for every episode where you can write down important points you want to incorporate in your show notes and the timestamps for your editing.

For instance, if someone makes a mistake in the middle of an episode, it’s better to know they made the mistake at the 15 minute mark than just “somewhere in the episode.”

This Show Notes Workbook allows me to write show notes without going back and re-listening to the episode, a big time consumer for most podcasters.

All that remains is uploading your podcast episodes to Libsyn or Captivate and then publishing them when the time is right.

Podcasting is as simple or as complex as you make it, but if you follow these strategies when launching your podcast, it will get easier and yield more results over time. 

Want to learn how to launch, grow, and monetize your podcast. Discover the ultimate podcasting tips and strategies that will help you with all of your podcasting goals!

Writing a book is easier said than done, and that’s not even the hardest part. Not only will you have to write your books, but you’ll also have to promote them to an eager audience that you build over time.

Your work routine will make or break your career as an author, and regardless of what you write about, productivity is a key skill to master. If you want to write more books and boost your sales in the process, incorporate these 7 productivity tips into your workflow. 

#1: Write First Thing In The Morning To Build Momentum

When you wake up, you have the most momentum. Nothing crazy has happened yet and the meetings and other activities are usually clumped together later in the day.

It’s important to wake up and start writing because this will provide you with momentum for the rest of the day. The way you conduct yourself in the first hour of the day plays a large role in what your entire day looks like.

Writing first thing in the morning makes it easier to stay focused and continue writing throughout the day. 

#2: Write With Zero Distractions

When you are writing, remove distractions from your environment. Make sure your phone is in a different room and your Wi-Fi is off.

These are two of the most common distractions that can derail any writing routine. The next time you get distracted during a writing session, take a mental note of what distracted you. Then, figure out how you can remove that distraction during your next writing session.

You might have to write in an isolated room in the house and let your family know that you’re writing at a certain timeframe. You can make more progress with 30 minutes of concentrated effort than with 2 hours of distracted effort.

#3: Listen To Music While You Write

Music can help you tune out the other noises around you and make for a great writing session. It’s best to listen to music without words as the purpose of this music isn’t for you to jam to your favorite song. 

The purpose of this music is to just help you stay focused. Find a certain theme you like, put on the headphones, and tunnel vision your way through your next writing session.

#4: Outline Your Book In Detail Before You Start

Every minute of preparation saves about 10 minutes of time. Preparation helps you know the direction of your book. Not knowing the direction of your writing risks falling into a stop and go routine.

In a stop and go routine, you write until you don’t know where to proceed. You stop, gather your thoughts, and then go until you have to stop again.

This inefficient writing approach can chew away at your time and leave you with very few words added to your book. Taking 15-30 minutes to outline your book from start to finish will save you a lot of time in the long run.

#5: Do Keyword Research Before Writing Your Book

Productivity for authors isn’t just about writing your book from start to finish. Productivity also includes book marketing and ensuring your content reaches more readers. 

Before you start writing a book, do some keyword research to increase the odds of your book being a success. Some keywords have lower competition and higher demand than others, and it’s important to find specific keywords that give you a better chance on the Amazon algorithm. 

You don’t want to spend hours writing a book that goes on to get no sales. Keyword research prior to writing the book helps you to avoid this dilemma. 

You can use a resource like Publisher Rocket to do detailed keyword research so your next book is a winner.

#6: Repurpose Your Content 

In between writing and promoting your books, you also have to produce free content. The free content helps you build your brand and attract potential readers.

Many authors struggle with writing their books and producing free content. One of those two tasks usually gets discarded and you end up with books that don’t get enough sales or free content that doesn’t lead people to a high converting offer.

Content repurposing is the game changer that allows you to write books and produce free content simultaneously. You can take passages from your books and turn them into blog posts. You can create videos and use the edited transcriptions in your book. 

Repurposing your content allows you to get more mileage with the same content, and it will mightily help you on your quest to becoming a full-time writer.

#7: Grow Your Email List To Scale Your Marketing

Marketing your book to an email list of 10,000 people produces very different results if you only have 1,000 people on your email list (assuming both email lists had equal engagement percentages).

The dream scenario for any author is to have an eager audience you can easily reach with a single email. This is the scaled version of book marketing that allows you to do less work to get more book sales.

Every author should strive to grow their email list and make it a top priority. Including a call-to-action at the start of your book offering a free resource in exchange for an email address, mentioning a free opt-in page at the backend of your book, and partnering with fellow authors are some of the many ways to grow your email list.

Email list growth is the best way to grow your audience and get more book sales. 

Want to learn how to make a full-time income as a writer? Get your copy of How To Become A Full-Time Writer today.

Earning your first dollar as a writer is a magical experience. It’s the first step to realizing the goal of becoming a full-time writer and getting paid for your content.

It’s not soon after this experience you’ll start looking for ways to diversify your income. Rather than heavily lean on one income stream, you’ll want a few income streams as solid back-ups.

Having multiple income streams also makes it easier to become a full-time writer. But what are some of the different income streams we can choose from? Here are 5 popular income streams for writers.

#1: Write Books

It’s easier than ever before to write your own book. You can self-publish your book through Kindle Direct Publishing and start collecting royalties. Each book can earn sales through the royalties and direct readers to other parts of your business.

Some authors use their books to promote their products and services, turning a reader into a $1,000/mo client.

Before you write a book, set some goals for that book. What do you want the finished book to do for your career? Some authors make a full-time income just from the book royalties. Having a business model at the backend of your book speeds up the process to becoming a full-time writer, but some authors do just fine with the royalties.

#2: Write Medium Articles

I started writing Medium articles in 2020, and it didn’t take long for me to realize what I had been missing out on.

Medium rewards quality content and allows you to get paid just for writing articles. Medium has many paying members, and they distribute some of those proceeds with the writers. 

Some people make 5-figures each month from Medium, and although that’s the exception rather than the rule, reaching $100 per month on the platform is very doable. In my first month of taking Medium seriously, I earned a little over $300 and the earnings have gone up from there.

The best way to grow on Medium’s platform is to look at popular content in your space. Use other people’s content as your model for creating content that caters to Medium readers. I pay $5 each month for Medium’s Premium membership for researching purposes, and it’s helped me come up with great writing ideas.

#3: Include Calls To Action In Your Content

I hinted at this strategy when talking about self publishing, and it’s an important strategy to incorporate for all of your content. At the end of my blog posts, I tend to promote one of my books.

On Medium, I almost always promote my YouTube channel as I want traffic to bounce around from platform to platform.

When you come up with article ideas, think about how you can connect them with your business. Part of the reason I wrote this article is because I have a few books designed to help writers grow their platforms and create more content (you can see my books here).

If you write about a topic often, create products around those topics. You can create training courses, books, services, coaching, merchandise, and other products around the topics you cover in your writing. 

#4: Write For Others

Not only can you make money writing content for your own platform, but you can also make money writing content for others. Many business owners understand the importance of creating new content but don’t have enough time to create new content.

You can list your services on Fiverr and submit applications for writing jobs on UpWork. As you get paid by other people to write for them, you can have a bigger safety net as you write content for your own brand.

Over the long term, it’s better to make a full-time income writing for yourself than writing for others. That’s because other people can change their minds about hiring you for additional work, and there’s a cap to your earning potential since you’re trading time for money.

#5: Copywriting

Copywriting is a writing skill that helps you sell products. Some business owners will pay a high price for the right copywriter, but even if you don’t write other people’s copy, you should develop this skill.

It will help you sell more books and get more clients. If you are serious about becoming a full-time writer, you should definitely buy a book on copywriting such as How To Write Copy That Sells.

Copywriting in its simplest form is understanding who your potential customers are and writing a product description that keeps them in mind. There are various nuances to copywriting, but that’s the basic sense of what this writing skill entails.

Want to learn how to make a full-time income as a writer? Get your copy of How To Become A Full-Time Writer today.