Marc's Blog

5 Tactics To Leverage Marketing Within Your Videos

February 19, 2016 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

video marketing — Video is huge and you won’t want to miss out

Video was and still is huge. After years of consistently getting praised as one of the best ways to share your message, countless people have created their own YouTube channels and training courses.

Maybe you’ve heard a lot about the power of videos. Maybe you create video after video or are itching to get started.

The best videos are the captivating ones with subtle marketing added in. You have to market yourself and some of the products that you offer within your videos. However, you don’t want to be annoying.

The challenge is how. Here are five ways to subtly leverage marketing within your videos.

#1: Promote Your Platforms Within Your Videos

Your platforms are where you have an audience—social networks, your blog, and others.

You can subtly promote these platforms at the beginning of these videos with a footer. In the footer (the bottom of the video), you can include text (displaying your username) and pictures of social media icons.

YouTube Social Media Promotion

At the end of your videos, you can go into deeper detail about where else your viewers can find you on the web.

And don’t forget to talk about your landing page at the end of your videos. The money is in your email list.

#2: Promote Your Products Within Your Videos

Some of your videos may present you with the opportunity to promote your products. You may be talking about a topic related to your product.

At that point, you have the opportunity to mention your product, and better yet, give your viewers a discount. The discount will boost your sales and result in more exposure for your product.

You can also create a video entirely dedicated to your product. You can promote your product for the entire video or create a massive tutorial with “ads” of your own product at certain points in the video.

Since they are your “ads,” you must make sure you properly transition to product promotion.

I created a lengthy tutorial about writing more content. It is a 45+ minute video with a lot of free and useful content. At certain points of the video though, I promote the writing course that I created with Jerry Banfield.

Write Like Crazy Video Tutorial

I promote the writing course several times throughout the video. Jerry Banfield, the person who I created the course with, has created free tutorials that exceed two hours for some of his other courses.

When you promote a product within the video, don’t forget that discount. If you do not want to include a discount, then offer a free bonus.

You can introduce the free bonus by saying something like this: “Product A is worth $50, but if you buy it with this link, then I’ll give you Bonus B for free.”

#3: Promote Your Other Videos Within Videos

The most brilliant concept that explains going viral on social media is Brendon Burchard’s Circular Viralocity. I did not take his course about it, but I did write a summary of what I think happens in a portion of the course.

The concept behind Circular Viralocity is that you use your social networks to promote each other so the people in your audience go from one of your social media accounts to the other social media accounts that you have.

It’s like tweeting a link to your YouTube video and then having a link to your Facebook Page within the description of your YouTube video.

Keep that chain going for as long as possible, get enough people within that chain, and you’ve got Circular Viralocity. That’s how it works in a nutshell.

Now let’s apply this to videos (because the most successful YouTubers do this ALL OF THE TIME).

You have finished watching a video. The YouTuber takes the time to say where else you can find him/her on the web.

The next part is the most important part. For the last 5-10 seconds of the video, a few related videos created by the same YouTuber will show up. These videos show up before YouTube gets a chance to show you its selection of related videos.

YouTube Video Previews

One of the videos interests you and you click on the video. You watch that video to the end and see a new selection of related videos before YouTube’s selections show up.

You click on one of those videos and the cycle continues.

When you use this strategy, you can get the same viewers to watch several of your videos in one go.

Most YouTubers who use this strategy only provide 3-6 related YouTube videos for their viewers to choose from. Why not offer more? The answer lies in the famous jam study conducted by Professor Sheena Iyengar.

Maybe you’ve heard a version of the story. She goes to the grocery store and offers samples of jam and analyzes the conversion rates.

To some shoppers, she offered 24 different flavors of jam. Many people tasted the samples and Iyengar got a 3% conversion rate (number of people who bought at lease one box of jam).

To the other shoppers, she only offered six different flavors of jam. Shoppers tried fewer samples, but more of them made purchases. For this part of the experiment, Iyengar saw a 30% conversion rate for the sales of her boxes of jam.

The less we offer, the better the conversion rate will be. My recommendation is to just include 3-4 related YouTube videos at the end of all of your YouTube videos.

If you offer your viewers too many options, you will overwhelm them.

#4: Create Anticipation For Your Upcoming Videos Or Products

One way to become successful is by analyzing the most successful people in the world. I’m talking about the people and brands who dominate our every day conversations.

Remember, to be the best, you have to learn from the best.

I am a big fan of the 1989 album and often watch the Shake It Off YouTube video. After some looking around, I came across one of the outtake videos for the Shake It Off video.

At the end of each of those videos, there is a teaser that builds anticipation for the next video.

Luckily for me, the videos were all up by the time I watched the outtakes, so my anticipation was quickly satisfied. I still have to wait over a year for Star Wars Episode VIII

Star Wars VIII Video — Just come out already!

Sure enough, I watched them all. The first outtake I saw was captivating, and each one built upon the next.

At the end of your videos, you can create anticipation for your next video. Let your viewers know what the next video will be about, and better yet, when you plan on publishing that video.

As each teaser builds more anticipation, you will start to build a following based on that anticipation for new and better videos.

#5: Turn A String Of Videos Into A Product

All of the tips up to this point had a strong focus on marketing within your videos. However, what exactly are you marketing?

Yes, the platform you have built for yourself and your other videos.

But you are also marketing your products.

To market more products, you have to create more products. And one way you can create more products is by turning a string of videos into a product.

I do that all of the time on Udemy. I currently have over 20 training courses that are all a series of videos and PDFs wrapped together into a single product.

Udemy Profile

Why not make money with the videos that you create?

In Conclusion

Video will continue to be one of the best ways to spread your message and make revenue with your expertise. Video has lived up to the hype that it has received for several years.

The way we utilize video will continue to evolve. Our methods of communication will become more sophisticated.

Periscope gives us the option to do live videos. Blab gives us the opportunity to talk with people in a live interview (basically, Periscope with multiple people in the same live video).

What won’t change is the impact video has had on the marketplace. If you don’t create videos, then now is the time for you to start.

What are your thoughts about creating videos? How do you leverage marketing within your videos? Which of these tips was your favorite? Sound off in the comments section below.

The 4 Core Beliefs Of All Highly Productive People

February 17, 2016 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

What makes productive people so productive? It’s not that they get extra time to play with. In the end, we all have 24 hours in one day. Productive people don’t stop the clock. They push through it.

Productive people push through the clock by acquiring a strong mindset that sets them up for success. Your mindset makes or breaks you. If your mindset is breaking you, then you must do everything in your power to shift that mindset.

The mindset is critical. One fact about productive people is that they all share common beliefs that guide their productivity. These are the core beliefs, the beliefs that are required for productivity.

#1: Dreaming Big Is Better Than Dreaming Small

Every week, I give myself a new series of goals. I mark my progress by using tallies and checkmarks. This is the concept of the weekly scorecard.

I have kept all of my scorecards since March 2014. While it’s cool to see the stack of scorecards I have kept over the years, I also get to learn from my past scorecards.

I learn from my past scorecards to see what I can do to boost my productivity. I recently looked back at all of my scorecards to celebrate the beginning of 2016.

The shocking news: I almost NEVER accomplished everything I said I would accomplish on a single scorecard.

I usually accomplish about 70% of what I say I will accomplish on the scorecard.

Does that make me unproductive? No! I’ve written so many blog posts about productivity that I can’t possibly say I’m unproductive 🙂

But beyond that reasoning, I set a very high standard for myself with my scorecards.

In one week, I was able to write six blog posts that were just as lengthy as this one. But I didn’t accomplish my goal of writing 10 blog posts that week.

I wanted to create four training courses in one week. I only created two training courses.

Would you feel productive if you could write six 1,000+ word blog posts and create two training courses in the same week (each course was about an hour of video content that had to be planned out)?

I didn’t. I felt like I didn’t accomplish everything that I set out to do. The fact that I only scheduled five blog posts instead of the 10 I wanted to schedule that week didn’t make me feel any better.

College applications got a big percentage of my time during that week, but even then, I wasn’t as productive as I wanted to be.

I did other things as well during that week for my business, but that’s not important.

What is important is that I set the bar so high that sometimes I don’t accomplish everything that I say I will.

If I came into the week with the goal of writing three blog posts, scheduling a blog post, and creating only one training course, then I would have gotten a perfect score on my scorecard.

I would prefer the scorecard in which I only accomplished 70% of my goals, but I was giving myself goals such as writing 10 blog posts, scheduling 10 blog posts, and creating four training courses.

Small goals produce small results. Big goals allow you to get big results.

#2: Being Busy Does Not Mean You Are Productive

This is a big one. Being busy does not mean being productive. Let that sink in.

For a long time, I was somewhat productive, but I was very busy. I was busy studying for the SAT, scheduling tweets, and growing my social media audience.

I was productive when I was writing my blog posts, sending email blasts, interacting with my audience, and completing videos.

The busywork was necessary. I needed to study for the SAT or else I wouldn’t get a good score. Scheduling tweets and growing my social media audience are two important parts of my business.

But then I crafted my ideal day.

I asked myself if I could outsource every part of my business, what would I still want to do.

Not much of the work I did made the list. Only writing content, doing videos, and interacting with my audience. That meant everything else should get outsourced.

I took my final SAT a few months ago and outsourced social media growth and scheduling the social media posts.

Now I am outsourcing more parts of my business so every day becomes the ideal day. Anything that does not fit within my ideal day is busywork that takes me away from what I really want to do.

Deep. Let’s move onto the next core belief.

#3: The Vision Must Be Accompanied By A Series Of Micro-Visions

I have so many visions that I could write a book listing my visions. Just like everyone else, I have the grand vision.

To some people, that grand vision can be found in the New Year’s resolutions. To other people, it’s the vision they have for themselves many years down the road.

I have one of those types of visions, and all productive people have that type of vision. However, productive people also have micro-visions.

Don’t stop at New Year’s resolutions. Ask yourself how you will get closer to accomplishing your New Year’s resolutions, quarter by quarter.

For my vision for the year, I will always break the work into four quarters. I calculate what type of work must be accomplished each quarter.

Since all goals start out as hypothetical (they may happen, but they haven’t happened yet), I only go deep into how I will accomplish my first quarter goals.

I plan it all out, week by week. Weekly scorecards reinforce my goals for the quarter. I always give myself less time than I have so I know I will accomplish what I set out to do.

All of these visions that lead up to the grand vision are what I like to call micro-visions. All of the micro-visions lead up to the grand vision.

Micro-visions have closer deadlines which gives you less time to do certain work. Having less time will encourage you to take more action.

Sometimes, I will even assign myself four day scorecards just so I have a shorter timeframe to get everything done. The shorter timeframe makes me hustle harder, and as a result, be more productive.

#4: There Is No Stopping

Productive people never stop. They do take small breaks to restore their productivity, but they never stop.

Every day presents a new achievement. Whether that achievement is as small as writing a blog post or as large as accomplishing the goal you’ve been wanting to accomplish for an entire year, productive people achieve something new every day.

The importance of not stopping is the fact that to not stop means putting in the work every single day. Putting in the work every single day turns that work into an effortless habit.

I used to struggle to write these types of blog posts. Now the ideas and content flow easily into the document that I type them in.

The most productive people turn productivity into a habit by working on it every day. If productivity could not become a habit, then no one would be productive.

The moment you turn productivity into a habit is the moment you will become super productive. You just need to be productive for 66 days straight, and then it becomes a habit.

Then you are productive by nature because that’s the type of person who you have become. So no stopping.

Daymond John would describe this as the need to keep swimming. In the acronym S.H.A.R.K., the “K” stands for “Keep Swimming.” You must continue putting in the work to get even better results.

The moment a shark in the ocean stops swimming, it dies. Don’t stop swimming.

In Conclusion

Productivity is not a gift granted to a few lucky people. It isn’t something you are born with. For a long time, I was very unproductive. I had to learn productivity and continue honing my skill in that area every day.

It’s something I continue doing to this day. I still read books and articles all about productivity because I want to be one of the most productive people in the world.

These core beliefs are where the magic happens. Once you turn these core beliefs into your lifestyle, you will see a big boost in your productivity. The only way to keep the increased productivity is by working on it every day.

Which of these core beliefs do you believe is the most important? Did any of them challenge the way you think of working? What are your tips for boosting productivity? Sound off in the comments section below.

4 Ways To Make Money With Your Content

February 15, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

monetized content — Making money isn’t hard if you know how.

Writing is a lot of fun. You get to convey your thoughts on paper or in an online document. Then you share those thoughts with the world.

There are plenty of things to write about, but for some writers, writing becomes a passion. They want to write for the rest of their lives.

It is possible to write for the rest of your life, but why not also make money from it. Ditch that 9-to-5 job and do what you love instead.

Making money with your content is a process. Not only do you have to write the content, but you have to publish that content on the right places and promote that content.

In all challenging journeys, it is always beneficial to give yourself a basic roadmap. The basic roadmap just gives you an idea of where you have to go. Then it gets modified later based on your progress.

When creating your roadmap, consider these four methods of making money from your writing.

#1: Write Books

It’s far easier than ever to publish your own book. Before the internet, you had to pursue a publisher and make a deal. Now all you have to do is self-publish your own books (I self-publish my books with KDP and CreateSpace).

The only thing about writing books is that in the beginning, you won’t get many sales. That’s true about any product, but I had to let you know.

Unless you already have a large email list, chances are you won’t get many sales in the beginning. But in some ways, that’s good.

Not receiving many sales will motivate you to make more sales. You may decide to write multiple books (great idea) and see that one book start to take off.

The other books will eventually get consistent sales.

If you want to pursue the life of a self-published author, you’ll need to publish as many books as you can for lower prices (think $2.99 for the Kindle book). That’s the advantage self-published authors have over the authors who got a deal from a publisher.

#2: Write Blog Posts And Monetize Your Blog

If you are looking for the best way to improve your writing, then look no further than blogging. If you write blog posts every day, you will become very comfortable with writing content.

I wrote about 1,000 blog posts across all of my blogs before I wrote my first book. The more content you write, the more comfortable you become with writing.

So that’s all great. Blogging improves your writing. Now, show me the money!

The fact of the matter is that the content alone won’t make you money. You need to have your blog optimized for monetization. There are a wide variety of ways to make money with a blog:

Create products and promote those products. This is my go-to for making money with a blog. I promote my products each time people subscribe through my landing pages and promote direct product links at other locations on my blog. If you don’t have a product, you can offer consultation sessions as you create that product.

Affiliate links. Only promote affiliate products on your blog that are relevant to your audience’s interests. I wouldn’t promote an Amazon affiliate link to a LEGO product here because that wouldn’t go well with my audience.

Advertisements. These are overrated and I don’t like them. You should be getting over 10,000 visitors per month before you even consider ads. However, you can make more money by giving your products the same space that the ads would have received.

Those are the three main ways to make money with a blog. But there is one thing a blog gives you that can’t be overlooked.

Credibility.

Having your own blog filled with rich content will establish you as an expert within your niche. And if you’ve been writing enough blog posts, it will become effortless for you to write that rich content.

#3: Become A Ghostwriter

If you want to make money with your content without having any type of platform, then ghostwriting is a great option.

All you do is set up an account on UpWork and let people know you are a ghostwriter. Then, apply to people’s jobs where they ask for a ghostwriter.

The only challenge with UpWork in the beginning (and ghostwriting in general) is building credibility.

There are ghostwriters who (even if you are better than them) have more credibility than you. They’ve been hired more often and have more five star reviews.

In the beginning, you may have to charge a lower price for your services than you want just to attract clients. You can then scale up as you get more jobs and reviews.

However, that beginning will be tough. My best advice is to apply to as many ghostwriting jobs as possible (as long as you can do them) so you get enough credibility to raise your price per hour.

#4: Contribute Your Content To Other Websites

We have all heard of guest blogging. You can put your content in front of a larger audience. However, some websites that ask you for your content will pay you to write for them.

Some of these websites will pay you as much as $100 per article.

While this isn’t a way for you to make a living, you can definitely make thousands of dollars from your writing. Just make sure you can write content that these websites want.

I haven’t explored this opportunity much because most of these types of blogs are outside of my niche. For the curious writer, here is a list of these types of blogs and how much you make for each piece of your content.

I prefer to get paid by putting some of my content on places like HubPages and Zujava. I don’t write for them as often as I once did, but I’ll occasionally publish a new article on one of the two.

In Conclusion

All writers deserve the opportunity to make money from their content. After putting in all of that work, we should see some type of reward that creates positive reinforcement.

The best way to make money with your writing is to build a platform (your social media audience, your blog audience, and your email list).

The platform gives you an audience that you can always communicate with and occasionally promote products to.

Regardless of which opportunity you choose to make money with writing, there will always be more involved than simply writing the content.

Which of these methods of making money as a writer do you like the most? Are you writing to make money or just for fun? Sound off in the comments section below.

How To Create One New Product Every Week

February 12, 2016 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Having an arsenal of products increases your revenue. This belief fuels the big companies like Nintendo, but it also fuels many entrepreneurs.

Many self-published authors strive to publish as many books as they can in an attempt to make revenue from numerous assets.

Some people have created dozens of Udemy training courses that generate revenue every day without any additional work.

This belief is one of the reasons that I have published over 20 courses on Udemy and self-published over a dozen books on Kindle. I may even end up with over 100 products by the end of the year.

Crazy to thing about the earning power in that. Of course, marketing is important, but the more products you have to market, the more earning opportunity exists.

That’s why in 2016, I have been creating one product every week. In some weeks, I create multiple products—all with value.

As you get more comfortable with creating products, you also become more comfortable with providing value, regardless of how many days it takes for you to complete a product.

The two products I focus on are Udemy courses and Kindle books. Right now I have a stronger focus on creating Udemy courses, but that can change later in the year.

Regardless of which of the two products I choose to create, I am offering at least one new product to my audience every week. One new training course or one new Kindle book, but something new.

And I am an 18-year-old in high school. I don’t do that to brag (ask anyone who knows me. I am the worst bragger on the planet) but rather to provide you with inspiration.

One of those “If he can do it, then I can do it too” types of inspiration.

So let’s dive into what it takes to create one product every single week.

Mindset Shift

The way you view product creation and your capabilities are essential in the entire process. If you believe in yourself, then it’s possible to create one new product every week.

If you think it is impossible, then you will be limited by your own belief.

There are many ways to set off a mindset shift. Maybe you look deeper into your secret heart.

Secret what?

The secret heart is the part of you that already knows exactly what you want. You don’t say any of these things out loud, but you know you want them. Better yet, you desire them.

Having strong ambitions that you keep to yourself can provide you with the motivation you need to enact the mindset shift.

Maybe you change the way you work so that creating one product each week looks possible. Maybe you do something every day that makes you feel proud of yourself.

You can even think about how you would benefit from creating numerous successful products. There are many ways to create a mindset shift, but you need to create the mindset shift to get into motion.

Have A Team Around You

I know many people who create several products every single month. Some of these people are my mentors. I don’t know any lone-wolfs who create one product every week.

To find the time to create one product every week, you must have a team behind you that makes certain parts of the process easier.

I don’t edit most of my videos. I usually send my raw videos straight to my video editor. That way, I don’t have to edit the videos myself. Then I can simply move onto the next product.

I also do little to none of my social media activity. Someone schedules my posts and grows my audience for me.

But anytime I say hi or engage with you, that’s me. There are certain things that can never be outsourced.

While certain things can’t get outsourced, you would be surprised at what could get outsourced. Some of the top Kindle authors are hiring ghostwriters to do most of the content writing.

Some Udemy instructors are engaged with co-creating courses with other instructors. Depending on who creates courses with who, the top instructors will put in half or close to none of the work associated with publishing the course.

I invite people to create Udemy courses with me (if my expertise apply) or for me (but I spice up the copy and promote it to my audience).

Basically, the people who create one product each week have a team behind them. In some cases, the team will simply make product creation easier for you. In other cases, the team will put in 100% of the work.

The amount of work your team puts in depends on your style and your team.

Create An Outline

For every product you create, you need an outline. The outline lets you know what makes the idea a complete product (or the person who you hire to create the product).

If you lack the expertise and need someone to create a product from start to finish without you, then you must tell that person to create an outline before creating the product.

The outline lets you take a more specific and clear path towards completing the product. I use outlines for all of my books, training courses, and blog posts.

They turn an otherwise foggy path into a path as clear as day.

My recommendation with creating outlines is to start with a brain dump in which you write down all of your ideas. After you write down all of your ideas for videos or chapters, you then organize them.

Put In The Work

No matter how effective your team is, you need to do some of the product creation. Even if you have ghostwriters writing your Kindle books for you, you need to get your feet wet and type your own Kindle books.

That way, you end up with more products, and you never lose touch with product creation.

If you can create one product on your own every week and get your team to create one product for you every week, then you would then publish two products every week.

That extra product per week would add up to an additional 52 products every year. If each of your products makes $100 per month, then we are talking about an extra $62,400 every year.

Follow The Path Of Least Resistance

The path of least resistance will allow you to reach your destination. One of the main reasons people struggle to create one product each month is because other tasks get in the way.

Managing the social media accounts. Growing those social media accounts. Creating pictures for your blog posts.

The list goes on and on.

Your team can eliminate all of those tasks from your list. All of the tasks I mentioned used to take up a giant portion of my day. Now they don’t even take up a second of my time.

I have outsourced them all. And the way I make a profit is by repurposing my newly gained time towards product creation.

With rapid product creation and everything else, time is money. Use it wisely and reclaim as much of it as you possibly can.

In Conclusion

Rapid product creation involves putting in the work every day and thinking differently. Instead of being the lone-wolf, you must create a strong team that can eliminate some of the phases associated with product creation.

For certain products, you may end up putting in no work to create those products.

However, you should be prepared to create one product on your own every week and then send it off to your team. That way, any product your team manages to create without much of your involvement is a bonus.

What are your thoughts about rapidly creating products? What tip do you think is the most important for creating one product every week? Which products would you create? Sound off in the comments section below.

3 Truths About Spending Money On Your Business

February 10, 2016 by Marc Guberti 3 Comments

Money. There will be no other thing in the world that we are so familiar with but don’t know much about. Money provides us with more purchasing power as consumers and business owners.

We use money to make investments, buy products, and all of that stuff.

But when you spend money on your business, money takes an entirely new dimension. The way you spend your money on your business can entirely make or break your business. It’s that important.

As a Daymond John brand ambassador, I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Power Of Broke. It is a book that I highly recommend for all entrepreneurs.

In the book, Daymond discussed money in a way that fascinated me. I learned new things about money, its benefits, and the potential destruction that it can cause.

I combined the knowledge I learned from Power Of Broke with my own knowledge with spending money on my business. Most of the money I spend is for outsourcing.

However, I am also spending money on important tools like HootSuite Pro and Dropbox.

The fascination from Power Of Broke combined with my prior knowledge resulted in these three truths that I present to you in this blog post.

#1: Having Too Much Money Can Be A Bad Thing

Huh? That was my initial reaction when Daymond John introduced this idea in his book. We are raised in a world where the more money you have, the better you do. That’s true for the most part.

The problem with having too much money to spend for your business is that everything about your business may suddenly become complex. The mission changes. There may suddenly be a stronger focus on making money than satisfying the customer.

When businesses have more spending power, the challenge is discovering the best way to spend the money. Sometimes marketing teams get it right. Other times they mess up.

Think New Coke, if you even remember what that is (I only know about New Coke from Daymond’s book).

So don’t live in the mindset that you need to have a lot of money to be successful. Sometimes money complicates the issue and shifts the business plan from a simple success to a complex collapse waiting to happen.

Part of it has something to do with whose hands the money is in 🙂

It is very possible to become successful with a lot of money, but it’s not the only thing you need to become successful.

#2: Gradually Increasing Spending So A Profit Is Always Maintained

The amount of money I spend each month is dependent on the amount of revenue I will receive in that month. That’s because I am focused on making a profit.

And in the end, the profit is all that really matters in the money-making game. Your business could be making $300,000 in sales every year, but if you spend $400,000 every year to keep your business going, then you’re swimming in debt.

I’d rather be the debt-free person who makes $10,000 every year.

When my revenue increases, my spending also increases. With that in mind, my revenue always increases more than my spending.

That’s because I view profit differently from most people.

Most people view making a profit as getting the scraps. These people think of profit like this:

Revenue – Expenses = Profit

With this equation, the profit barely gets any attention. It’s simply the result after revenue and expenses are accounted.

Here is how I view profit.

Revenue – Profit = Expenses

Now expenses are the last thing I focus on. The amount of money I can spend is dependent on revenue and the money that I choose to keep for myself.

In this equation, profit receives more attention and plays a big role in how much money can actually get spent. This added attention discourages a negative profit and encourages the business owner to always maintain a profit.

Gradually increasing spending as your revenue increases boosts the likelihood of you securing a profit.

This tip would be incomplete without a big shout out to Mike Michalowicz for writing the book Profit First where I first came across this new approach to making a profit.

#3: Maintaining A Budget Will Inspire You And Teach You A Lot About Money

A focus on making a profit also comes with a focus on maintaining a budget. With the Profit First equation in play, you can’t spend more money than you make.

That means your budget is a real budget. You can’t go over it.

There will be times when that budget leaves you frustrated. And that’s a good thing because the frustration challenges you to think outside of the box.

Maybe you have a budget of spending $500/month, and you are currently spending $490/month. You want to hire someone who can manage your social media accounts because you read one of my blog posts about outsourcing.

The problem is the person you want to hire will cost you $30/month. That can’t happen since you would be over the budget.

What do you do then?

You look at all of the ways that you are currently spending your money.

How are you wasting your money? How can you spend less to get the same result you are getting anyway? Are certain opportunities you are pursuing not worth the cost (or not as good as the outsourcing)?

In other words, how can you squeak $20/month out of your current spending so you can hire the person to manage your social media accounts?

Let’s say you manage to find $20/month that you were not spending properly and you hire the person to manage your accounts.

Now you are at the $500/month budget. However, you will get exposed to different tools, training courses, and opportunities that cost you money.

Especially outsourcing because once you successful outsource one part of your business, you’ll want to outsource as much of your business as possible. The cost can add up to a lot.

No lie there.

So how do you spend money when your budget is at its max? The answer is that you make more money so you can expand your budget.

If you make $2,000/month and want to save $1,500/month, then that’s how the budget is $500/month.

If you make more money, then you have the option to spend more money.

Imagine how different the budget would look if you were making $20,000/month. Let’s keep everything in proportion and assume you would want to save $15,000/month.

Now the budget is $5,000/month. That’s looking a lot better than the other budget. But the only way to reach that budget is by making more money.

Then think about what that budget would allow you to do. Imagine all of the time you would save and all of the opportunities you could now actively get involved in.

You’ll become a hungry entrepreneur who will put in more work than most people as you charge towards success. Literally charge because no successful entrepreneur ever walks their way to success.

In Conclusion

When you spend money on your business, you are forced to make decisions. The dollars you spend on outsourcing cannot get spent on online advertising or anything else.

Every dollar matters. Whether you are trying to make a bigger profit from advertising or save time with outsourcing, you must consider all of the ways that you are spending your money.

Analyzing how you spend your money will allow you to make better decisions with what you do with your revenue.

And remember, it doesn’t matter how much money you make. What matters is your profit.

Which of these truths about money do you believe is the most important? Do you have any other truths about money to share? Sound off in the comments section below.

11 Easy Methods To Double Your Pinterest Audience

February 8, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Pinterest is a big player in the social media space. With over 100 million monthly active users and a platform where content you’ve posted a few months ago can still go viral, Pinterest is a no-brainer for marketers of all backgrounds.

More people are going on Pinterest, but one of the first questions people have is always the same.

How do I get more Pinterest followers?

Having the large audience allows the content you share to spread farther. You’ll get more blog traffic and subscribers as you grow your Pinterest audience (assuming you promote your blog and landing pages).

Regardless of why you want more Pinterest followers, you want more followers. Getting more followers on Pinterest is easy, and with the right methods, you can double your total followers quickly.

Here are 11 methods to help you out with that.

#1: Follow Other People

When you start out on Pinterest, most people won’t know about you. You may have an audience on your other social networks and promote your Pinterest account there to build some leverage.

However, even if you have thousands of followers on your other social networks, this method won’t immediately translate to thousands of Pinterest followers.

If you want to grow that rapidly, you need a lot of people to know about you…fast.

The best method to quickly get found by a lot of people is by following other people. They’ll receive a notification that you followed them, and then some of these people will follow back.

I know there is some debate about a tip like this. “Following others” can imply going after the number and not caring as much about who your audience is.

However, if you follow the right people, not only will a lot of people know who you are, but you will also have a targeted audience.

As a digital marketing expert, I only follow people who follow other digital marketing related Pinterest accounts or boards. That way, I am guaranteed to be getting followers who are already interested in digital marketing before they stumble across my account.

#2: Pin Popular Content

One feature that gets underutilized from a marketing perspective is Pinterest’s search engine.

Pinterest’s search engine allows you to see what pins are performing well within your niche. You’ll get to see the pins that are getting hundreds of likes and repins.

Once you see the most popular pins related in your niche, you have several options.

One option is to like and repin some of those pins on your own boards. That way, your boards have a greater variety of content, you are pinning pins with high social proof, and you provide your audience with more value.

The second option you have is to use those pins as models for your own pins. What were those pins about? Can you create a picture that looks as good as the picture from the popular pin (or hire someone to do that for you)?

#3: Pictures Are Key

The picture you use for your pins plays a large role in how much engagement they get. A fascinating blog post with a bad picture won’t get much exposure on Pinterest.

The picture matters, but not just on Pinterest. They increase engagement anywhere you go—on Facebook, Twitter, your own blog, or anywhere else.

If you create bad pictures, then hire someone else to create the pictures for you. And even if you are good at creating picture,s I still recommend hiring someone just because it will save you time.

Here are the specifics of what type of pictures get a lot of engagement on Pinterest.

WARNING: It’s a giant-sized infographic that ironically (in a good way) is optimized for Pinterest.

#4: Leverage Hashtags

When you use hashtags within your pins, you make it easier for people to find your pins using the search engine.

People search for hashtags in the same way they search for keywords without hashtags. However, there are several pins that will use your hashtag.

Take for instance #blogging. This hashtag finds its way on many blogging related pins. If you click on the hashtag, you will automatically be brought to a search for that hashtag.

If you include the hashtag in your pin, and your pin becomes popular, your pin will get more exposure because of that hashtag.

People who click on the #blogging on any pin (it doesn’t have to be my own pin) will end up seeing some of my pins that I included #blogging in the description.

#5: Pin Consistently And Frequently

One study will say that 8 am is the best time to pin and the other study will say that 6 pm is the best time to pin.

The truth is that you have to pin consistently and frequently. That way, more people see your pins which translates to more traffic and engagement.

But there is also a common sense reason to pinning consistently and frequently (I’m talking at least once per hour).

When I get ready for school, most people in California are sleeping.At the same time, students in the United Kingdom are in the middle of their school day.

I am a New Yorker, and that means I go by the eastern timezone. The eastern timezone is just one of the many in the world.

When you are sleeping at 3 am, some people are waking up and logging into their Pinterest accounts.

You need to have a pin waiting for them, and the way you do that is by scheduling those pins in advance. You can use ViralWoot to schedule pins in advance.

You can schedule up to 100 pins per month without paying a penny. If you want to schedule more than 100 pins per month, these are the rates:

#6: Set Your Account Up For Success

The simple things like your bio, avatar, and board structure can go a long way. The best bios are simply a list of your top credentials and hobbies, separated by commas.

Your avatar should either be a picture of yourself or your brand’s logo. Any other avatar doesn’t create trust.

You should have your most content-rich boards up on the front to build upon the impression that you pin a lot of valuable content.

#7: Create Group Boards

Group boards are huge on Pinterest. When someone becomes a contributor to your group board, your board appears on that person’s profile.

That means when someone clicks on “Follow All” when on that person’s profile, your group board gets another follower.

In addition to getting more followers, you have a free army of pinners who will be sure to keep your board updated.

I have several group boards that I rarely updated anymore. I have hundreds of contributors who add the valuable pins for me.

#8: Become A Part Of Other People’s Group Boards

Group boards are a win-win. When you become a contributor to other people’s boards, you instantly get another person’s audience that you can promote your content to.

I have joined several social media related boards with tens of thousands of followers and shared my blog posts on those boards. The result is more traffic from little to no work.

All I did is asked people if I could contribute to their group boards, and they let me in.

Two things to note. The first thing is that you only want to target group boards with a lot of contributors. The more contributors a group board has, the more likely that group board will accept your request to become a contributor.

The second thing is that if you over-saturate the group board with your own content, you may be asked to leave.

To determine how often you should share your content, get a feel for the group board first. Get an idea of how many pins are getting posted on that group board each day.

The more pins that get posted, the more times you will be able to promote your blog posts. However, don’t pin your blog content to someone’s board more than three times in one day.

You can put any extra content on the other group boards that you join. And getting three pins on a popular group board each day would result in some extra traffic.

#9: Promote Your Pinterest Account On Your Other Social Networks

This method is something that you do as soon as possible, but not too long.

Promoting your Pinterest accounts on your other social networks is a way for you to quickly gain some momentum on Pinterest. You’ll have enough social proof to get discovered and then followed by more people on Pinterest.

When you promote your Pinterest account, you still want to provide value without the “Follow me, follow me” tone. There are two ways to do that:

Lead people to one of your top pins

Lead people to one of your top boards

You should lead people to your top boards far more often than you lead them to your top pins because it’s easier for people to follow you when looking at one of your boards than looking at one of your pins.

#10: Use Your Blog To Drive Traffic To Your Pinterest Account

It’s the same concept as promoting your Pinterest account on your social networks. Feel free to use your sidebar to promote your Pinterest account. However, promoting your Pinterest account should not be the focus of your blog.

You can use that space to promote more valuable things such as your products and affiliate links.

#11: Continue Sharing What Your Audience Likes

As you grow your Pinterest audience, there are two things that you need to focus on:

Growing the audience even more

Keeping your audience

You achieve both of those goals by sharing what your audience likes. And it’s easy to figure out what your audience likes.

They tell you what they like each time they like and repin your pins.

Some of your pins will get more engagement than others. You may get a few super pins that get hundreds of likes and repins. That’s the type of content your audience wants more of.

Give it to them.

Occasionally pin about different things to diversify your boards, but focus on providing your audience with what they like.

That way, the people in your audience will come back for more and engage with your pins. That engagement will lead to more exposure and grow your audience.

Feed two birds with one scone.

In Conclusion

Pinterest is a growing social network that is easier to go viral on than most of the other social network. Many people who get on Pinterest immediately want to discover how to get more followers.

The key to getting more followers is to consistently implement what works. Maybe you use these methods and get 10 followers on the first day. Maybe a little less or a little more.

As you continue using these methods and experimenting with your Pinterest strategy, then that’s where the magic happens. But you have to be consistent and working on your Pinterest account every day.

Or hire someone to do the work for you.

What are your thoughts about Pinterest? Did you like one of the tips more than the others? What tips do you have for getting more Pinterest followers? Sound off in the comments section below.