The biggest mistake people make when they want to start a blog is that they start a blog.

Well, they start a blog without a plan.

Abraham Lincoln knew the power of preparation:

lincoln-axe-sharpening

Here’s What We’re Covering:

Lincoln wasn’t just a politician with a metaphor, he was being literal. Before he became famous for politics he was known as one of the best axe-wielders around. The guy knew how to chop down trees better than anyone. (Lucky for us, he expanded his skill set beyond swinging sharp, heavy objects.)

Everyone wants to start a blog, and they should.

You can use a blog to generate massive amounts of revenue or just fascinating opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise.

A well-known local paper has about 40,000 copies in print. StartupBros gets about 150,000 unique views per month. We’re not that huge of a blog, but we’re still outpacing many traditional papers.

We don’t have a massive email list, just over 30,000 of the most active in the StartupBros community. That modest-sized list has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue in the last several months.

Will and I have been seriously working on StartupBros for just over a year. A lot can happen in a year:

Screen-Shot-startup-bros-traffic

I recently read that there is a blog started every few seconds.

The harsh truth is that virtually zero of these blogs will attract any meaningful attention. That’s fine for people who are using a blog as a sort of personal journal or résumé. It’s daunting for those of us who want to build a tribe and make money.

Putting in the work is necessary–few people deny the grind anymore–but it’s not sufficient. There are just too many people putting too many hours in for that to be your competitive advantage. You’ve got to have a better strategy than them too.

Using a proper sequence will organize your energy so that each step builds on the next. A solid launch strategy will put you ahead of the majority of people blindly starting blogs because of some vague urge that they “really ought to”.

This initial advantage will compound through the entire lifetime of your blog.

A good strategist understands that strategies are not one-size-fits all. Instead, they use the best method for the situation. Napoleon’s genius was not that he was more learned than the other generals. He had a feel for the situation. He knew how to improvise.

This sequence is malleable like the best strategies must be. It’s also designed to be implemented step-by-step. Especially for those who fit the descriptions below:

Who Is This Sequence For?

The use-cases for this strategy vary widely and we’ll get to some of the more popular ones shortly.

First, let’s talk briefly about the person who inspired this post.

This girl, let’s call her Jess, owns her own business and has worked as a yoga teacher for more than a decade. She is able to make a decent income and her business is extremely fulfilling. Her message so far has stayed mostly within her yoga studio and the many events she leads. She has more reach than most, but no place for her tribe to congregate online.

I worked with her to apply this strategy to her goal of reaching a wider audience online while building a stronger connection with those who already know her. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from her soon 🙂

There are a ton of people who can benefit from using this strategy:

  • The author building an audience for his book while he writes it. Even authors who have six-figure advances from major publishing houses are responsible to bring their own audiences to the books they publish. Waiting for publication to market the book isn’t an option—you’ve got to have buyers ready. The best way to do this is to build a list of people who want to be told every time you release something new. This applies to established authors as well as new ones.
  • The entrepreneur launching a business. What if you could launch your product to a ton of people who are just waiting to buy?
  • The coach or consultant launching their business. It’s the same deal… having a group of buyers waiting to be sold is always going to be better than paying to get in front of people who may or may not want to hear from you.
  • The established consultant or entrepreneur who is expanding his offerings. If you already have a service up but want to begin building demand for another branch of your business you can also use a variation of this strategy.
  • The future blogger. If you know you want to build a readership and are starting from zero, this is the single most powerful way to launch. You will take advantage of other people’s traffic and avoid burnout by wasting your energy on ineffective activities.
  • Any person or business who is building their email list. Email has remained the most powerful form of communication online. The connection you can build with people by showing up on their social feeds can’t compare with the power of an email in their inboxes.
  • Anyone starting in the expert industry. You need to be heard to build authority. Not just once, but many times. Authority builds exponentially. The strategy you’re about to learn allows you to continue your relationship with readers that would have forgotten about you before the end of the day.

We’re going to get into a bird’s eye view of this strategy next. First, I want to specify one group who this strategy is not for.

If you know that you want to build your business in the expert industry and you know what product or program you want to sell then there is an advanced sequence that you can follow. It’s higher risk, demands more certainty from you up front, and takes more (time, effort, money, organization) to launch effectively… but it’s powerful and enables you to monetize immediately. If anyone falls into this category feel free to ask about it in the comments (or email) and I’ll be happy to give extended answers.

Now, onto the Expert Blog Launch Sequence!

Expert Blog Launch Sequence: The Overview

bird eye close up image

Let’s look at each piece of the strategy in brief. You’ll want to keep this overview in mind when reading through each step.

  1. Define your goal. The way you execute this strategy will be defined by your aim.
  2. Discover your value proposition (loosely). You don’t need to get hyper-specific at this point. You just need to have a general idea of what you’re going to do. StartupBros launched with the tagline “You don’t need a job…” and our mission ever since has been to provide you the tools to create your own business to create an income. We didn’t know what specifically would work but we knew we would find something.
  3. Create a free resource. Have you seen the “5 Levels of Entrepreneurship” in the top right corner of our site? It’s the free ebook that we offer anyone who comes to StartupBros.com. It’s also an integral piece of our strategy. When we deliver the ebook to someone we create trust with them—and we gain permission to contact them in the future. This permission is one of our most precious assets. I will show you exactly how to create a resource like this quickly using information you already have. Then I’ll show you the technical requirements to deliver it.
  4. Create a landing page in 5 minutes. This is going to serve as your home base while you build your initial list. The page has a single purpose: collect email addresses. You will use this page to deliver the free resource you made above. It’s difficult for people to accept this step. They think they need to have a full site with a dedicated page to themselves. This is the key that multiplies the value of your efforts.
  5. Drive qualified traffic. We will focus primarily on guest posting as a way to drive traffic to your landing page. That way the only people hitting your landing page have read your work before and thought, “I want more!”

You should have some serious questions at this point. I’m confident that they’ll be answered as I unpack each of these steps and show you exactly how to execute them. If I don’t answer your question feel free to ask in the comments.

Now that you have an overview of the Expert Blog Launch Sequence, let’s zoom in on the first step.

1. The Easiest Goal You’ll Ever Set

North-Star-image
You’ve got to know your North Star…

This is the simplest step.

And if isn’t simple, you’re doing it wrong.

The 3 requirements for your goal:

  1. What topic you are building an audience for so you know who to talk to and what to talk about.
  2. How many emails you want to collect so you know how big your audience will be before you launch your blog.
  3. A timeframe so you stay on track.

Here are some possible goals you might set:

  • Get 1000 readers for my fitness blog by September.
  • Collect 3000 readers that want to hear about my new investing book by the time I send it to my publisher.
  • Collect 5000 emails from people who want to hear more about my mindfulness teachings by the time my course is ready.
  • Get 500 highly targeted potential clients on an email list that might be interested in my online marketing consulting services.

Again, don’t stress about this. If you don’t know what is realistic then I’d err on the low side. Try 500 emails in 3 months. Then add a who and what and you’re good to go.

One of the few ideas from Napoleon Hill that has stuck with me is the “Definite Chief Aim”. This is the overriding goal of everything else. Every decision you make and action you take should move you toward this aim. If your Definite Chief Aim for this strategy is to Get 1000 readers for my fitness blog by September then everything you do in the following steps should be done with this in mind.

2. Define Your Value Proposition

martine luther king image and quote

What are you going to offer?

Why would someone choose you over anyone else?

You don’t need to be totally clear on the answers to these questions yet but you should be thinking about them.

When we launched StartupBros, we knew that we wanted to talk about entrepreneurship. We wanted to show people a way to get out of shitty jobs and build their own things. Our tagline was “You don’t need a job…” and we’ve been striving to deliver on that promise ever since.

Just today someone emailed about how he was able to quit his job because of our importing training program. Now he can spend more time with his family, especially his newly born baby girl. That’s life-changing value.

You might not know exactly how you’ll deliver on your promise yet, that’s fine. (If you are clear about exactly how you want to serve others then you may want to use the advanced method I mentioned above.)

What’s important is that you have an idea of the problem you can solve for other people. It shouldn’t be that vague, either. You’re not an expert at everything. Stick with your area of competency and you’ll do well.

“You have to figure out what your own aptitudes are. If you play games where other people have the aptitudes and you don’t, you’re going to lose. And that’s as close to certain as any prediction that you can make. You have to figure out where you’ve got an edge.  And you’ve got to play within your own Circle of Competence.” – Charlie Munger

We can often be blind to our own competencies. Severe versions of this leads to the impostor syndrome. You are blind to what is most natural to you and things feel natural because you’re good at them. You can ask these questions to start to hone in on your competency: What can you do easily that others struggle with? What do you love talking about that annoys others? What do people pay you to do?

To give you an idea of the breadth of possible value propositions, here is a short list of some of the problems people will pay to have solved:

  • Teach unhealthy people to get healthy.
  • Teach fat people to get ripped.
  • Show guys how to get girls.
  • Show girls how to get guys.
  • Show people how to make more money in their job.
  • Show people how to make more money outside of their jobs.
  • Show people how to relieve their depression.
  • Help people get started playing the guitar.
  • Help young people get clear on what to do with their lives.
  • Help people later in life figure out what that’s all about.
  • Teach people how to take perfect Instagram photos.
  • Show businesses how to use Instagram to market their products.
  • Teach people how to start a podcast.
  • Teach people how to start a blog.
  • Teach people how to get their book published.
  • Show people how to self-publish their books.
  • Show people how to get better at basketball.
  • Teach people how to master Call of Duty or any other game.
  • Teach people how to ace high school without trying too hard.
  • Teach people how to travel cheaply.
  • Show people how to develop addictive products.
  • Show people how to eat well on a pescatarian diet.
  • Show people how to teach their dogs tricks.
  • Show people how to make their dog trick videos go viral on YouTube.
  • Teach people how to speak another language quickly.
  • Teach people how to make a business creating third-party cell phone attachments.
  • Teach people how to make money with their photography.
  • Show people how to master negotiations.
  • Whatever it is you’re interested, you can make money talking about that.

Almost all of these came from real-world examples—many of them multi-million dollar businesses.

The problem you’re solving doesn’t have to sound “world changing”. PewDiePie has 32.6 million subscribers on YouTube. His value proposition was Entertain people who like video games.

Decide on the value you want to deliver first. Then look at other people who are succeeding at delivering on a similar value proposition and see what you can copy and what you can do differently.

This kind of competitive analysis is a huge subject. For now all you need to do is decide on your value proposition. Some examples:

  • I’m going to show entrepreneurs how to use YouTube to drive sales.
  • I’m going to provide a program to help relieve depression for new mothers.
  • I will help show people how to have more self-esteem.
  • I will show people how to make money selling their art.
  • I will show freelancers how to double their rates.
  • I will show people how to work remotely while traveling.
  • I will show people how to pick the perfect piece of fruit, every time.

Once you have this down you are ready to get into the nitty-gritty.

So far our focus has been on planning. You know your aim now and you know the problem you’re going to solve for people. From here on we’ll focus on technical execution.

3. Create A Resource To Give Away For Free

free ebook download

You’ve seen them before: the ebook, the free PDF, or the video series that are offered in exchange for your email address. Then you’re sent the resource and continue to receive emails unless you unsubscribe.

You may have already downloaded our free ebook, The 5 Levels of Entrepreneurship. It’s our free offering for people who want to hear more from us. Our email signup rate doubled when we began offering the ebook instead of just saying, “Sign up for our value-packed newsletter!”

People email us regularly telling us just how much the love the ebook. It doesn’t feel like a “bribe” or a trick. It’s real value that we deliver for free.

Clay Collins from Leadpages recently did a webinar with us where he revealed that shorter free resources actually convert much better than long ones. He started using a list of the gear he uses instead of a long ebook because it did so much better. A lot of people, including David Siteman Garland from The Rise to the Top use “cheat sheets” as their resources. These are converting well too.Remember who you’re talking to, then solve a universal, basic problem for them.

Here is a sampling of possible free resources:

  • 4 Tools to Start Making Great Video for Less Than $100
  • 3 Quick Ways You Can Optimize Your Website Today
  • The 7 Foods That Are Sapping Your Energy
  • 5 Unique Exercises To Get A Six-Pack Fast
  • 9 Strategies To Multiply Your Productivity as a Designer
  • 7 Hacks to Re-Ignite Your Creativity
  • A Cheat Sheet For the Perfect Blog Post
  • The Startup Finances Cheat Sheet
  • 9 Steps to Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant, The Cheat Sheet
  • 3 Ways to Get A Raise This Month
  • 7 Trends Every Investor Needs To Know About

To give you an example, here is David Siteman Garland’s current freebie promo:

free download 7 steps to a successful online course

Four things to notice about this freebie that you will want to incorporate into yours:

  • It’s a list. Lists work well for basically everything.
  • The promise is obvious. By the time you’re done reading this freebie you will know how to launch a successful online course.
  • It’s easy to take in. It’s a “cheat sheet”, not a 100 page report. The reader doesn’t know if they want to invest that much time with you yet. The idea is to solve a problem quickly.
  • It’s related to other parts of the business. David’s main product teaches people how to create online programs. He is most interested in gaining readers who want to create online courses so he designed his freebie to attract them.

Three format types for free resources:

  • The PDF. This is the most common format and it’s most likely the one you should start with. Cheat sheets and ebooks will both be delivered as PDFs to your readers.
  • Auto-responder series. This is an automated email series that will be sent over a period of time. You can make a six-week program that will help your readers solve a certain problem.
  • Video series. This is an advanced auto-responder. You can have a video segment released to your readers each week. These take a bit more planning and work but can be extremely effective at collecting emails, building a relationship with your audience, and priming them for purchase.

Don’t let this step stall your progress. If you spend a week on this then you’ve spent too much time.

Make a great cheat sheet to start. You can change it later if you want.

4. Create A Landing Page

In this step you will create a simple landing page that is designed to collect emails and deliver your freebie.

This is the current landing page for our ebook:

free ebook download landing page

Notice how sparse it is. There isn’t anything there except an image of the free resource and an opt-in box.

When readers hit this page they almost always get the book. It’s not because the page is so great, it’s because they got to this page with the goal of hearing more from us.

When you set your landing page up, remember the context in which the readers are arriving. They saw you elsewhere on the web and wanted to get more from you.

This landing page is not a permanent solution; it’s a stand-in solution to collect email addresses while you build your audience. You want to launch your blog to thousands of readers, not zero.

We use LeadPages to create all of our landing pages. They make it ridiculously simple to set the page up, allow us to collect emails and to deliver the free resource.

You’ll need to get an email service at this point in order to collect email addresses and send people your free resource. We use Ontraport but to start you may want to go with something like MailChimp or AWeber.

5. Drive Qualified Traffic

google analytics session traffic screenshot

This step will require the most effort by far.

If you really want to, you can knock out steps 1-4 in a day. After that, it’s all about getting people to give you their email addresses. That means driving traffic to your landing page.

There are several ways you can do this. Among them are publishing Kindle books and running Google or Facebook ads. Kindle publishing is a massive topic beyond the scope of this post. Facebook ads are effective if you’ve got a product to sell but probably aren’t worth the investment if you don’t have a product yet.

Let’s focus on guest blogging.

Why?

There are a lot of people with a lot more traffic than you. Why not take advantage of other people’s traffic?

Let’s assume you are trying to get 1000 readers before you launch your blog. How many guest posts would you need to do?

It depends on the posts and the blogs you get on. To help you gauge this, Daniel DiPiazza wrote a kickass guest post for us and got 200 new subscribers from it. Between two guest posts at ArtOfManliness I’ve gotten 600 new subscribers.

lead boxes subscriber screenshot

It’s not going to take you too long to reach 1000 or more readers if you consistently publish on quality channels.

To get started you need to get a list of sites you want to publish on. There are detailed ways to do this but if you are already an active participant in what you’re talking about (and I hope you are) then you probably can get started by pitching your favorite blogs to read.

I read probably 50 guest-post pitches a week and delete almost all of them immediately because the pitch was crap. You’ve got to learn how to write a killer email pitch.

Ludvig Sundstrom has one of the most popular guest posts on StartupBros (How to Blast Out of Obscurity). Not coincidentally, he wrote one of the most effective email pitches I’ve received:

guest posting pitch

6 things to learn:

  • The purpose of the email is in the headline. I don’t have to read any of the body to guess what he’s talking about.
  • He introduces himself and immediately provides 3 reasons why I should keep reading.
  • He acknowledges that we’re busy… and doesn’t continue to talk about himself for ten pages. This happens all the time. What the hell are these people thinking?
  • He provides more proof that his work performs well and that serious publications have published his work.
  • He then provides three specific article ideas. What you can’t see in the screenshot above is that he also provided a brief outline for each post. Just the headline and then the three main ideas.
  • The whole things is broken down and organized well. I can glance at the email and get to the important information. It makes reading it super easy.

A great guest post pitch doesn’t take a lot of effort and it will radically increase the rate at which you get accepted for submissions.

The other thing here is that you need to be able to write a post that people love. Learning some basics about powerful writing will serve you well. I’ve put together a writing guide for entrepreneurs that you will find useful.

That’s that! Let’s review…

Expert Blog Launch Sequence: The Review

This is a simple strategy that you can implement this week. By using this specific sequence you will avoid wasting time writing posts that nobody will read.

You will avoid stretching yourself thin trying to build your own site while simultaneously creating an outreach program.

You will guarantee your success by building it before you even launch.

You will be able to monetize your blog before you even launch it.

These wins can’t be exaggerated. It’s the difference between becoming a successful entrepreneur and staying in the rat race.

Wrapping This Up…

Today, right now, complete the first two steps.

Then outline your free resource.

You can do all of this in less than 15 minutes and you will have begun laying the foundation for your future business.

If you have any questions about any part of this process, let me know in the comments!

If you already have a product, coaching program, or consulting service idea that you know you want to launch and are interested in the advanced method, let me know as well.

Looking forward to talking with you below!

Author

Avatar for Kyle Eschenroeder
Kyle Eschenroeder

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Let me know what you think - the good, the bad, the ugly - in the comments below.

I'm an entrepreneur (more in the StartupBros About Page) in St. Petersburg, FL

67 comments add your comment

  1. Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to implement these tips onto my first blog. I am working on my freebie and I had a question about the “cheat sheet” method that you mentioned. How exactly do I go about creating this? Is this literally ONE sheet that’s jam packed with information? If possible, can you provide some examples? Thanks in advance!

    • Hey Nohely, yes a cheat sheet is typically a value packed sheet of information 🙂 You can use sites like Canva, Snappa or find a freelancer on people per hour to create the cheat sheet. You just have to get the information together in one place and hopefully hand it off to someone.

  2. Thanks Kyle, that was an incredibly helpful post! I fell into the trap of ‘must have a blog before I market it’. Now I understand how to collect email addresses, and I’m even a bit more confident as coming across as knowledgable in my niche – I know I am, but was struggling with how to convince others to listen to me! The way you’ve broken it down really simplifies it: just write the ebook, offer it, and pitch guest posts. If I write good quality, someone will want it.

    I have a couple of questions about the advanced method. I plan on launching a blog to help people improve their writing. My niche: how to use narrative tools like character arcs, plot devices and sensory descriptions, not just in fiction but blog posts and website copy as well. I’m struggling with just how to phrase my intent in guest posts: something like: ‘I’m launching a blog about using narrative in everyday writing in November, if this sounds like something you’re interested in click here to sign up to my newsletter and receive a free ebook’?

    I also have no real track record commenting on blogs, am not published and would have to pitch guest posts out of the blue – I fell into a ridiculous trap of ‘I have no blog to promote yet, so I’ll comment when I have something to add to the conversation’ (such a twit!). Have you ever had anybody pitch a guest post to you that you’ve jumped to accept, even though they’ve not been published elsewhere before? How did they grab your attention?

    Thanks as always for the superb advice!

    • Hi Beth,

      I’ve definitely jumped at the opportunity to publish guest posts from people who haven’t posted elsewhere before.

      It’s hard to appreciate how rare GREAT writing is. Every outlet is looking desperately for something amazing to publish… but nobody delivers. If you DO, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve been published before!

  3. Wow, Ludvig is the man. Just look at that effort. I applied to guest post here a while back but now I feel as though I’m not ready for your readers. I’ll give it a few months. This is gold!

  4. Hi Kyle,

    Great post!

    Looking at your point at the end around guest blogs, the example already seems to have quite a significant following, however, it seems a bit like a circle, to get more people interested you need to guest blog, but to get published as a guest blogger you need a strong following. Is there any way to get that initial boost.

    I’ve started a couple of blogs unsuccessfully in the past, and now I have an idea which I would like to implement with the goal of not needing a job on graduation! So this new one I want to really get moving properly!

    Cheers.

    • The initial boost comes from writing for places that accept beginner authors. Smaller blogs and places like Thought Catalog are great for starting off.

      Each time you post something you can move up the ranks a bit.

      Remember that people REALLY want GREAT content. The problem most people have is they just suck at blogging. Once you get to be actually good you will be amazed by the people who are willing to publish your work.

  5. Hey Kyle,

    Great post with so much actionable info! This post is perfect timing for me as I’m working on this exact thing. Per your advice, I’m gonna start working on creating my freebie list. Also, what software do you recommend for:
    1. For the bait- PDF setup and delivery (do you just setup an auto responder with an attachment? or email ppl?
    2. Selling digital goods- Down the line, when I do have a product to sell what’s a good app to help facilitate this. (I’m on Wordpress)

    Thanks!
    Katrina

    • Hi Katrina,

      I’m glad you found this useful!

      1. We send an email with a link to the file. The autoresponder is on Office Autopilot (soon to be Ontraport)
      2. We use OptimizePress and GoToWebinar to deliver the course. If you’re looking for something simpler to use you make find Kajabi or Rainmaker useful

  6. I’ really appreciate what you guys are doing. I really want to build a blog around entrepreneurship and Lord knows we need more entrepreneurs because of the high unemployment rate. Great piece i must confess, i am interested in the advance method .thanks keep on the good work

    • Great! What is the product you want to sell with the advanced method? (If you don’t want it public then feel free to email.)

  7. Hi, is it possible you mistakenly wrote a paragraph twice? Well, anyway, I’d look over this part:

    “Using a proper sequence will organize your energy so that each step builds on the next. A solid launch strategy will put you ahead of the majority of people blindly starting blogs because of some vague urge that they “really ought to”. proper sequence will organize your energy so that each step builds on the next. A solid launch strategy will put you ahead of the majority of people blindly starting blogs because of some vague urge that they “really ought to”.”

    • It’s more than possible, it’s what happened! Thanks, fixed it. (The “more” tag messed it up.)

  8. Aargh, where was this epic post last year?! I’ll have to read between the lines and come up with an expert blog RE-launch.

    Almost every post I read places emphasis on email opt-ins and the important of growing a list (before, during and after launching anything). I wondered if you had any thoughts about a type of site where this was NOT the best approach. Or, is it possible that having a no-newsletter policy works well as a USP.

    Thanks for the great content. Bookmarked.

    • You could create a landing page with an optin that you send people to from around the web. It doesn’t let you focus your attention as intensely but it’s not a bad way to move forward.

      Everyone talks about email because it is, hands down, the most powerful way to contact your audience. When Facebook changed a little piece of code it took millions of eyes away from people who worked hard to create Facebook business pages. You can have 7% of your Facebook users see your content or 40% of your email readers open your email. Email is also more intimate–you’re in THEIR inbox, not on a neutral platform. People can successfully build audiences on YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest… but if they’re not funneling them into an email list they’re making a massive mistake.

  9. Excellent post, once again Kyle! My blog has been up for nearly a year now but I have only written 7 posts. However I did write an ebook that I will be publishing shortly 🙂 I don’t mind too much as I have a full time day job where I work from home and have solid autonomy. This is primarily the reason for not posting bi-monthly or so on my blog.

    What most people fail to realize in any entrepreneurial endeavor is that it is NOT easy. There is a lot of work in pitching/writing guest posts, creating quality content/ebooks/videos and working day in and day out. The winners are relentless and I do not think that this can be understated. My day job is sales and the best sales folks work HARD and are conscientious. If one approaches their entrepreneurial venture with the same (or greater) tenacity – and hours one does a day job, they will generally be successful. After a while one can back off a bit but in building the empire, there is much work to do!

    My goal in 2015 is to continue to do well in my day job – but to create some income diversification via more traffic from aggressive posting on my blog and publishing my ebook.

    Thanks again Kyle!

    • Great point Steve! I’m excited to see you knock down your goal list 🙂

  10. Kyle- Great step by step post.
    A couple of things I would add. One is to think about trying to establish a relationship with the blogs on which you want to guest post. The best way to do that is to be part of their community- comment and share their stuff. The second thing I would add is to think about and establish a schedule for your blog. It’s helpful for readers to know if they will be hearing from you once a day, once a week, or once a month.

    • Great ideas Rob! Content strategy and outreach are a couple big things to tackle once you get up and running

  11. I like the positive tone of your blog and actually am not surprised that you have so many subscribers; even a bit a surprised that you don’t have more. The only reason for that may be that you are not actually cutting corners in the dream factory production line: the china import business for example actually involves risk and work!
    Would you be able to suggest something for someone who has multiple art activities: for example, music making, art making, 3d making, and who would find it difficult to specialise? Is specialisation essential?
    Thanks,
    Lawrence

    • I’m glad you see the difference between us and the others!

      I’m not sure what you mean. It depends on what your goal is. Specialization isn’t always 100% necessary.

  12. Hi Kyle,

    Great Article! You and Will always have awesome stuff.

    I have been looking over the steps in post and wanted to know if think there is anything in it that might not apply to a rebranding or a relaunch of a stagnant blog or website?

    • Hi Jeff,

      Great to hear from you! This would absolutely work for a relaunch 😀 I’d love to hear more about what you’re relaunching

  13. Thank you for the very helpful post Kyle! A lot of the different readings I have read on the subject of starting a blog have definitely told people to just jump in with little to no planning and just learn as you go. But as I’ve tried, I have to actually take frequent breaks to plan certain aspects and then build them up because I didn’t originally plan them. So its nice to see, you actually break down the process, much appreciated!

  14. Hey Kyle,

    I enjoyed learning that part about how “cheat sheets outperform ebooks”. I remember hearing it somewhere recently before… Nice to have it confirmed again.

    “The problem you’re solving doesn’t have to sound “world changing”. PewDiePie has 32.6 million subscribers on YouTube. His value proposition was Entertain people who like video games. ”

    —> Haha aint that the truth of the day!

  15. Thanks for sharing this Kyle! We’re relaunching out product and this model will help us big time in building a buzz around our site. I appreciate the amount of detail you go into in this post.

  16. Great job on this, Kyle. I’m looking at similar strategies going into talks of a partnership, tomorrow. Your article puts some much needed polish on the ideas I’m presenting.

    It will also have me taking a second look at my strategy for my own podcast, soon to launch. (You’re on my Guest Invite List, btw).

    The shares, those are Facebook, Twitter, etc. that are shared by ppl clicking the share links on the blog’s page, yes?

    • That’s great Dave! I’m looking forward to the podcast 🙂

      I’m not sure exactly what you mean on the social point.

  17. Hi Kyle,

    Awesome post. Going through this right now! Another tweak that I learned a while ago is to create something of high perceived value, like an ebook, and offer for bloggers to give it to their list for free, even without an opt in. You just have to make a custom page on your site for their readers. Once the readers get to your site, they will have the opportunity to opt in to your list if they want to.

    Here is my plan:
    1. Create a short course and put it on Udemy, for like $27
    2. Go to reddit, forums and other places to give away a limited number of free coupons to it (this will get you some good reviews, not to mention an audience on Udemy)
    3. Comment on your target bloggers blog a few times to build a relationship
    4. Email them and say that you’d like to give their readers your course that you’re selling for $27 for free, with a link to it’s Udemy page (with the good reviews and price tag)
    5. Once you get a bite, make their custom thank you page on your site like “A Special gift to Startup Bros Readers”
    6. Give them the course, and place an opt in form on your page like “Sign up for updates on this course” or “Sign up to get my next product” or have a secondary complimentary checklist for your original course
    7. Have a subtle mention/CTA to your email list within the course.

    If all goes smoothly, the already successful blogger should love the chance to give their readers some value.

    What do you think?

  18. Hey there Kyle!

    I am the founder and CEO of James Hyatt Marketing in Cape Coral Florida. Long story short, had a SEO company years back that sold massive links to other SEO firms…that went bye bye immediately after Google updated their algorithms obviously.

    I have a blog at http://fortmyersmarketingblog.com We have re-built a complete marketing firm and are ready to really push it and want to focus on local business marketing! I know the being an expert builds value in which people will pay high dollars for and to become a celebrity expert (think Tony Roberts) will get you all the work you can’t handle. That’s my goal!

    I want to focus on teaching local businesses to market themselves and ditch companies like me…I know you get my plan here because most won’t want to do the leg work to do it and they will come to me to do the hard work.

    Do you have any suggestions? I have 5 Ebooks written about different aspects of marketing. Take a quick look and let me know what I could do better.

    I am interested in anything you have to offer for someone more advanced then the average Joe.

    Thanks!
    James

  19. Am I the only one who doesn’t get it?

    If I understood right your suggesting to make an ebook and a landing page first. Then do a few guest posts. And THEN START A BLOG?

    Will the blog have one post or already like 10? And after that we’d send links and stuff to those emails we got earlier, right?

    Is this what you’re suggesting?

    I always thought. Blog->a lot of quality posts->ebook and emails

    • You understand the general concept. You’re right, MOST people assume “Blog->a lot of quality posts->ebook and emails” and that is exactly what I’m suggesting you don’t do.

      The details for running your blog aren’t covered in this post–this is for the *launch*. I would probably launch with at least 5 *great* posts on your site.

  20. Hey Kyle – Great post! Concise and easy to follow. I’m in the beginning stages of launching my business and am focusing on the guest blogging strategy.

    One thing that is giving me problems though is creating my free resource (email incentive). I have been thinking big, but your list of cheat sheets and shorter resources helps to narrow my focus.

    Much gratitude.

    • That’s great Scott! Yes, less is more when it comes to the freebie.

      Especially to start. Eventually you can create massive resource packages like Copy blogger if you want… but they still don’t do THAT much for your conversions.

  21. This sounds like a lot of work, Kyle!

    But, hey, no one got anywhere without putting in the time.

    Thanks for giving everyone a roadmap to make sure they don’t get lost in the process.

    • Hey Raymond! Of course it’s a lot of work!

      I argue that it’s still LESS work than it would if you were to go the default route of writing content for nobody.

  22. That’s absolutely great, valuable info, thanks a lot. I am going to launch a self-development ebook (something different ;)) around July/August and this post makes it a lot easier for me to take the right steps towards the launch, avoiding all the pitfalls I have with my current German blog freiheitspfade.de

    Actually, this info here would be even valuable for my book… 🙂 I might request a guest post in some weeks applying what you taught me!

    One question: I will write my book in English, yet want to use my far-reaching German networks to generate traffic. Do you see any problems in creating 2 different landing pages, freebies, mailing lists and so on in one language each, although the end product is in English. Creating the preparation stuff in both languages is not that much work actually.

  23. Great post Kyle! I think you’ve covered all the bases here nicely, even if it undersells the need to guest post and the effort needed! 😉

    There is also the important step of moving from guest post to launching the blog as live, how much content you should include on the site to start with etc. Hopefully from 2 or 3 very valuable guest posts you can create a good sized email list that you can then keep active with snippets of the good things to come in the form of “mini posts” or even links to “not yet public” articles on your site, all building up for the big day when you “go live”. The email list is extremely important here as a driver of initial traffic, initial comments as well as hopefully sharing around your new articles with the hope you can attract these first-movers into life-long brand ambassadors!

    I would suggest staying away from running ads as a new blog, as even though you can do some good targeting on networks like Facebook, it’s still fairly costly for the click-throughs you are hoping for, something that you can again get for free from a good email list.

    Further to the guest posting – I have to stress the importance of networking in your blog niche, and reaching out to experts in your field. These guys are your livelihood to start with and if done right will help spearhead your guest blogging and create a lot of traffic to your young site! These guys get a lot of requests so make sure not to bug them too much, but snagging a few as friends early on will help the process vastly!

    And whilst I’m here – Cub Marketing is gearing up for a launch by the end of this month 🙂 stay tuned folks!

    Thanks
    The Cub.

  24. Hi Kyle,

    Call it luck or fate or destiny but your post could not have showed up in my inbox at a better time.

    I am just about to launch my online business in the next few days. I am in the travel niche and i am specifically focusing on beach vacations.

    To say I love the beach is an understatement. I am sure there are other people who feel just the same way.

    My value proposition is to inspire people to visit the beautiful beaches of the world.

    My aim through my blog is to provide useful information that will help people have the most memorable vacation.

    Through my site people will also be able to make bookings for vacations.

    Apart from you mention on the post are there any specific tips you can give me?

    Regards,

    Philip

    • Congrats Philip!

      There are always more specifics lol, I’d need to know more about your situation.

  25. Amazing article! It has immense value, thank you Kyle. Just wondering, how will i able to pitch effectively to guest post for others if my blog is unknown and i dont have any impressive blogging background. I recently launched a blog and i only published one article. I would like to hear your input. Thank you.

    • You don’t need an impressive background at all! But you will need to go out of your way to REALLY impress them.

      Also, just start on blogs that are easier to get published on 😉

  26. Great information Kyle!

    I saw on Daniel’s guest post that you guys let him insert a Leadbox link in his bio after the article. Is that standard practice for new guest posts or do you recommend linking to a Leadpage from the bio? Or linking to the guest’s blog?

    • It’s not standard practice necessarily, but you should certainly ask 🙂
      It IS standard practice to give you a link… otherwise there’s no payment for you at all.

      • I’d be fascinated to know if you guys find that Leadboxes convert better than a link to a Leadpage. Do you mind sharing?

  27. Hi Kyle This is great info wish i had this 4 months ago !
    Can you suggest why it is that when i started blog The report was free no email required ..I soon had 87 downloads I changed it to free download but after email & name reg Result 1 ! It is true i dont get much traffic but there must be a reason for difference ? Can you suggest what ?

    • Conversions drop rapidly as you request information–people don’t like to give out their email address! So that did a lot, I’m wondering if you had a traffic spike as well or some kind of miscount.

    • Hi Kyle Thank you for comment ..after reading this post i think a landing page may make a difference ; will try this …Ian

  28. Hi Kyle,

    Thanks for this great post! In fact I’m starting a personal development site, and this launch guide is very relevant :).

    Referring to your second last paragraph: I’m definitely interested in the advanced method. How do I access it?

    • I’m willing to outline it here 🙂

      Could you give me a few more details about your product? What it is, how you will deliver it, how much it will cost, etc–any details you can think of.

      • Hi Kyle,

        Thanks for the response. I won’t have a product, actually. I’ll have a free (very high quality) ebook as the bait, and about 1 year’s worth of email sequence (to be mailed out once every few days), also full of useful info. Some of the emails will recommend products that if people purchase via my link, I will get affiliate commissions.

        I also plan on publishing new articles to the site regularly — at least 3 to 5 new articles per week.

        Social media wise, the site will also have a presence in FB, YouTube, G+, Pinterest, and Twitter.

        For the launch stage, I’ve also planned to do guest posting/outreach, FB ads, solo ads, etc. I’ll also experiment with 1 or 2 content recommendation engines and see how things go (basically it’s all about knowing what to scale, and what to cut my losses on).

        And to increase conversions, I also plan on implementing the famous “skyscraper” and “content upgrade” techniques.

        And you mentioned about the advanced method, so I’m curious to know what it is ;).

        Cheers!

        • Frank, you’ve got a lot on your plate! Once you begin to find what works you’ll probably want to focus your attention there.

          If you don’t have a product you want to launch immediately then this will probably be your better option. I’ll give you a super condensed version of the advanced launch here:
          1. Set up payment page for your product
          2. Set up landing page for a webinar
          3. Drive traffic to webinar (you can do this quickly via ads and increase exponentially once you know your conversion rates)
          4. Give great webinar, cap it off with a sales pitch that drives people to your payment page

          Again, super simple outline, execution gets trickier 😉

  29. Kyle this post is amazing! I’ve never thought about starting a blog in this way before. I am getting ready to start one now but will experiment with your ideas to get it rolling before I start writing posts for it. Thanks for the helpful strategies.

  30. Great Post. One thing I should ask, all the stuff you discussed in detail have something to do with Information Products. But, how can we take up the physical products like textile, wood crafts etc. How can I build my email list when I only have physical products? I have found one startup http://www.swatcrafts.com couple of months ago where we promote the products made by home-based craftspeople but I didn’t have an idea how can I build my list.

    • You can set up the same sequence and then contribute to blogs that your customers would be reading.

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