Easy Ways to Improve Your Client Acquisition

 Client acquisition has been a huge part of my quick success as a service provider.

I get so many questions about how to get clients from other who are looking to launch an online business. So I figured that I would write a post detailing exactly how I make a good impression for my client acquisition and ultimately turn them into repeat customers and loyal followers.

HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE. BE FRIENDLY.

Right from the very beginning, and pretty much in all of my interactions with anyone online, I strive to sound like a person that people would want to work with.

Your goal is to come off to everyone as friendly, helpful, and caring. View every single person you talk to as a potential client and start building a relationship with them. Don’t fake this — with client acquisition act like yourself, but make sure that you are putting effort into each interaction you have and that you seem like a person they would want to be friends with.

I don’t recommend the “be their friend” tactic to everybody, but I think that in most online businesses, that should absolutely be a big part of your goal.

STAND OUT AS AN EXPERT IN YOUR NICHE.

I find that Facebook groups can be really beneficial for helping you come across as an expert in your niche. When your goal is client acquisition, answer questions that people you want to work with have posted. Give free advice and be overly helpful. People remember it when you go out of your way to be of service to them.

Go above and beyond in every circumstance that you can, and you will start to develop a really good reputation! People will be drawn to you and come straight to you asking for advice. When they get to the point where they want to hire someone or take a course from someone with your expertise, you are going to be the first person that comes to their minds!

BE A PROFESSIONAL.

Yes, it can be really great to become friends with people in your client acquisition process, but it’s also super important to always remain professional.

A few suggestions on how to come off as professional: Don’t talk down to people or gossip. Be organized; have systems and details in place that make the initial hiring process a breeze. Make clients sign contracts. Don’t go overboard with the “lol”s and emojis when you’re corresponding with them. Take notes on your interactions and keep files on all of your clients. Keep strict business hours.

PROVIDE FREE DISCOVERY CALLS.

As part of my client acquisition process when I first started to provide my services online, a lot of people requested to speak with me over Zoom before they hired me for a project. Some of them wanted to get to know me better. Others just thought that their design concepts would be a lot easier to explain “in person.”

After more than a couple people asked for this as part of the hiring process, I actually implemented it into my service pages. On all of the pages on my site where I detail my different services, at the bottom I have a form that people can use to ask me questions, request a quote, or schedule a free introductory Zoom call.

Since implementing those forms on my service pages, my potential client inquiries straight from my website have increased by about 100%. It made a huge difference, and I would highly recommend that other people try this out.

Some people get worried to offer introductory calls, because what if the person doesn’t show up or doesn’t end up hiring you? It is a commitment of time and effort that not everybody is willing to give. That being said, in the four months that I’ve been doing these Zoom calls, I have never once had a no-show or had the person not immediately hire me. So yes, I absolutely think that the commitment is worth it.

KICK ASS ON YOUR INTRODUCTORY CALLS.

My main goal during these introductory calls is to explain exactly how I am about to change this person’s life. I have researched their business, I understand their goals, and I detail all of my thoughts about how they can improve.

I give tons of personalized, free advice. Tons. I do website critiques, I offer my opinion on their branding, I give them some tips on their Instagram strategy. Whatever they mention that they are struggling with, I do my absolute best to give them as much advice about it as possible.

Once they see how gung-ho I am about their company, and how hard I am already willing to work for them, it becomes a no-brainer that this person must hire me. They realize what an asset I will be for them and cannot possibly resist inviting me on board.

UTILIZE QUESTIONNAIRES AND CONTRACTS.

Something that I do with almost all of my clients is to have them fill out a questionnaire and/or contract right at the beginning of the process. I use Acuity for this! Especially if I am doing design work for them. This helps me get a better sense of their personality and brand identity, and exactly what they are looking for from me.

I also send out another quick questionnaire at the end of our time together. This gets them to answer some information I want to know from them (how they think I performed, what they thought of the price, etc.). I have a section at the end where they can leave me a testimonial to use on my service pages.

Using these types of things in your business gives off the impression that you truly care about what they have to say. It also shows a bit of professionalism — you have a process that you take each client through, and you use the information they give you to do a better job as a service provider.

TIMELY CORRESPONDENCE.

This is something that I, in particular, have always struggled with. While working on my client acquisition process, I get a lot of emails including those from clients. I also have many, many things on my to-do list. Sometimes, before I know it, 48 hours has gone by and I still haven’t answered that person’s email!

But this is something that I truly make an effort to do better. I try to update my clients often, and respond to their questions quickly. It’s also important that you stick to your deadlines. If your turn-around time is a week, make sure that you are actually getting it done in that time frame.

Clients really appreciate it when you maintain an active correspondence with them throughout the process. It’s a good idea to be as consistent as possible with your responses. And always alert them if any questions or concerns come up.

Puffin Bird

Puffins: small seabirds that belong in the genus Fratercula.

Kingdom: | Animalia
Class: | Aves
Order: | Charadriiformes
Family: | Alcidae
Genus: | Fratercula

There are three species of puffins: the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica), the tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), and the horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata).

Size and Weight:

Puffins are small seabirds that vary slightly in size depending on the species. The tufted puffin is slightly larger than the other species, weighing 18.3 to 35.3 ounces and measuring 14.2 to 15.8 inches in length. The horned puffin is the second-largest species, weighing 17.0 to 22.9 ounces. Atlantic puffins weigh 10.9 to 19.4 ounces and measure 10.2 to 11.4 inches in length.

Appearance:

All three species of puffins are medium-sized, stout seabirds with short necks, big heads, and large triangular bills. They are typically black and white in color and are slightly distinguishable from one another. The Atlantic and horned puffins look similar, with the exception of a blue-grey triangle at the base of the Atlantic puffin’s beak and the dark, fleshy “horns” that extend above the eyes of horned puffins. Meanwhile, the tufted puffin varies most in its appearance. For all three species, their appearance shifts when breeding versus nonbreeding.

While breeding, horned puffins are black with a white face, belly and breast. They have orange feet and a yellow bill with a red-orange tip. Meanwhile, nonbreeding adults have sooty gray faces and have a smaller, grayish base. In comparison to adults, juveniles have smaller, all-gray bills.

Atlantic Puffins are black above and white below. Breeding birds have a gaudy black, orange, and yellow bill and their face are grayish-white. During the nonbreeding season, the face turns a darker gray, and the bill sheds its yellow highlights and shrinks slightly. Juveniles have all-dark bills. As the bird ages, the bill grows larger and acquires more grooves.

A tufted puffin is the largest species and most distinctive in appearance. A tufted puffin is all black except for a white face and long golden plumes curling over the back of its head and neck. Their bill is large and red-orange. Meanwhile, in the nonbreeding season, adults have dark gray faces with no head plumes or bill plates.

Diet:

All three species of puffins feed on small fish. They are able to capture and carry multiple fish in their bill at a time.

Habitat:

Horned Puffins nest in colonies on cliffs and islands over the sea and spend their winters at sea. Atlantic Puffins nest in burrows on rocky islands with short vegetation, and on sea cliffs. They spend the rest of the year at sea. Tufted puffins nest on coastal slopes in ground burrows. They spend their winters at sea.

Geography:

The tufted puffin and horned puffin are found in the North Pacific Ocean, while the Atlantic puffin is found in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Breeding:

To attract a female, male Atlantic puffins flick their heads and grunt like a pig near a nesting burrow. Once paired, they maintain their bond by rubbing their bills together. Atlantic Puffins tend to form monogamous bonds and return to the same nest with the same mate year after year. Both the male and the female work together to dig a shallow hole or burrow into the ground with their bill and feet. They often make their nest under a boulder or within a crevice among the rocks and use grass and twigs to line the bottom of the burrow. The female lays one egg at a time with an incubation period of 36 to 45 days and a nestling period of 38 to 44 days.

Upon arriving at their breeding site, horned puffins begin their courtships. Their courtship displays include “billing,” where the male and female rub their bills together, jerking their heads and opening and closing their bills, giving a popping sound. This courtship display continues at the nest site and through the breeding season. Horned puffins build their nests are on cliffs or slopes of rocky islands. They are often lined with grass, algae, twigs, and feathers. The female will lay one at a time. The incubation period is 38 to 43 days and is by both sexes. Both parents also feed the nestling. The young departs from the nest at about 38 to 44 days. They are not able to fly well and often flutter or tumble down to the water and swim out to sea. From this point on, they are independent.

The tufted puffin nests mostly in deep burrows, which they dig into cliff edges and slopes. They can be more than 5 feet deep. The female lays one egg at a time. The incubation period is 40 to 42 days and is performed by both sexes. Both parents also feed the nestling once hatched, carrying fish in their bills and then dropping them on the ground of the nest or near the entrance. After 6 to 7 weeks after hatching, the young leaves its nest.

Social Structure:

Puffins nest in large colonies on cliffs and islands over the sea. They forage for food relatively close to their nesting sites. When it is not the breeding season, adult puffins live mostly solitary lives at sea on the open ocean. While at the shore during the breeding season, puffins are social birds. They often forage in small groups and place their nesting burrows relatively close to each other.

Lifespan:

Puffins often live about 20 years. The oldest known puffin lived to be 36 years.

Threats:

The largest threat to all three puffin species is climate change, which is warming ocean waters and affecting their food supply. Other threats include bycatch, plastic pollution, and natural predators like foxes, otters and bears.

Puffins have been hunted relatively sustainably for centuries in places like Iceland and the Faroe Islands. However, in North America in the 1800s and early 1900s, heavy exploitation for eggs, meat, and feathers caused populations of the Atlantic puffins to decline, and puffins disappeared entirely from the United States. There are now conservation efforts protecting the bird.

Conservation Status:

The tufted puffin and the horned puffin are listed as Least Concern on IUCN’s Red List. Meanwhile, the Atlantic puffin is listed as vulnerable.

Conservation Efforts:

Multiple conservation groups are working to protect puffins and their habitat. For example, the National Audubon Society started Project Puffin in 1973 in an effort to learn how to restore puffins to historic nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. There are several active seabird restoration programs for puffins as well as many public education programs. The National Audubon Society created protected areas and worked to relocate young puffins to former nesting islands, allowing more than 2,000 puffins to breed again in Maine.

7 THINGS YOUR CLIENT IS DYING TO HEAR

 It’s time to give your sales funnel LIFE and learn 7 things your client is dying to hear you say. Everywhere you exist online (aka your “sales funnel”) is meant to do three things for you, and always:

Attract

Connect

Convert

You’ll know it’s not working, when you find yourself asking questions like these:

• How do I get people to my website?
• How do I convert views into sales?
• How do I get fans to see my posts on Facebook?
• How do I get social media fans onto my email list?
• What am I supposed to say in email broadcasts?
• How do I find new customers?
• How do I make more sales?

All of these questions mean that you have the gears of an online business in place, but they’re not moving. They’re static, stalled or stuck. They’re failing to work together.

Enter copywriting. I know what you think copywriting is – you probably know the textbook definition of it, which is to write in a persuasive way that markets, advertises and raises brand awareness. And yes, it’s all true, but it’s so much more than that.

Good copywriting adds movement. It honors the buying process. It’s what motivates your customers through the sales funnel, guiding them from new visitor to loyal friend. The language you use online is what gets these gears moving.

Copywriting is the language that builds relationships online, and that’s the best way to look at it! It’s a language to be learned. It will help you build an online sales machine that represents you in the most authentic way imaginable.

When you learn copywriting, it makes everything you do online more successful. You begin to say what your customers have been dying to hear, you easily attract more interested buyers, you connect in a way you never thought possible, and converting sales becomes the easiest part of the job.

Here’s what customers want to hear from you …

#1 First and foremost, they want to know what your product will do for them. People like to feel appreciated and served. To start the conversation, you want to tell your customer how your product is going to make their life better, solve their problems, create happiness or more convenience, and leave them feeling satisfied with their purchase long after they check-out.

#2 They want to imagine the product or service in their lives. In fact, until they envision this, they will not buy. They want to know how they’re going to use it, where they’re going to put it, and how they’ll feel differently once it’s over and done.

#3 They want to know how it’s going to be delivered. For product-based businesses, share a photo of your orders being fulfilled, and tell customers how fast you ship. For service-based business, always let your client know “how it works” – explain the delivery and process they can expect after-purchase.

Tell them why buying with you is a quick and painless process they’ll enjoy!

#4 They want a powerful offer. Yes they do! They want you to take the stage and present yourself as a confident business owner that has a valuable product for sale. They’re important, their time is valuable, and they want you to deliver a strong presentation.

#5 They want you to give them a reason to buy. They can’t justify the expense right now without a few good reasons to do so. Off the top, you should know three good reasons your customer should buy now, and then add a dash of urgency and sprinkle scarcity on top.

I love it when a company gets me over the hump and him-hawing of indecision. I love a good reason to buy now!

#6 They want you to grab their attention. Everyone’s scanning the internet (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, blog, Facebook, blog, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, repeat) for something, ANYTHING, that interests and engages them.

Creatives have been taught the “don’t ask, just exist” approach to sales and online business. How’s that approach treating you? What results are you creating?

Instead, try a gripping headline. Get a little flashy. Be different. Dare to be interesting.

#7 They hate their own inertia. They want to be moved.

“Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state of motion, including changes to its speed and direction. It is the tendency of objects to keep moving in a straight line at constant velocity.” – Wikipedia

Whenever you create a new product or run a promotion, you need to create a sense of scarcity to help the buyer overcome that resistance to the purchase. If your product is available forever at the same price, the potential customer might think about it for just as long (or forget about it altogether)!

There are three standard ways to move your customer out of their state of inertia: (1.) Limited number, (2.) Limited time, and/or (3.) Special pricing.

How to Attract Your Ideal Clients

 There’s a lot of information on the internet about ideal clients – why they are important and how to figure out who they are. If you’re reading this article, I’m going to assume that you know who your ideal client is or at least have an idea of who you do and don’t want to work with.

Knowing who your ideal client is is one of the most important steps in growing a successful online brand. If you don’t know who you are talking to, it’s impossible to create a brand that will propel your business forward.

What I want to talk to you about today is how to attract your ideal client and make them fall in love with you.

1. MAKE SURE YOUR OFFERINGS MEET THE NEEDS OF YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS

Do you know what your ideal clients are looking for? Do you know what problems they have and do you have the products and or services to help them resolve these problems?

Instead of thinking about what you want to offer, think about what your target market needs help with and create your offerings around this. For example, my ideal clients are not just looking to rebrand because they don’t like the look of their current brand. My ideal clients are looking to up-level their business and know that they need a strategic plan in place to go alongside the visual side of their branding. They understand that rebranding is so much more than how their business looks from an identity perspective. This is why I created The Flourish Experience and I only work with clients who are ready to up-level their brands in order to reach the next stage in their business.

2. KNOW YOUR WORTH

If you don’t value your knowledge and experience, how do you expect someone else to? An important step in attracting your ideal clients and making them fall in love with you is to feel completely confident in the value you give to your clients.

Often by not feeling confident in ourselves, we refrain from putting ourselves out there which brings me nicely onto step three.

3. START MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS WHERE YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS ARE

One of the most important things you can do is to just put yourself out there. Yes, having a strategy in place is extremely important in order to focus your efforts and grow your business. However, if you have been putting off marketing your business and increasing your visibility because you feel like you need a plan or you need a perfect looking brand identity, then please don’t worry about those things right now, just put your best content in front of your ideal clients.

Marketing isn’t something that quickly grows your audience overnight. Nurturing and growing your audience takes time so by starting to put yourself out there, whether that be a video on Instagram Stories or a blog post filled with value, you are taking those all-important first steps.

4. CREATE A CONSISTENT BRAND IDENTITY

You may wonder why I have put this as step four instead of step three and I have a good reason.

All too often as entrepreneurs, we allow things to stop ourselves from growing our business because they are not perfect. We refrain from putting ourselves out there because we don’t have a plan or our brand identity isn’t perfect or because we are consuming SO MUCH INFORMATION that we just feel overwhelmed.

Don’t let the fact that your branding isn’t perfect, stop you from getting in front of your ideal clients. HOWEVER, your brand identity plays a very important part in your brand growth journey so it is something that needs to be addressed.

If you don’t feel like your current branding is attracting your ideal clients then it’s time to change it. Whether that’s an entire rebrand or ensuring that you are consistent across all platforms.

5. PUT OUT QUALITY VALUABLE CONTENT FOR FREE

One thing that often comes up during my strategy sessions with clients is that they are scared of putting their best content out there.

There are two main reasons that I hear as to why this is the case.

The first being that they worry that by giving out all of this free information, they are going to do themselves out of business as their audience will just do things themselves. Well, I can tell you now that this isn’t the case. Yes, there will always be a proportion of your audience that will DIY but there will be those out there (your ideal clients) that will read and watch this valuable content, decide that you are the expert for them and hire you to do the job.

The second reason is they worry that their competitors will copy their content and replicate it for themselves. Again, yes there may be some business owners that are too lazy to think for themselves and will just copy an article they found online but they will never do well because they are not you. The whole point in building a personal brand is so that people buy from you. By simply copying what someone else is doing, they are not using their own unique voice.

So please, don’t worry that your potential clients won’t buy from you or that your competitors may steal from you, just keep putting out valuable content and position yourself as the expert in your field.

6. GIVE THEM THE BEST POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE

Client experience is a key element in building a successful personal brand. This doesn’t just mean from the moment that they are a client but from the moment they first come into contact with your brand.

Think about all the touchpoints that your audience have with your brand and how you can enhance their experience to make it as seamless as possible.

I hope that’s helped you to think of ways in which to attract your ideal client and make them fall in love with you.

Theme your Instagram

 Instagram is by far my favorite social media and what I enjoy most about social media marketing for our blog. It took me some time to establish a bit of know-how when it came to an Instagram strategy and building up a large audience, and part of that know-how was understanding how to visually theme and balance my feed.

An Instagram theme is a cohesive pattern of images, colors, and content that is visually appealing in a grid on your Instagram profile. You’ve probably seen them on some of your favorite Instagram accounts.

Why is an Instagram theme important?

Your visual content on Instagram is what Instagram users see first and we all know that first impressions mean a lot. It takes just a few seconds for anyone to make a judgment about you and your brand. So, having a cohesive theme on your Instagram grid will help to keep new users on your profile and engaged in your content.

When creating your first Instagram theme, it’s good to think in terms of 9 individual posts grouped together. When you look through Instagram profiles, the first top 9 posts are what is seen grouped together first. So, this makes your top 9 and most recent posts important for first impressions.

1. Know and Use Your Brand Colors

When it comes to a flawless looking Instagram grid, there is something you may or may not have noticed. The colors go well together and are part of the brand’s color scheme.

For beginner’s who aren’t graphic designers, creating a color scheme can seem like a daunting task. Besides hiring a designer to help you out, the best trick I’ve got to share with you is to simply pick a photo that you want to use in your branding and run it through a photo color generator. Inside the adobe color scheme generator, you can upload an image and it will generate a color scheme for you.

2. Decide on a few image and graphics parameters

When establishing your Instagram theme, color is important, but so is the quality of your visual content. Having set parameters around the types of photos you share will help guide you so you don’t share that last photo you took of your sushi dinner last night in that poorly lit restaurant.

Some example parameters might be:

Photos shared on my Instagram must be bright, white, and can be very colorful

I will always plan my grid in a puzzle them .

Some Photos shared can include some flat lays and product photos. But only with white backgrounds.

All Photos are well lit and only shared after they are edited to perfection first.

Graphics are allowed, but the font used must be “Raleway” and 12px in a dark grey color, on a blue or a pink background.

You get the idea. Sit down and figure out some parameters to the Instagram grid you want to create and stick to it.

The complexity of image options and choices is partially why some people do decide to try creating a theme with a Puzzle grid. If you’re curious but don’t want to start a puzzle grid from scratch? I figured you might need a starting point. So, you can go ahead and grab this free puzzle template made for you in Canva .

3. Know where and how you will get your images

 I know that there is a need for bloggers to outsource their photography. But, stock photography or custom photography might not be an option or you may enjoy photography yourself. Either way, a huge part of creating a visual content strategy for Instagram is the photos.

If you plan to take photos, grab free photos, create graphics, or hire someone to create photos or graphics for you, go ahead and batch at least 30+ photos or graphics at once. Here are my best tips for sourcing and collecting as many photos and graphics as you can.

Get free stock photos from our giant library

Get custom photography made

Join a stock photography membership, where we add 100+ new photos every month

Take photos of your own, even your cell phone will do – here’s how

Learn how to take your own flatlays

When taking your own photos, make a long list of ideas for props or locations, like this one we created

4. Understand that you should likely mix up your content types

 When establishing what kind of theme to have, it’s good to have some sort of pattern in mind. This can be a color pattern or a pattern created based upon the type of content seen within the Instagram posts, which I like to call “content buckets”.

Content buckets are similar to the types of content you might have on your blog under your menu of categories but should be treated as micro versions. You can format your pattern any way you like. The key here is establishing a strategy, a pleasing visual grid, and a plan to help you know what to post next instead of posting on a whim when it might not look good or feel right in your existing grid.

5. Understand balance (Color, Space, Focus)

COLOR: As we’ve been discussing, the use of your brand colors is important for creating a cohesive experience between all of your platforms. Color balance is simply the balance of colors you use within your feed. So, if you have 4 colors in your brand color scheme, you could use a ratio of 25% for each, or 100% of your main color, or some other variation. You can also change up the ratio of color balance throughout your grid, which you may see in my Instagram. But, remember that when you create this balance, think in groups of 9 so that when someone is scrolling through their feed, they can clearly see the theme and some cohesion.

FOCUS & SPACE: When it comes to balancing, you may also want to consider the types of things you are capturing and sharing, how close they are to the lens when photographed, and how much white space/negative space they may or may not have around them. There’s no right or wrong to this, but remember to look at this ahead of time and ask yourself “does this fit in with the other images I post?”

Some accounts only share one type of content – while others share a variation. It’s good to know what your plan is going to be so you can plan around that and balance it.

If you plan to share the same type of image on Instagram every time, remember to make sure the colors work together and that the scale and zoom are the same.

If you plan to share a variation of photos, it’s a good idea to share them in equal proportion. So, don’t share 4 flatlays in a row and then 2 selfies. This won’t feel balanced. Instead, if you plan to share selfies and flatlays, consider doing a selfie every other or every 2 flat lays.

Creating this ratio and balance will help with a cohesive and balanced theme.

6. Set up a pre-made map and scheme in PLANN

I use an app called PLANN to schedule my Instagram posts ahead of time. It helps me layout my photos in an aesthetically pleasing way, pre-input my captions, and hashtags and set a time of day to post. This eliminates the need to stop what I am doing every day to post something new.

However, you can do this anywhere. I suggest making a “map” in your favorite graphic design software and making some templates with information about your schedule.

Here’s a Premade 7-Day Example list of Instagram Content:

Besides the above example, here’s another sample of a pre-made “plan” you can use as a visual map for what type of content to post next:

Day 1 = Behind the scenes

Day 2 = White background, black text Inspirational Quote

Day 3 =  Repost a photo from my community

Day 4 = Latest Blog Post

Day 5 = Behind the Scenes

Day 6 = White background, black text Inspirational Quote

Day 7 =  Repost a photo from my community

If you accidentally post something that doesn’t look good within your theme, or maybe you post it at the wrong time of day and it isn’t getting the engagement you had hoped, it’s okay to delete it and maybe try again another day. Don’t be afraid to delete posts that do not look good and have not performed well for you.

A great place to start when it comes to setting up a great looking Instagram grid on an existing account is by getting those bad posts off of your account.

Stand Out + Get Noticed

 “I feel like no one is even hearing or seeing me! This market is too crowded for me.”

When I first started , it didn’t take me long to realize I had entered a VERY crowded market. I started feeling hopeless, like I was never going to be able to stand out enough to get great clients or make this new business work.

Over time, I carved out my own space in the market and started being KNOWN for something. I got messages from people telling me my blog posts and podcast were making a real difference for them… and I realized gradually that people were depending on me – in at least some small way – to inspire and lead them.

So I want to share what worked for me, how I started standing out and getting noticed and recognized as DIFFERENT from all the other brand coaches and marketing experts out there.

This is for you if:

• You want to start standing out from the crowd and getting the ATTENTION of your dream clients.
• You want to make a real IMPACT in the world and influence the conversation.
• You want to and be KNOWN for something that matters and acknowledged as a thought leader, not just a follower.

I got clear about my passion and my purpose.

It’s not easy to find some deeper underlying purpose to why you want to do what you love. If you’re a wedding photographer, or a jewelry designer, or a life coach, you probably do that thing because you enjoy it! You may also want to achieve some personal goals, like buying a home, supporting your family, or living an independent lifestyle. You undoubtedly have some financial goals too, like saving for retirement or earning a six-figure income.

But to get the attention of your dream clients, you need a reason that goes beyond just “I enjoy it” or “I never want to go back to a 9-5 again.” Apple wouldn’t be Apple if its stated brand purpose was to make a billion dollars, or to pay its employees enough to buy expensive homes and send their kids to great colleges. Marie Forleo wouldn’t be Marie Forleo if her stated passion and purpose was to be the next Oprah.

You need to dig deep and find a purpose that is ABOUT your dream client, or the world outside you – not just you, and your immediate family. You need a purpose that inspires your dream client and makes it clear why it’s GREAT news to her that you’re in the world, doing this work.

I started using my voice before I was ready.

Next, I started speaking up and sharing my opinions and my perspectives BEFORE it was comfortable. Before I felt ready. Before I thought anyone was listening. I didn’t have anything unique to say, but I said what I did have to say, and that was enough to get started.

Along the way, I figured out what messages I truly wanted to share and spread, and what I was willing to stand up and fight for. I figured out what my dream clients needed to hear, and what I needed to hear, and I said it with confidence.

I started being unapologetically me. 

The one thing no one else can do or be is YOU. I started identifying the things I was scared people wouldn’t like about me, and sharing them on purpose. I was my awkward, clumsy, shy, sensitive self. I stopped worrying people would think I wasn’t tough enough, or rich enough, or cool enough… because ultimately, my dream clients didn’t want that persona anyway. They wanted me. They wanted real. 

Be unapologetically you, and the right people will notice. They’ll hear your voice, and come knocking on your door.

I looked for ways to disrupt patterns.

It’s so easy when you’re just starting out, to look around at what everyone else is doing and try to do it the same way. But ultimately you need to find what works for you, what delights your dream clients, and what makes it clear that you aren’t just a copycat!

You can disrupt patterns through your visuals, your voice, the way you do things, your customer onboarding and experience, and all the other ways you show up for your audience. If everyone in your industry uses succulent graphics in their branding, what can use that’s different and unique? If everyone in your industry shoots the same flatlay photos, what can you add to make them your own?

That said, it’s better to copy other people than to do nothing!

I’m not talking about plagiarism – I’m talking about systems. Processes. If everyone in your industry sends a PDF to welcome in new clients, and you can’t think of a better or different way to do it, then get to work on that PDF, girl!

Over time, you’ll find unique ways to do things that disrupt the status quo and give your dream clients a truly one-of-a-kind experience. But until then, just take action even if it’s not the most original thing in the world.

I made my dream client my main focus.

Creating a great experience for your dream clients isn’t just about you – it’s mainly about THEM. When you market to a wide, diverse audience – i.e., everyone – you’re telling your dream client that they’re part of the masses. That they’re just a number to you. 

But when you deliver an experience that one special kind of person will LOVE, it makes that person feel special. It makes them feel unique! Like they’re the only one for you, and vice versa. And if ONE person feels that way, you know that a hundred other people do too. 

Making your dream client feel SPECIAL and unique is essential to getting noticed. It’s like the difference between walking past someone on a soapbox, shouting at the crowd… and hearing that person describe your exact situation with startling accuracy. 

I focused on building trust and rapport.

Telling people what you do is the easy part. So many people do it! And your customer is probably overrun with people trying to sell them stuff.

The hard part is having the long-term thinking to focus on building trust and rapport, and showing your dream clients they can trust you to help them get where they need to go.

Client relationships are like any other relationship. You invest time and energy into each other for days, weeks, or months before asking each other to take the next step. You don’t walk up to someone you just met and ask them to marry you! You give yourself and each other the chance to get to know each other, build trust, and build a genuine connection. 

In the same way, your dream client may watch you for weeks or months before buying anything from you! You show that you’ve already gotten to know her – by speaking to her situation and needs. Now she’s getting to know you, know how you do things, know what you believe. 

So you create great content, show up consistently, share your message, and be yourself! All those things add up to a client who trusts you and wants to work with you.

The 6 Stories Your Brand Needs to be Telling

 Have you heard recently that you need to tell stories in your branding? I bet you have 😉 It’s bordering on being the next “shiny marketing tactic” that everyone needs. Telling stories in your branding may be essential, but it can also be really difficult. Not everyone has the gift of natural storytelling! You’re great with BIG ideas and solving problems, but that doesn’t always translate to entertaining stories rich with details and imagery. Oh, and then there’s the fact that there are thousands of stories you COULD tell, but which ones do your clients actually care about? As our society evolves and consumers care more and more about the products they buy, telling the *right* stories is essential to connecting on an emotional level with your ideal clients.

Humans naturally love stories. We bond over mutual experiences and enjoy sharing those experiences with each other. We love telling stories, reading stories, and hearing stories. Why would Hollywood movies be a multi-billion dollar business if this wasn’t true? We love hearing how good trumps evil. Or watching how a hero overcomes impossible obstacles. We yearn to hear about people falling in love. We relate to strangers sharing how they’ve grown and learned from their mistakes.

We are WIRED to respond to stories. I read an article recently by Paul J. Zak titled “Why Your Brain Loves A Good Story.” It was *so* interesting… #nerdalert! He wrote about studies his team has completed using a neurochemical called oxytocin.

“…oxytocin is a key “it’s safe to approach others” signal in the brain. Oxytocin is produced when we are trusted or shown a kindness, and it motivates cooperation with others. It does this by enhancing the sense of empathy, our ability to experience others’ emotions.”

Mr. Zak’s team experimented with narratives shot on video. They had participants watch narratives to see if oxytocin levels would rise as they do when participants have face to face conversations. Spoiler alert! They found that character-driven stories raise oxytocin production in the brain. Just like they do when you’re talking with someone in person!

What does this mean for your branding? A great way to connect on a psychological level with your audience is through telling stories about your brand! Boom! Science!

Elements of a Great Story

I recently watched a TED talk given by Andrew Stanton titled “The Clues to a Great Story.” Of all the research I’ve done on storytelling, this short presentation is my favorite. It’s worth watching. But if you don’t have time, here are 2 of my favorite highlights you can directly apply to the stories you tell in your branding.

“Make a Promise”: One element Andrew calls out is that a great story always makes a promise to the audience that the story is leading to something.  Call it foreshadowing. Call it a spoiler. But what’s key is that while there’s a point to your story, your audience needs to work for it.  They may understand from the beginning what you’re getting at, or what lesson you want them to learn, but they can’t predict the entire story from the get go. This keeps their interest.

“Use What You Know”: Draw inspiration from what you know, what you believe, and who you are. As obvious as this sounds… many people forget to follow this advice. You want to paint the perfect picture, or write the perfect piece of copy for your business so you get stuck in a never-ending brainstorm cycle. But, if you just pull from your strongest values and build a story from something that truly resonates deep down, you’re writing gold. You’re writing about something foundational for your brand that you’re passionate about, which is all your audience really wants from you.

Why Your Audience Loves Stories

Before we get into specific stories you should be telling in your branding, take a minute to truly understand all the reasons your audience *wants* to hear your stories.

Escape from our own lives: We all get stuck in the minutiae of everyday life. What better way than storytelling to give your audience a quick break from reality. Use stories to help them escape from boring tasks, even for a minute, to better understand something about your brand, your process, or your origin.

Meet the person behind the brand: More and more, today’s consumers want to get to know the brains behind the brand. Consumers want to understand that the company isn’t just about profits and the bottom line. We want to know the brand has meaning and has real, ethical people running it.

Common ground and shared struggles: It’s human nature to want to be part of a group. To know we’re not alone in this crazy world, especially when it comes to fears and obstacles. Connect with your audience by letting them know you understand their struggles and how you overcame similar obstacles in your own life.

Find new motivation: Speaking of fears and obstacles…discovering motivation to get PAST that challenge is something we all yearn for. Your ideal audiences would love to find the motivation to ditch the sweets or discover their inner strength to take action on their dreams.

Learn something new: My favorite type of story? One where I learn something and didn’t even realize it. That’s part of the reason I love movies based on true stories 😉 Telling a story around a process or technique you use in your brand is the best way to make something (possibly) mundane interesting for your audience.

Stories You Need In Your Branding

Low-to-High Origin Story

One of the most common stories you see in business is the low-to-high origin story. Just like it sounds… this is the story that explains a business/personal low point and how the brand overcame that challenge. These stories build up the journey of a business and detail the struggles, lessons, and strengths the business discovered along the way. And the best part? The brand gets to take some time talking themselves up. 😉 These stories celebrate the success of the brand and reinforce the simple fact that hard work and dedication can move mountains.

Here’s the Low to High Origin Story broken down into steps:

• Where did you come from?
• What was a low point for your career or life?
• What was the turning point?
• What makes you credible to help now?

Why Story

This story model is probably the second most common in business and it’s exponentially growing in popularity. This goes back to something I wrote earlier in this article: Modern consumers want to know *more* about the brands they purchase from. Kaye wrote about this shift recently in her published article: “Meaning Over Money”. There needs to be a deeper, driving force behind your brand that’s not just… ”I want to make more money. “ For some entrepreneurs, it’s freedom.  For others, it’s improving the ways humans interact with the environment. Other entrepreneurs are motivated by a healthier, happier population. Whatever the reason, the story of *WHY* you built your brand is strong and cannot be ignored.

Here are some ways Why Stories can show up in your branding:

• Why do you do the work that you do?
• Why are you passionate about helping people in this area?
• Why do you work with the people that you do?
• What drives you to get up and work each day?
• Was there ever a time in your life that you needed the work that you do?

Human Element Stories

These stories are a great way to deepen the connection with your target audience. Tell stories that show you are human, even if they are “off topic.” Sprinkle these stories into day-to-day communications with your warm audience to give your relationship some flavor and depth. Again, this all comes down to showing your audience that there are real people behind the brand. These stories also help take some of the pressure away from constantly selling. Not everything you write about needs to be a pitch for your brand. Sometimes it’s nice to just take a step back and share something that makes you unique or weird or adventurous.

Here are some Human Element Story ideas to get you started:

• What hobbies do you have outside of your work?
• What is your family life like?
• What’s your favorite TV show? Book? Podcast?
• What are you unreasonably passionate about?
• What’s something you’re really bad at?
• Where have your travels taken you?

Brand Value Stories

These stories are some of my favorites to read about other brands. But, before you can write them, you need to identify the top values that drive your brand. I recently published a brand analysis on the clothing brand ADAY. They use this type of story throughout their About page. They value sustainability, simplicity, and technology. So, they tell a story about bringing clothing back to the basics and making technical clothing that fits into an active, traveling, working lifestyle. They also weave in stories about the sustainable manufacturing plants they work with and the high quality fabrics they produce. This brand expertly demonstrates how they live their brand values out loud in the clothing they produce.

Ready to write your own Brand Value Stories?

• Identify your top 3-5 brand values
• Explain why one (or all) of these values is important to you
• Tell your audience how you live this value out loud

Client/Customer Stories

Ok, this one mmaayyyy seem obvious. You probably have some case studies or testimonials already written where past clients talk about how *amazing* you and your services are. BUT, don’t underestimate the power of customer stories when you’re explaining your services or the results you get for your clients. Numbers or statistics just aren’t as relatable for your audience. You can talk about how many logos you’ve created as a designer or you can talk about how many clients you work with as a copywriter, but that’s just a number. Those results just don’t feel as concrete or real until you relate it to a specific person’s experience. We see ourselves in other people’s stories, so use that to your brand’s advantage!

Here’s what a Client/Customer Story can look like:

• Describe the client (any details you can provide deepens the connection with ideal clients)
• Explain what was wrong. Why did they want/purchase your product or service?
• How did s/he FEEL before working together
• What did you do for them?
• What was the result?
• How did you improve his/her situation? Or life?
• How did they FEEL after?

Teaching Story

Telling your audience that they need to do something, or teaching them a lesson isn’t *fun* for them. Depending on your audience, it can be a one-way ticket to being ignored. BUT, using stories to get your point across hides the learning and makes the lesson more relatable for your audience. One of Kaye’s personal stories is a perfect example here. One lesson we teach is to be unapologetically your *most* authentic self. So to get this point across, Kaye tells a story about a time in her life where she felt inauthentic. She tells a story about a job she had that she didn’t love and didn’t enjoy where she had to fake a southern accent to fit in. Reading this story, you understand how disappointed she *feels* acting out this personality that’s not really her. It gets the lesson across without her ever actually having to say… ”be authentic.”

Examples of Teaching Stories:

• Lesson learned
• Advice to your audience
• Celebrity that lives what you’re teaching
• A parable or metaphor to illustrate a lesson
• Lessons from history

As you can see, the possibilities are endless on incorporating stories into your branding. And the best news? It doesn’t matter what you sell, how big (or small) your team is, or what industry you’re in.

Stories WILL make your brand stronger and WILL create stronger relationships with your clients.

So, take some time and brainstorm a story that fits into each of the 6 categories above. If you have a big team, have a few key brand leaders write what they think these stories are individually and compare results. What matters is taking action now. Use the fact that your audience loves stories to your advantage. Use it to share details behind your branding that shed light on your strengths, values, and unique quirks. Your audience will love the flavor and the shift from standard website layouts and copy.

5 Reasons Why The Japanese Don’t Get FAT

 Did you know that the Japanese have the longest life expectancy in the world?  It’s no coincidence that with good health, an ideal weight is also easily achieved.  The Japanese have a 3% obesity rate compared to a whopping 35% in the USA.

So what do the Japanese do to stay healthy and slim?

1 Why The Japanese Diet Is Perfect For Staying Slim

The Japanese make their meals themselves.  Traditionally they don’t eat processed ready meals or fast food.  They cook their own meals.  They eat simple food such as fish, rice and vegetables, soup and fruit.

Most people generally return to their ideal weight once they start making all their own meals cooked with local fresh food regardless of the diet.

The Japanese also eat a good amount of omega 3 fatty acids which is essential for a long healthy life.  They also eat 5 times the amount of cruciferous vegetables that Americans do.

2 How The Japanese Squeeze In Regular Exercise Even With A Busy Lifestyle

The Japanese naturally do a lot more gentle exercise than Americans as cars are a luxury in Japan.  So to commute to work, they either have to walk, cycle or get the train.  Even on a train, they stand up due to lack of space.

There is a correlation between the amount of time you spend sitting every day and life expectancy.  Because the Japanese stand and walk a lot more, they live longer.  Regular exercise is also great for achieving an ideal weight.

3 How The Japanese Naturally Prevent Gut Damage

Did you know that when you have a damaged gut by eating unnatural foods, it’s very hard for the body to absorb nutrients.  This can lead to health problems and weight gain.

The Japanese eat food which is easy to digest and doesn’t cause their gut damage so their bodies are generally healthier.

They also eat a lot of fermented food such as miso and kimchi which is very good for the digestion.

Japanese portion sizes are also a lot smaller than American portion sizes so the digestion never has to work too hard to process big heavy meals.

4 How The Japanese Protect Their Posture

The Japanese have excellent posture because they adopt the Seiza which is the formal way to sit in Japan.   It is sitting on your heels like this.

This is the natural way for us all to sit.  It is unnatural for us to sit in chairs all day and it is extremely damaging for our muscles.  The way we sit in the west is very unhealthy.

5 How The Japanese Make Sure Future Generations Remain Healthy And Slim

Finally, there is one last element to a long healthy life which includes not having to worry about your weight.  That is simply education.

In the past all societies passed their knowledge down from generation to generation.  They knew what the best practices were for staying healthy, slim, getting along together and protecting themselves.

These days we simply don’t have the health knowledge to pass down to our kids.  We have been convinced into buying fast ready meals, driving on long commutes and sitting at office jobs all day long.  That is how our society functions.  And the truth is we’re not functioning very well.

It’s time to go back to basics, back to the old traditions that had been working for our ancestors for generations.  We need to learn the secrets that should have been passed down to us but haven’t been.

PASSIVE INCOME IDEAS TO QUIT YOUR DAY JOB

 I worked in an office for many years (what people call 9 to 5, but I called 9 to 9), and I got burnt out.

I had enough.

I decided that I wanted more freedom.

I really couldn’t spend another 30 years in a job, working 60+ hours a week! But to have , I still needed to make money somehow. That’s when I became obsessed with passive income and ways to make money while you sleep!

After reading books  , I knew there were ways out there to make enough money to replace my full-time income without working every day, but I had no idea where to start.

So I began researching how to make passive income a reality.

What is Passive Income?

To understand the real meaning of  passive income, you must first know what active income is.

Active income is what most of us make. We go to work every day and give up our free time in exchange for money. If for any reason, we don’t go to work, then we don’t get paid. This lack of income can become a massive problem if we don’t have any other money coming in, while having bills to pay every day.

Passive income is money you make without needing to actively work for it every day. 

Let me be clear: as much as dreaming is nice, and some residual income opportunities require less work than others, most passive income ideas need you to put in some (or a lot!) of effort initially.

But the amazing thing about passive income is that no matter how much work you have to put in upfront, you will reap the rewards for years to come without having to sweat for your money all the time.

If the only way you have to make money is to go to the office, you will never be able to quit!

Passive income allows you to put effort today into something that will repay you every single day of your life.

And once the amount of passive income you can generate equals or covers more than your expenses, you can stop working entirely. 

Why Passive Income?

Passive income for me means just one thing: freedom.

This quote from Warren Buffet sums up my reasons for pursuing it:

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

Passive income means having more time to do all the things you really love: spending time with family, traveling the world, and enjoying a flexible schedule. 

What I love about passive income:

• It doesn’t depend on how many hours you work: once your revenue stream is set up, you can make money with little work needed to maintain it. 
• It requires you to put in the work upfront, but you will then be able to generate revenues day after day!
• You will have more time to do what you love while still making money and paying your bills.

And even if you are not dreaming of quitting your day job, it’s never a good idea to depend on one single income stream. Your job isn’t 100% safe, and generating money passively will give you more security.

But there is one thing I want you to remember that I learned during these years:

Passive income is not EASY: it takes time and hard work to build. Whether it will come from a product or investments, you need to have the motivation to create it in the first place!

But if you put in the hard work and do your research, it is possible to make money while walking in the park or sipping a margarita on the beach.

 Best Passive Income Ideas

  * Invest money you already have

  * Rent out things you own

  * Get paid for things you already do

   * Create an online business

Below you will find all the passive income ideas I researched over the years.

Some of these passive income strategies require more work than others upfront, and some come with financial risks that you will have to evaluate before jumping in.

I classified each money-making idea by:

INITIAL INVESTMENT: The amount of money you need to invest to generate a significant income.

RISK: The risk you will need to take (including the danger of losing your money). This will also depend on your risk tolerance.

TIME: How much time will you need to put in, which could be research time at the beginning or actual work to set up your passive income stream?

MONEY GAIN: Income potential. This is based on average. Every passive income idea can generate an amazing gain (or very little if poorly executed or dependent on external factors).

This score, of course, is just based on my personal views and experience.

But the question you need to ask yourself is:

How many people will commit to learning how to make money through passive income?

Take action. Just do it!

Choose a few ideas that sound interesting to you and try them out! If you don’t start to create passive income now, you will never escape the rat race to live the life of your dreams!

Invest Money You Already Have

Investing is the most straightforward form of passive income and doesn’t require much day-to-day effort.

If you can save money, or you already have a substantial amount of funds sitting in your bank account, there are plenty of passive income ideas for you to choose from.

INVEST IN DIVIDENT: PAYING STOCK

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 10/10

RISK: 9/10

TIME: 4/10

MONEY GAIN: 8/10

What are dividends?

Dividends are cash paid by a company to its shareholders.

When you invest in a dividend-paying stock, you buy a share of the company, and you literally become part-owner of that business.

As the company grows and generates extra cash that it doesn’t necessarily want to re-invest, it might decide to return some of it to the shareholders in the form of dividends.

And because you own a fraction of the company, you will receive a portion of the cash!

Dividend-paying shares can be an excellent tool for generating income, but make sure you do your research on the shares you buy, as dividends are not guaranteed. If the company isn’t generating enough cash, it can cut or suspend its dividend.

2. BUY INDEX FUNDS AND ETFS

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 10/10

RISK: 8/10

TIME: 2/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

If you have the capital to invest but don’t have the time, knowledge, or energy to get stuck in dividend investing, index funds and ETFs are a much easier alternative. Both index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track specific returns of a market index.

If you want your money working for you, you are looking for a simple long-term approach, and you don’t want to play with risky investments, this strategy might be for you.

It took us a long time to decide how to invest our money.

I have always been terrified of investing in the stock market as I am the worst gambler in history. Then I discovered index investing and ETFs, and I am converted. Last year my investments made a return of over 20%!

But investing in the market can be a bit of a rollercoaster. 

3. OPEN A HIGH YIELD ACCOUNT 

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 3/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 1/10

MONEY GAIN: 2/10

With inflation hitting the highest levels in , having your money in your checking account means losing cash every day.

If you have money sitting there and still don’t know how to invest it or prefer a no-risk investment strategy, make sure you pick the best possible rate you can get.

And if you want to get high-interest rates, you need to look at an online savings account .

, my favorite, has no fee, and you can open it with as little as possible.

And keep an eye out for welcome bonuses!

4. CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (CD)

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 5/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 1/10

MONEY GAIN: 2/10

A certificate of deposit (CD) is similar to a high-yield savings account. Banks will offer you a premium interest rate, BUT you need to leave a lump sum untouched for a certain period of time.

Most financial institutions offer CD terms in multiples of six months. So you can open one for six months, 12 months, 18 months, etc. Usually, the longer you agree to leave your money, the higher the interest rate you can get.

At the end of the fixed term, you will get your money back, plus any interest you have earned during that period.

CDs are great if you have a sum of money you know you won’t need in the short term, but you want to maximize your return without any risk.

When you look for a CD that suits your needs, make sure to check any penalty fees you might have to pay in case you need to withdraw your money before the end of your term.

5. BONDS

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 6/10

RISK: 3/10

TIME: 2/10

MONEY GAIN: 3/10

When you hear people talking about investing, you’ll typically hear them discussing stocks and bonds.

But what are bonds?

When you purchase stocks, you are buying a tiny part of the company. When you purchase bonds, you lend money to the company and receive interest payments on that loan.

Companies aren’t the only ones issuing bonds. The government can issue bonds to finance projects too. 

The two key elements of bonds are the interest rate you will get and the term (how long the money is being lent).  

Bonds are much less risky than stocks but do not usually produce as high of a return, as you don’t benefit from the company’s growth. 

But they have two significant benefits:

• They are income-producing assets and give you a fixed stream of income.
• They can offset some of the volatility you might see from owning stocks, although they still carry some risks.

6. INVEST WITH ROBO ADVISORS

  INITIAL INVESTMENT: 7/10

RISK: 7/10

TIME: 2/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Until a few years ago, if you wanted to invest your hard-earned money in the market, you had to hire a portfolio manager or financial advisor.

This not only required a minimum sum to invest but also came with substantial fees.

What are Robo advisors?

Robo advisors are digital platforms that aim to change how you invest using algorithm-driven technology. This makes high-quality investing available to everyone, even if you have little money.

Not only will they work to reduce your investment fees, but they will also rebalance your retirement portfolio based on your birthdate and retirement age, to help you reach your retirement goals.

7. PEER TO PEER LENDING

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 8/10

RISK: 9/10

TIME: 3/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) means loaning money to other people. Specifically, you lend money to people who don’t qualify for traditional financing.

Companies like these offer 6-10% returns, much higher than typical savings accounts.

With P2P, you can select an investment based on your risk assessment strategy. But before you get too excited by the rates on offer, you need to consider that the higher the returns, the bigger is usually the danger of losing your money.

Although companies like Lending Club cherry-pick borrowers according to credit checks, you still need to consider risks before putting your money in. 

So always make sure to do your own research!

8. CROWDFUNDED REAL STATE

  INITIAL INVESTMENT 7/10

RISK: 7/10

TIME: 3/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

I love real estate investing, but it requires a lot of upfront capital, plus you need to learn to love your tenants (see point 10 below)!

Crowdfunded real estate investing allows you to still invest in the real estate market without necessarily putting in a lot of money upfront. It’s a much more passive investment than owning rental properties!

When you invest in crowdfunded real estate, you usually fund loans, which are then used to buy and improve real assets, and you get paid for that.

With Crowdfunded real estate investment, you can get returns in the range of 7-10%, similar to peer-to-peer lending, but you have the actual house to back up the investment.

9. INVEST IN REITS( REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS)

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 7/10

RISK: 7/10

TIME: 3/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Another way to invest in real estate is to invest through a REIT.

A REIT is a company that owns, operates, or finances real estate and allows anyone to invest in portfolios of real estate assets, the same way as stocks: you can purchase individual stock or exchange-traded fund (ETF). You can then earn a share of the income produced through the real estate investment without owning, managing, or financing a property.

A REIT offers capital growth and generally high dividend yields.

RENTS THINGS OUT

Taking advantage of things you already have is one of the best ways to make passive income a quick reality.

10. INVEST IN RENTAL PROPERTIES

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 10/10

RISK: 6/10

TIME: 8/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

This is one of my favorite ways to generate passive income!

It’s the first one we explored, as we love real estate and the idea of having tangible assets. You will generally need some capital to invest, and you will need to do quite a lot of work upfront to find the right rental property.

Although many people don’t consider rental properties a passive business, it’s more passive than going to the office every day!

We have two rental properties at the moment. Last year we generated over $22,000 net income (after mortgage payments, expenses, and taxes), and all I had to do was inspect the properties three times to make sure the tenants weren’t destroying them! They are actually keeping them in perfect condition, and they are lovely people! Call me lucky.

Every time we buy a rental, we renovate it to high standards to ensure it’s in perfect shape and won’t need much work done for quite a few years. If you want to make it even more passive, you can outsource the property management and maintenance tasks.

11. RENT OUT YOUR SPARE ROOM

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 4/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 5/10

MONEY GAIN: 6/10

What could be better than making money from home ? Earning passive income from your home!

If you own your house and have a spare room or rent a place with some extra space, you can start earning money on websites like Airbnb

If you are renting, check with your landlord first, as you need their permission to rent out the extra space.

How much you can make will depend on your home’s location, size, and condition, but this is a way of  earning money from space that might just be sitting there empty.

Going away on holiday?

List your home while you are away, and you could earn more than your holiday costs you!

12. RENT OUT YOUR CAR

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 3/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 4/10

MONEY GAIN: 4/10

Got a car that you don’t drive all the time?

You should probably rent it out!

Like renting a property, this will require some maintenance and work, but you can earn some good money.

If you want to rent out your car while you are on holiday or while you are not using it

13. RENT YOUR PARKING SPACE

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 3/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 2/10

MONEY GAIN: 3/10

If you have a free parking space, driveway, or empty garage, you can easily turn that into money. You could list the space yourself

GET PAID FOR THINGS YOU ALREADY DO

14. GET PAID TO SHOP

   INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 2/10

MONEY GAIN: 2/10

We all spend money shopping, no matter how frugal we are.

How about getting money back on everything you buy?

Using cashback apps and websites isn’t going to cost you anything other than a bit of time.

And you can get anything from 2 to 10% back on your money. If you spend $1,000 in a month, you could get $100 back! That’s a lot!

The best cash back apps:

SWAGBUCKS : This app has over 1500 shops to pick from, including places you already shop from, like Starbucks, Amazon, and Target. You just need to select the shop you need, click on it, and earn cashback. You can then use the points you make to buy gift cards (from places like Amazon) or get paid via PayPal.

RAKUTEN: This website gives you cash back when you shop online. You just need to go to the website, download the app, select the store you need to shop from, and earn money! You’ll get a free $10 bonus when you sign up, and you’ll be able to see how much cashback you can make on each store when you select it.

15. CREDIT CARD REWARDS

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 2/10

MONEY GAIN: 3/10

Credit card rewards work a bit like cash back apps. 

Choosing credit cards with a reward program can get you $1 to $2 back on every $100 you spend. It’s a great way to maximize what you can earn on your spending!

But before you run away to open several credit cards, remember that:

Credit card rewards are only valuable if you pay off your cards in full every month. There is no point in earning a 2% cashback if you pay 15% interest. Remember: paying off your debt and becoming debt-free should always be your priority!

Don’t open too many credit cards at once to avoid your credit score dropping.

Choose a credit card that has a reward program you’ll use. If you love to travel, you can pick a credit card that will reward you with frequent flyer miles. Or, if you eat out often, you can choose a credit card that gives you high cash back at restaurants. Don’t let points and rewards go to waste!

CREATE AN ONLINE BUSINESS

If you don’t have savings and don’t own many things, you can still generate residual income by creating an online business. This usually requires more time upfront, making it a bit less passive than other ideas, but if you stick with it for long enough, you will be able to reap the benefits and generate real passive income streams.

16. START YOUR ONLINE STORE

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 4/10

RISK: 3/10

TIME: 9/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

To be completely honest, having an e-commerce store  isn’t the most passive way to earn money.

I included e-commerce in this list because if you set up your supply chain in a clever way, you could create a business that can make thousands of dollars a month with little effort to maintain it.

There are several business models for an e-commerce website:

Sell your own physical product: this is a lot of work and requires some capital to invest, but you could create something unique with a high-profit margin.

Dropshipping: you will not have to own stock. When someone purchases a product from your online store, the manufacturer will ship it directly to the customer. It’s great as you don’t have to handle deliveries and returns, but you don’t have much control over quality and customer experience.

Sell other people’s products: you get to sell many different products from the start, but it’s hard to differentiate yourself and make a profit in a competitive market.

If creating an online business intrigues you, check out Shopify.

Shopify  is by far the best e-commerce platform out there. They have beautiful templates that will make designing your site a breeze.

They also have many tools and adds-on to help you process payments, handle deliveries and returns, set up promotions, and more.

17. START A BLOG

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 2/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 8/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Really? Yes really! Blogging isn’t 100% passive and requires A LOT of hard work in the setup phase.

Believe me, I did it! It took me three months before I launched to generate enough good content, and don’t trust anyone who tells you that you can create a money-making blog in a week!

But I found out that if you put in the hard work and are clever about what you write, you can quickly generate traffic, and TRAFFIC = MONEY.

There are so many ways to make money blogging, some more passive than others: you can simply add advertising to your blog, or you can generate money using , selling your own products, or creating partnerships with brands.

17. BUY A BLOG

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 3/10

RISK: 3/10

TIME: 9/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

If  feels like too much work, how about purchasing a blog that is already making money?

You can simply learn how to maintain it, but all the leg work will be done for you.

The main advantage of buying a blog is saving time. Starting a blog and building an audience takes a lot of time and effort. By buying an already established blog, you can take a shortcut, as the design, the look, and social media accounts will be already set up.

You will also be able to verify if that particular niche is profitable before you buy without the risk of spending months on an idea that won’t get you anywhere.

18. AFFILIATE MARKETING

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 8/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Affiliate Marketing is my favorite way to produce passive income on Gathering Dreams. It makes up over 60% of my revenues. 

The idea is that you will research a potential niche that can be profitable, use SEO techniques and advertising to drive traffic to your website, and earn money by getting a commission for recommending products or services.

Building a large audience takes time and effort, but you will earn a good income with very little work once you have created the right platform.

And that’s why I love it!

All this, of course, comes at a bigger cost than starting from scratch. But it could save you months and months of hard work. 

19. WRITE AN E-Book

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 8/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Self-publishing is great: you write a book, hit publish, and then collect royalties for years to come.

If you love writing content, you won’t find it hard to write an 80-100 page e-book on the things you love. Make sure you pick a profitable topic and market your book through bloggers and influencers in that niche.

Non-fiction e-books that educate your potential audience on specific topics like finance, online marketing, and business will make you more money than fiction books. Of course, there are always exceptions, and you could write the next Harry Potter book, but if you want to create some residual income quickly, I suggest you go for what sells first!

Using the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Platform is an easy way to get your e-book on Amazon as quickly as possible and start making some money!

20. MAKE MONEY PUBLISHING BLANK BOOKS

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 8/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

We talked about self-publishing just before. 

But let’s be honest: writing a book is no easy feat. Especially if you are not a professional writer!

What if I told you that you could publish books without writing? And still, make money? Yep!

Have you ever heard of low-content self-publishing?

With low-content publishing, you will be creating books that are made with mostly blank internal pages. 

Think about:

diaries

planners

journals

notebooks

sketchbooks

With these types of books, as long as you have a good eye for design and pick a profitable niche with good demand, you won’t have to write 50,000 words that possibly no one will read.

Once you create a great book layout, you can simply keep it as a digital file, use Amazon’s print-on-demand service, hold no physical inventory, and collect passive royalties whenever a book sells.

What’s not to like?

21. TEACH YOUR EXPERTISE 

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 8/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Teaching your skills by creating an online course has the potential to become a fantastic way to earn passive income. 

There are plenty of people that make a living by selling online courses. You can create videos, e-books, checklists, and audio files to supplement your lessons and share your passion with others.

Creating different courses at different prices can help you to maximize your chances of selling them.

The best online websites that make it easy for you to sell your skills and create online courses are:

Teachable

Udemy

Skillshare

If you are seriously interested in generating passive income by starting an online course, a great place to start is the Teachable free webinar. Teachable offers free live training to help you launch your online course in no time.

22. FLIP DOMAINS FOR PROFIT

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 2/10

RISK: 2/10

TIME: 4/10

MONEY GAIN: 6/10

This is the idea: you purchase domain names for cheap that can be valuable to companies in the future, and then you resell them for a profit.

Some people made millions by purchasing the right domain name, although most of their success is due to luck!

You need to do your own research and make sure you pick keywords that can make you money. A great place to start is to select a specific niche, narrow your focus, and find out what domain names could sell well in that niche.

If you want to try it out, make sure you don’t spend much money on a domain. Don’t invest more than $10-$100 to start with, and remember, the money is in your sales abilities, not necessarily in the name.

There is only one domain name, and if someone wants it and you own it, your negotiation skills will make the difference between a small and a big profit.

23. SETUP YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 3/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 9/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

I won’t lie: it’s not easy to make money from a YouTube Channel. You will need to create quite a lot of video content before you can earn a significant amount of money. But if you pick the right niche and manage to create great and valuable content, you will get organic traffic from YouTube and Google.

You can make money by displaying ads on your channel and will get paid every time someone watches your videos.

On the plus side, great quality video content is relatively scarce compared to text-based content. Also, people prefer watching a 5-minute video recipe to reading a long set of instructions.

Right now, the market is less competitive. If you have great video and editing skills, you should give it a try!

24. LICENSE YOUR PHOTOS

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 2/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 6/10

MONEY GAIN: 4/10

If you have a great eye for the perfect shot and friends keep telling you how beautiful your photos are, you can select the best pictures from your hard drive and make money by selling them online.

You don’t have to be a professional to sell photos: you still have the opportunity to earn some money, even if you are a novice.

Most websites pay you based on the number of downloads: you get paid a percentage every time someone downloads one of your pictures. So once the pictures are uploaded, you will earn passive income every time someone buys them.

Best websites to sell your photos online:

Shutterstock

iStock

Adobe stock

25. LICENSE YOUR MUSIC

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 1/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 7/10

MONEY GAIN: 5/10

If you love composing your own music, you can make thousands of dollars by licensing it to be used on many platforms: from YouTube videos, computer games, and movie trailers to TV adverts or corporate promotional videos.

By creating stock music, you can earn royalties (a bit like with photos) every time someone downloads and use your music for their productions.

26. DEVELOP AN APP

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 4/10

RISK: 6/10

TIME: 7/10

MONEY GAIN: 7/10

Building an app can cost quite a bit of money unless you are a developer yourself. But if you can get together with people with the right skills and come up with a clever idea, you’ll be able to generate a nice little income every time someone downloads your app.

The best way to develop an app successfully is to look for gaps in the market and apps that will help people solve a problem. You can also look for apps that have been downloaded many times but have a terrible interface or poor user experience.

If you think you can do something better, give it a shot!

27. SELL PRINTABLE ON AUTOPILOT

INITIAL INVESTMENT: 2/10

RISK: 1/10

TIME: 7/10

MONEY GAIN: 6/10

If you love design and have an artistic soul, selling digital products on Esty could be a great way to earn passive income.

 Digital products require little maintenance. Your customers will simply receive a link to download them (which means you don’t have to worry about shipping and returns handling). All you need to do is spend time upfront to create beautiful artwork! (Easy, right?)

 Some examples of the most popular printables include:

Greeting Cards

Wall Art

Organizer

Decorations

Invitations

Are you a great cook? You can sell  meal plans and recipe cards. Are you a fanatic organizer? You can sell beautiful planners or calendars. These are just a few examples: there is no limit to your imagination!

You can simply use your knowledge and expertise to make beautiful products. As long as your printables are appealing to your target audience and of high quality, they will sell!

Julie, for example, earned  while on a sky vacation selling printables on Etsy!

Grow Your Business In 90 Days

 Grow your business in 90 Days…

You likely think about how to grow your business pretty often.

But then the realities of the day-to-day creep in… and suddenly we’re just trying to keep our heads above water. Sure, you have your shop up and running, but you’re not quite sure what to do next. And there’s a ton of information out there that often leaves you with more questions than answers. Which social media platforms should I be on? Wait, how many times do I need to post? How do I actually “blog” to make sales?

So today we’re working through 21 simple strategies to grow your business in the next 90 days. Each section builds on the last and can be worked through in order, starting with setting a solid business foundation. Pick 3 to work on in the next 90 day block (especially for the marketing section which can get overwhelming if you try everything at once).

Schedule them in your calendar, and let’s get them done!

Why focus on 90 days for growth?

For me, it started as a time period I could wrap my head around. 90 days, 12 weeks, 3 months… Those are all very manageable time frames.

I found when I tried to plan further out, I was kind of spinning my wheels and doing a lot of rework. Since most of our businesses are still new or very much in the growing stages, planning out further wasn’t helpful as our business may look totally different in 3 months based on things you tried and tested.

Then there’s also the mindset that 12 weeks creates a sense of real urgency. I found this to be incredibly true. When I saw my year-long plan stretch out in front of me, every time I “missed” a goal or didn’t accomplish the big strategy I planned on, I simply thought “well there’s still plenty of time”.

It’s why we all hustle REAL hard at the end of the year. But what if we were able to maintain that focus + urgency year round? And I’m NOT talking about running around like a crazy person. But taking clear focused steps towards a small  handful of specific goals.

At the start of this year, I read the book The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months — and ho-ly sh*t. I felt like I was gently smacked upside the head in all the right ways. They caution against this exact thing… that lull of “I can do it next month or next quarter”. Which is so true. I couldn’t keep pushing things off because business kept moving and the next months goals were calling me to work on them. I was quickly becoming frustrated that my growth had slowed and when I get stressed out, I tend to avoid things (yep, I know that doesn’t work out too well lol). It wasn’t until I was called out so plain + simply that I realized I needed to start making my business urgent — while focusing on the right things.

“Reaching a breakthrough isn’t about being incremental. Breakthroughs require a profound change in the way that you work before it shows up in your results” – The 12 Week Year

 Set a Solid Business Foundation

1. Create an Email List:  Email marketing is a crucial part of your business strategy – it converts better than social media! In one study, email generated 174% more conversions than social media and had a better return.

You can start promoting your email list even before your shop is live; which means once you’re ready to launch, you’ll have a customer base ready and waiting for you! 

 2. Set up your Pinterest account: If you don’t already have one, set it up today.  Either join as a business account or convert your existing one over. Pinterest is one of the best sources for traffic and generating customer leads as users are primed and ready to shop and 93% of users have used Pinterest to plan purchases. (Yep, you need to get on this.)

3. Create a blog: Before you run, blogging for business is probably different from your expectations. You don’t need to blog every day or be a lifestyle blogger, your shop still comes first. Instead, focus on providing something of value to your readers that they can learn from or be inspired by. Content marketing can help your shop in so may ways: think more traffic, more links, and better SEO which all lead to more sales.

A lot of shop owners aren’t sure what they’d write about or if a blog is worth it. I’d challenge you to not think of it as “blogging” as you see from fashion or lifestyle bloggers. Think instead of creating a resource or inspirational hub on your site – which can help get potential buyers over to your site + exploring your brand. I came up with twelve ideas to get you started.

4. Create an Email Sales Funnel: I so badly wish we were talking about funnel cake, but this is almost as good. A great email sales funnel will do your selling for you. After a customer subscribes, your series of scheduled emails will automatically go out every few days so your customer gets to know you: share your brand mission and why you’re different than other shops in your niche, offer them a few styling tips, introduce your best sellers, and make a few soft sell recommendations.

If you haven’t heard of the “Rule of 7”, it’s a marketing rule of thumb (that research also supports) that shows customers need about seven touch points with your product or brand before they’re ready to buy. Having an email funnel set up cuts down on the time it would take for a customer to naturally go through that same process. By sending them helpful + timely emails they get to know, like and trust you which can mean a big increase in your sales!

5. Build Trust Through Customer Reviews: Create a customer review or ‘customer favorites’ page that highlights top product or customer service reviews. 88% of respondents in this survey read or used reviews prior to their purchase and trust online reviews as much as they’d trust a personal connection.

Moral of the story?

Have a plan to collect and use customer reviews to build trust with new customers:

Send follow up email after purchase asking customer if they have any questions and encourage them to leave a review

Collect Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter praise and ask customers if you can share online as a review

Reach out to loyal repeat customers and ask if they’d be willing to share a short testimonial or customer service review

Plus, reaching out and forming a relationship with new customers is a one of the best ways to ensure they come back – and become those awesome repeat customers. (ya know, the ones that’ll spend 33% more than new customers on average)

6. Ask Customers for Referrals: People love to share good products and make recommendations – they just need a little nudge. Add a reminder at the bottom of emails or a few social media posts asking if they love your shop or a new launch to share with a friend.

7. Promote Blog Posts on Pinterest: Create tall, pinnable graphics for each blog post and pin to your main brand board and all other relevant boards + group boards. Use a text overlay on your graphic for better click-thrus, you can easily add text using Canva (free tool).

8. Promote Products on Pinterest: Instead of simply pinning your product images, create Pinterest-specific images for your products that include text overlays and/or include multiple product shots.

9. Create Round Up Blog Posts: These are an incredibly effective marketing idea for two reasons: a) everyone loves a good round up post or list; and b) it creates a highly shareable piece of content which the other brands you feature would love to help promote. It’s an easy win-win for them as you’ve already created the content which shows off their product and you benefit from the expanded reach of their customer base.

Not sure what a round up post is? No worries – they’re super easy to create. It’s a focused post that curates a number of items (maybe 8-12) for a specific occasion, person, or theme. For maximum impact, you’d include items from your own shop as well as other brands.

10. Offer Intentional Promotions: What’s an intentional promotion you ask? It’s an offer that has a specific end goal, instead of just “Sales are slow, I should try a discount.”

Go in with a plan and give your promotion a chance to succeed. Be aware of how you’re reaching your customer *before* you ask for the sale; don’t just jump in their inbox one day (after not emailing for months) and shout about discounts.

Work to build that relationship with them so they’re ready and excited for your next offer.

11. Comment on Blogs: This strategy has seen a bit of a decline in recent years, but done correctly it can still be really effective. Find bloggers that fit your ideal customer or would have a similar customer base as you, and leave a thoughtful comment on a blog post you like.

The focus here is not selling your products (at all), but rather introducing yourself and showing a genuine interest in their content. This can result in other readers clicking on your name and checking out your shop, but more importantly it begins to build a relationship with that blogger. (hint: super important for the future!)

12. Partner with Bloggers: (super suspenseful, right? made you wait a whole two seconds)

Working with bloggers can quickly expand your reach and is a valuable form of marketing known as influencer marketing. You’ve probably heard this term before, but essentially it’s a partnership for “word of mouth” advertising. It’s highly effective because it’s a very organic form of advertising and the blogger’s readers trust her and look to her content for recommendations.

13. Run a Giveaway: A giveaway can be a powerful way to expand your reach and drive traffic back to your site; especially if you use a tool that promotes social sharing, such as Gleam. The best giveaways offer products that directly relate to your core customer – since you run an online shop, this is an easy step! Just remember to focus the giveaway so the majority of participants will actually be potential customers, rather than people just looking for a freebie.

Bonus tip: A great way to boost sales from a giveaway is to offer a discount on the giveaway product once it ends. Something like “Congrats to ______ for winning the giveaway!   Don’t worry, if you didn’t win you can still snag the goods at 20% off today only!”

In light of the holiday season, you may want to check out how to run a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway or sale event.

Improve Your Shop Talk

14. Write compelling, SEO-friendly product descriptions: Make sure your product pages contain keyword phrases your customer is looking for. Use Pinterest or Google Keyword Planner to research what terms your customer is looking for and naturally weave those into your titles and descriptions.

To use Google Keyword Planner, you’ll need to create an AdWords account but you do not need to run an ad or pay for anything to get started.

15. Upgrade your Images: Quality, professional looking images can be the difference between a successful shop and one that barely scrapes by. Images are one of a customers first considerations and they judge in an instant if your brand is trust-worthy and high quality. Consistent branding and bright, clear images are a must.

16. Get your Customer Service in Place: Your customers will always be the ones to determine how successful you are. It’s a simple, but powerful realization so put the right steps into place today and treat them right!

17. Create an FAQ or Customer Resources page: Anticipate commonly asked questions and add to it as new ones pop up. This not only reduces your email communication as customers can find their own answers or provides you a quick link to answer them, but it also helps build trust as you provide answers up front that help customers make better decisions for themselves.

Focus your Social Media

18. Pick 1-2 Platforms to Start: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You can’t be everywhere and be good at it – and that’s okay. My recommendations are Pinterest + Instagram. Although Pinterest is less of a social media tool and more of a search engine, in terms of platforms to start with you will get the biggest return here. There’s a lot of talk about Facebook marketing and if you’re comfortable with that platform and can be active without selling your soul for hours on end then go for it.

Have other accounts already started? That’s okay – still don’t be afraid to scale back. Pin a message to the top of your feed (can do this on Facebook + Twitter) and say something like, “Thanks for popping over! I hang out over on Instagram so please come say hi there! <link to your IG>”

19. Be Active with your Customers: Always remember to keep the “social” in social media. (How many times have you read that on the internet? ughh) But seriously – reply to all comments, seek out a few new connections each week, and participate in your community. ay.

20. Share + Praise Other Brands Freely: Similar to the round up post, this simple outreach strategy connects you with other shop owners and brands. The more you share and compliment their work, the more likely they are to do the same for you – which increases your brand’s reach. It also puts your company in the good will of others should you want to reach out in the future for potential partnership opportunities!

Just be sure these brands are complementary to your business and would be of interest to your core customers. Always remember – it’s about them and what they need.

21. Use Your One Instagram Link to Your Advantage: Instagram is still a little fickle when it comes to driving traffic back to your shop because they only give you ONE clickable link in your profile and no ability to link within posts. Luckily for you – there’s a workaround!