The Learn It - Do It Podcast Rhi & Pete

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about how to monetize your online content.

Whether you have a blog, a website, or buzzing social accounts - how can you take your content and turn it into an income stream?


It starts by creating quality content that people are actively searching for
Cultivating an online audience is a lot of work. They say your first 1k followers will be the hardest to get
Once you have an active audience that looks to you for content, how do you begin to make money?

Voicemail:

"Hey! My name is Kyle, I  have a blog FrenchieJourney.com, about French Bulldogs. We have about 113 blog posts up and our blog is making about $500-600/month on affiliate links, but I would love any thoughts from you guys on different ways we can further monetize the site and just take it to a whole other level!"

Let's Take It To The Next Level

Kyle has already seen great success on his blog, so we'll outline a few things Kyle is already doing well in case you aren't at his level yet, and then build on that list with a few things you could do to take things up a notch!


Create Content People Are Looking For:  This means researching keywords and search terms that are related to what you do or want to talk about. Then, strategically write about the things people are looking for.  It’s all about strategy and planning.
Affiliate Links - These are custom links that you can use to generate a kickback from a purchase through a retailer like Amazon. You simply place your custom link to a particular product in your blog and when someone clicks on it and purchases the item you get a kickback for the sale.
Selling Ads - Once you have a certain amount of traffic heading to your website, you can qualify to feature ads on your website. Then you can make a small kickback on the ads that people click and purchase from.  This could be done with programs like Google AdSense, etc.
Email Marketing and Lead Magnets - There is no better place to reach your audience than inside of their email inbox.  You can gather email addresses by creating a value-packed download on your website and then email them about any other projects or opportunities you have.
Merchandise/Digital Products - You can branch out and design products that would interest your audience such as, calendars, mugs, t-shirts, etc.  With Print-On-Demand options, this can be a no-cost way to generate some income.
YouTube Channel - Repurpose blog content in video format.
Guest Spots on Podcasts - Like social media, connect with the movers and shakers in the niche space and discuss your most popular topics.

Next 3 Steps:

There are lots of ways to monetize your online content with a little bit of strategy and a good amount of effort!  If you have a blog or website with lots of valuable content and are looking to make some more money with it, here are a few key steps to take:

Review your numbers: See what your traffic looks like, the engagement you’re getting, and make sure you are strategically creating content based on what people are looking for

Link it Up: Start building your affiliate opportunities and adding affiliate links and possibly ads to your website to generate income

Reach Out:  Connect with others in your field and start collaborating to cross-promote and build a community

Digitize & Repurpose:  Create digital products and repurpose your content for other platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Groups, Email Marketing, etc.

In this episode, we dive into how to determine your pricing and the steps you can take to confidently sell your products/services for the pricing you desire.

First things first, pricing is UP TO YOU!

Pricing is an IMPORTANT topic when running your own business. The hard truth of it is: IT’S UP TO YOU!  Right?  There are some helpful formulas that might set you out on the right foot, but ultimately YOU get to choose what makes sense for you and your business and that’s what makes pricing so challenging.

We are super excited today, because not only is this a topic we’ve been wanting to tackle for a while, but we actually received a voicemail question specifically about this challenge!

It’s our first voicemail segment and we can’t wait.  Since we can’t meet in person for our podcast these days, we’ve decided to start taking your questions as voicemails. That way we can still help you tackle those challenges you’re facing in your day-to-day business life.  So let’s listen to our first voicemail message from Cyrinda….

VOICEMAIL: "My name is Cyrinda and I've been in business for about 3 years. I make handmade luxury, coconut soy wax candles as well as other organic body products. I've been doing a lot of custom projects lately where I'll create signature scents for small businesses. I've been struggling with pricing and what I should be charging for these special, custom projects and also what I should charge for wholesale items, as well..."

Where do you start with pricing?


Local Competitors - Make sure they are actually competitors in the same market
How do you want to Position Yourself?  Quality, Convenience, Price
Are you offering Quantity or Quality?

What do you base your pricing off of?


Hard Costs per product/service
Hard Costs of running your business
Your TIME
How much you need to make to stay in business  vs How much you need to make to live a healthy lifestyle

Charge for YOUR TIME!

A huge mistake business owners make is not charging for their time.  This happens because when we start out we often start with "sweat equity."  This is a great way to start your business without incurring a bunch of debt, however - it can't last forever.  You NEED to charge for your time because your time is valuable and you'll never be able to grow without doing so.  Plus, it's too easy to start feeling run down and resent your own business if you aren't getting paid for the time you put into it.  It's also pretty easy to charge TOO LITTLE when you don't account for the time you spend.

Think about how much do you need to charge for your time so you can live your dream life, hire someone else, utilize software to make your job/life easier, etc.

Confidence in Your Pricing

Once you have an idea of your costs, value, and time to figure out your price you’ll have more confidence in your pricing.


Do the work to decide your prices and make a price list/sheet for yourself
Possibly create packages
Stick to your pricing
Decide if and when you’ll offer discounts
Put it on someone else to make it less uncomfortable
Act like YOUR hourly rate is a hard cost - you wouldn’t mind paying someone else for their time, so treat your prices the same way
Start where you are comfortable and grow from there

Next Three Steps


Figure out your hard costs (both per products and as a business)
Determine your hourly rate and start charging for your time
Create a pricing sheet for yourself based on that info

In this podcast episode, we break down the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it” and talk about the practical uses and the impractical side effects. 



Our three main problems with the idea of “faking it till we make it.” 

1. It never ends because there is no quantifiable “making it” period. How do you know when you’ve made it? 

2. It breeds the foundation for the Imposter Syndrome. Even if you’ve gained experience, this way of thinking will knock you down into believing that you’re not supposed to be here or that you’re no good at this.

3. It doesn’t allow you to learn and grow, because you avoid vulnerability. 



We talk about the psychology of what happens to your long-term confidence and growth and what you can do to maintain a healthy confidence level.  

“Faking it” breeds a long-term identity crisis. You become obsessed with your external image and you end up putting yourself in a lot of stressful situations.  

We share stories of things that we experienced when we launched a photo portrait studio in 2013 and how “faking it till we made it” affected our business starting out and as we grew. 



The Next 3 Steps to keep “fake it until you make it” in check:  

1. Set a goal for when you’ve “made it”. It can be a monetary amount, a certain number of clients, your number of products sold, or even a time frame. It’s entirely up to you and your business goals. But the point is to set a tangible goal and allow yourself to say you’ve “made it” and can stop “faking it”. 

2. Take daily action towards “making it”.  Stop spending time, money, and energy projecting that you’ve made it and just focus on actually doing the things that put you on course to your success. 

3. Find other ways to build confidence. You can do things like taking courses, networking with peers, and getting client reviews. 



Host Bio -  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete - now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.  



Recommended Resources

Leave a voicemail for our podcast: www.learnit-doit.com/podcast

In this episode, we're talking about resolutions/goals, making a plan, and how to actually achieve those goals! We are well into the new year, and if you are like most people, those lofty goals you set up at the start of the new year have already fallen to the wayside. So let's dive in, and see what you can do to create better goals and set out to actually achieve them!  

Episode Summary  

Most of us would love to make a plan to grow, both personally and professionally. But it's easy to set goals that are too lofty, aren't really actionable, or are inconsistent in nature. The best way to really achieve new heights is to set small, reasonable goals that you can easily insert into your everyday routine. Turn your goals into daily habits so they really stick and can help create long-lasting, sustainable change in your life.  

Take action each day to reach your goal  

-Make a plan and commit to it 

-Break down your goal into specific, daily actions you can take

-Insert your daily action/habit into your everyday routine  

For example, if you want to exercise more, set a small goal to do 20 squats every day. Then tack those squats onto something you already do every day, like brushing your teeth. So now, when you brush your teeth, you're reminded to do your 20 squats as soon as you finish - or if you're super talented, simultaneously!  

Think about Improving 1% Each Day...  

Taking a few minutes each day is totally doable! Whether it's reading for 5 minutes, taking a 10-minute walk, or doing 20 squats - set these actionable goals that are super-specific and schedule them into your day. These small steps will lead to more and more improvement.   

If you can take your goals and turn them into habits, THAT is how you can really create CHANGE in your life.  If you think about it, that is what these goals are for, right?  We are trying to make a change - and long-lasting change, at that!  The best way to create lasting change is by developing a habit, and small daily action is exactly how to get that done!  

Lighting the spark  

While 20 squats a day may not get you in the best shape of your life, it's all about LIGHTING THE SPARK!  On days when you are super tired, 20 squats are so easy you'll still get it done.  But on days when you are super motivated and have the time, those 20 squats might turn into 10 push-ups, a short jog, jumping jacks, etc.  What started as 20 squats each day has turned into a short exercise circuit that we do daily - all we needed was a spark, and daily action to create the habit!  

The Next 3 Steps  

1. Commit to a small, consistent, daily action you can take. Make sure it's something SO simple that it will only take you 5-10 minutes to complete. Just light that spark! 

2. Schedule it - Set the same time every day to do that activity. Maybe it's when you first wake up at 8:00 am or after you brush your teeth at night.  Just pick the time or routine activity to attach it to, so you actually get it done. 

3. Show up - Do it EVERY day! "Don't break the streak!" should be a mantra! And if you do miss a day, it's OK -  life happens. But keep your commitment by following the rule of NEVER missing 2 days in a row.  

Host Bio –  Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete – now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade.  They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.   

Recommended Resources: Headspace - www.headspace.com Leave us a voicemail and be on an upcoming podcast - www.learnit-doit.com/podcast The Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear

In this episode, we take a real personal look at our relationship with money, how we can develop a positive relationship, and ultimately break through our current mental barriers. We kick this episode off by unveiling the new basement studio that we built this winter.

Episode Summary

We tell our story of our own money journey and how we’ve come from a very disconnected and absent mindset when it came to our feelings and relationship with our bank accounts. Factors like upbringing, values, and personality play a huge role as to why you think, feel and talk about money in the way that you do.

Think of your relationship with money like you’re dating: Are you communicating? i.e. Do you check in to know what’s happening and how each other is feeling? Do you have a commitment to each other? Do you appreciate each other?

Your mindset plays a huge role in how you will be able to grow to the point of financial success. You don’t need money before you make a plan for it.


Cut the ties between your identity and how much money you have.

Your amount of wealth does not change your identity, it changes your circumstances.

Your value as a person is not tied to the value of the dollars in your bank account.


[From Jen Sincero’s Book] Write money a letter and make a money contract that you’re willing to commit to.

Build and hire a money support system - this is the foundation of your financial success


Are you banking with a helpful partner?

When is the last time you’ve talked to someone from your bank?

Do you have an accountant? It’s imperative to have someone that knows your business and can help lower your tax liability and guide you to take advantage of creative tax-savings.

Do you have a financial planner? They will set you up with a plan for saving, retirement, life insurance, investing, and a budget. This is something you should do before you even “have money”. Don’t wait for years thinking that you don’t make enough, put a plan into action now, even if it’s just a budget.

Do you have a lawyer? They will help you with setting up wills, trusts, buying property, etc.


Dissolve your money blocks


Audit your beliefs and experience with money - A good way to do this is to journal it out Notice your daily money habits

Are you emotionally buying things? Do you spend money as soon as it comes in?

Read or listen to books/podcasts about money

Say daily money affirmations

Decide to break up with and start a new relationship with money


The Next 3 Steps


Write a letter to money and air out all of your grievances. Get it on paper and let it go.

Find or develop a money affirmation or mantra that you can say out loud every morning.

Look at your current money support system and see what’s missing, or if you need to find people that are more in tune with your needs.


Host Bio - Rhi and Pete [Rhi-Pete - now you’ll remember] are a wife and husband team who have been in business together for over a decade. They run a creative media agency [Do Something Different Media] that provides strategy and consulting, video production, website development, photography, graphic design, and content writing for small businesses.

Recommended Resources

Leave a Voice Mail  - www.learnit-doit.com

Rhi + Pete VLOG - www.rhiandpete.com

Jen Sincero - “You’re a Badass at Making Money”

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