YVRCommunities – How to Monetize your blog, podcast, and YouTube Channel
Date: July 12, 2016
Name: YVRCommunities – How to Monetize your blog, podcast, and YouTube Channel
Presenters: Tyler Basu, James Martell, and Desmond Soon
Social platforms have been a great exposure for entrepreneurs. However, many entrepreneurs have not been taught the successful way to monetize their social platforms. Ricky Shetty, the Founder of YVRCommunities, invites Tyler Basu, a professional Content Marketer, James Martell, the Co-founder of jambMedia, and Desmond Soon, the Pan Asian Serial Entrepreneur, to discuss strategies on blog, podcast, and video monetization. Entrepreneurs will discover ways to take their content into the next level. Moreover, all experts will reveal their secret steps to accomplish their goals, and entrepreneurs will be able to utilize their methods into their businesses.
How to monetize your blog
Tyler Basu is a professional Content Marketer. Basu has been blogging since 2011. In 2013, he hosted a podcast called “Chatting with Champions”. He is also the author of one of the bestselling book “Lifestyle Business Blueprint”. He is currently the Content Marketing Manager for Thinkific and the publisher for Lifestyle Business Digital Magazine.
Basu focuses on a the statement of helping entrepreneurs to create and promote content that attracts and retains their ideal clients. Basu believes the best way to monetize blog is to sell something. Entrepreneurs can sell products, services or traffics.
Many entrepreneurs could not distinguish between blogger and content marketer. Basu defines blogger as someone who can write online. On the other hand, content marketer is someone in business process for creating and distributing valuable and compelling content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Both have different goals. The goal for blogger is to create content to share their thoughts, opinions and stories. Moreover, the goal for content marketer is to build and connect relationship that results in a sale.
Basu shares the 5 steps to create a content funnel that converts visitors into paying customers.
Step #1: Identify a specific target audience
Entrepreneurs need to understand their target audience’s demographics and psychographics. Basu advices entrepreneurs not to attract everyone because the result will be no one.
Step #2: Identify the pain point or struggle
Entrepreneurs need to discover clients’ problems. They need to understand what result are their clients looking for. Entrepreneurs can provide them information to the questions they are looking for.
Basu shares 2 ways to find clients’ pain points: market research and feedback loop. Questions and complaints can also reveal certain level of pain points, which can lead to business opportunities.
Step #3: Create and an EPIC piece of content that is actually helpful
Entrepreneurs can create blog post, podcast or video to share their advices online for their clients. Basu suggests entrepreneurs to aim long and not short. Contents with research, statistic or quotes for supporting documents are essential. The key is to provide content that can generate worthy comments, shares and bookmarks.
Step #4: Include a content upgrade to build the email list
Entrepreneurs need to create a lead magnet. Lead magnet can be an audio or video training, cheatsheets, resource guide, infographic or Ebook. Basu believes free resource can help entrepreneurs to exchange for clients email.
Step #5: Guide email subscribers through a sales process
Entrepreneurs must realize that people do not become clients automatically. They need to be guided. The truth is that no sales means no revenue, which results of no business. Basu suggests when entrepreneurs guide them to the sale process, they can invite them to a webinar, offer free coaching or link them to a sale page through email. The important thing is to make them an offer they cannot refuse.
“Do not all me something, solve me something”
Basu emphasizes entrepreneurs need to go through these 6 stages.
- Target audience
- Pain point
- Solution
- Content upgrade
- Email Call the action
- Product for sale
When every piece of content is part of a funnel, there is a measurable rate of return. Through the conversion rate (Free content, content upgrade, email list, sales process, and then customer), the conversation rate drops. The average is 1%.
“When you know how much a new client is worth, you know how much you can spend to promote your clients”
How to architect a podcast the speaks to your ideal clients
James Martell is the Co-founder of jambMEDIA. Martell is also the host of the Affiliate Buzz podcast. Moreover, he was ranked number 14 on top 25 influencers in Performance marketing for 2014.
In 1999, Martell discovered how to utilize affiliate marketing and it was the year he received his first cheque from online. In 2001, Martell started his first online marketing and wrote an ebook on online marketing. The book sold over 5500 copies. In 2003, he launched Affiliate Buzz Podcast. It was a new method of audio newsletter and this podcast had over 500 subscribers instantly. Martell believes podcast is an ability to build relationship with online audience.
“It started with a telephone conversation”
Martell shares the 10 reasons to start podcast.
- Create an audience predisposed to buy
- Strength relationship
- Establish entrepreneurs as expert in their marketplace
- Human voice is the most natural way to communicate
- Easy to develop
- Reach new market
- Each episode works for entrepreneurs 24/7
- Easy to start
- Create huge impact with less than 1 hour
- Podcast is the hottest
Martell shares his monetization strategy focuses on 5 major things: podcast, traffic, clear offer, email series and respond. Podcast focuses on the right clients. Martell will issue weekly episodes, which shows consistency. Quality production of the podcast is important.
Traffic comes from google search, email subscribers, social media. He will have podcast directories to direct clients to the right information. The offer must be easy to understand and easy to explain. The content should be useful, but incomplete because it can lead clients to larger sale. The key is the podcast must have high value for clients.
Email list is important for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs should collect addresses from subscribers. They will provide questions and testimonials. Entrepreneurs can respond to their clients by telephone calls, email inquiries, text message or even Facebook messages.
Martell reveals 5 killer tools for entrepreneurs to use for their podcasting.
- Digital access pass
- LeadPages
- Spreaker
- Basecamp
- Upward
The number one mistake many entrepreneurs make is underestimating the work involved. Many entrepreneurs will quit after 7 episodes. Martell believes the solution is to have a virtual team that takes care of writer, graphic designer, voice talents, and editor. By hiring virtual assistant, entrepreneurs will manage to ensure all these task are done.
How to monetize videos
Many entrepreneurs refer Desmond Soon as the Pan Asian Serial Entrepreneurs. For over many years, Soon coaches many young entrepreneurs and professionals to develop profitable and sustainable businesses. With his mentorship, he is managed to shift them with his unique business lessons. Soon has appeared on many social medias. Many of his coaching revolve around his slogan of “Turning setbacks into comebacks”.
Many entrepreneurs have setbacks because they want to aim for perfection. Soon believes the first thing is to change the mindset of not aiming for perfection. The first step of monetization is to get OMNI presence. The key of the first step is to present offline and online as much as possible.
Soon believes every entrepreneurs will need 4 things: OMNI presence, sales, leadership and financial. Monetization starts off from OMNI presence.
Entrepreneurs can now upload their videos to market. Platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, Twitter or Periscope, can be utilized for monetization. For YouTube, entrepreneurs need to follow the setup Youtube procedure to complete the monetization. The setup is easy, but it is competitive because there is no barrier of entry.
Soon reveals the blueprint of video monetization. Entrepreneurs need to build their celebrity status online and offline. This attracts sponsors for funding. The celebrity status can gain subscribers’ attention to their businesses. Afterwards, entrepreneurs can give offer or pitch. Entrepreneurs can also create advertising type videos to promote their products. This will lead subscribers to lead capture page, which entrepreneurs can present their offer or pitch to prospects.
People want to know more about entrepreneurs. Video can capture their attention. The more views entrepreneurs can capture, the more subscribers they can receive. This will attract advertising sponsors, offers, and sales.
To create views, Soon suggests entrepreneurs to put out contents that people are looking for. There are 5 types of videos that people love to see online.
- How to videos
- Funny videos
- Information type videos
- Motivational or inspirational videos
- Interesting videos
Keyword planning is important. Content can be overwhelm, so keywords can capture the right audience.
Soon shares the tools and software entrepreneurs need for creating videos.
- Smart phone
- Selfie sticks
- Mini Tripod
- POV style camera
- Digital Camera / Video Camera
- Tripod
- Cowboy studio lighting kit
- Professional Mic like Yeti Mic
- Simple Mic like headphone
- Lavaliere Mic
- Computer
- ScreenCastOMatic
- Jing
- Camtasia
- iMovie
- Window Movie Maker
