Get an Audience: Create Regular Content with Blogging, YouTube, or Podcasting.

New Entrepreneur with No Money: Part 2

In the first part of this series, we looked at the first steps to marketing your product, service, or even yourself (public speaker, writer, etc.) when you’re getting started and have little or no money to invest in.

Read the first step here. You need to create a small business plan. Nothing that needs to be legally signed or notarized, just a solid grasp on what you are wanting from this company, product, service, or brand awareness. You’ll need this before moving on.

That first step won’t cost you a dime. Just write the idea and answer the questions on a notebook, laptop, or even on your phone in the good ol’ notes app.

This next step doesn’t necessarily have to cost you anything, but if you are able to make a small investment (less than $15), it will help you depending on which option you choose to get traffic.

Step 2 for New Entrepreneurs with No Money: Create a Blog, YouTube Channel, or Podcast

See Step 1: Making the Plan – Click Here >>

Ok, you’ve got your quick little business plan, blog plan, etc. No? You didn’t write the answers to the question? Go back and do it now!

Okay, NOW? Good! Let’s talk about blogging, vlogging, and podcasting. Because one of these is going to be your home base of operations.

You have probably heard or read the ways that thousands of bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers make tons of money JUST by having a blog, podcast, or a YouTube channel, right? They’re all over the internet. Well, that may be the case for them, but it’s not going to be the case for you right now. So get it out of your mind that this will be where your money comes from. It very well may be a source of income for you one day, but likely not today. Instead, this is going to be where you live. This is going to be your home base.

I also said that you will choose EITHER a blog OR a YouTube channel OR a podcast (though there will be some element of writing and similar practices with all three). While there are certainly people who have all of the above, I recommend starting with ONE. Starting with too many tasks for getting your word out risks burning you out before you’re prepared to deal with those responsibilities. So we’re going to pick ONE of these to start out. Who knows? Maybe in 3 months you’ve got your content so tight and honed that you can do both. That is definitely possible, but for now, just choose one. If you decide to branch out into more when you’re ready, this will give you time to adjust a schedule that works for you.

Let’s unpack these a bit and talk about how they will help you.

Blogging

Blogging is simply regularly scheduled content that is written and updated that allows you to tell your story. These don’t have to be long posts. They’re not exactly essays. They don’t have to have the best prose or command of the English/Spanish/French language or language of whichever country you’re blogging from. I do recommend making sure to spell words correctly and to write as someone who knows your topic/goods/services well. (Can’t spell? Or write sentences well? Use a tool like Grammarly to help you. It’s free.)

The first step to blogging is to plan out how often you’re going to update it. This is easily done by writing it on that notepad you started your business plan in. You’re going to answer three questions:

How often will I update it or post?
What day(s) of the week will I post on?
What topics could I write endless posts about?

Why is this important?

You’re going to ask yourself these same questions for all three of your broadcasting options. And these are critical to work out now.

It is very important that you have regularly updated content on your website. This does two things – 1.) it forces you to think of new ways to connect with people because you’re constantly having to find new ways to talk about what you do and why you do it, and 2.) this is going to continually prompt Google, Bing, and other search engines to crawl over your website because you’ve signalled them with keywords that users are currently searching for.

This means that you will find more ways to put yourself into the minds of people who may be searching for what you do online.

This entire process is called Search Engine Optimization – or SEO. And yes, there are professionals who make a lot of money by performing these services. They may come in handy one day but you can’t afford them yet, and you need to learn to do this because – again, it forces you to think like your potential customers and readers do.

Decide how often you will post content.

I recommend at minimum, post a new update once a week. This can definitely be a challenge when you’re just trying to run your day to day operations. But make time for this. And honestly, once per week is probably not enough. Try to find two days a week you can post content. This will signal search engine algorithms each time you do it and that’s traffic you need!

Plan your posting schedule

If you get someone’s attention by an article they related to, they are more likely to subscribe to your email list (“What’s an email list,” You ask? Don’t worry, we’ll get to that.) or blog feed (this is a way users keep track of new posts through either an RSS Reader service or email).

This means they want to see more of your content because you helped them with a search before. This is especially true if you have a larger archive of articles and posts.

And that means they will come to expect new posts regularly. If you can deliver your posts on the same 1-2 days of the week each week, you will engage these readers, listeners, and viewers. And there are ways on all three of these platforms to schedule your posts in advance so they do this.

Make a list of topics you could write or talk about for hours and days.

On that list you made for your business plan, make a list of any and all topics related to your industry that you either know a lot about or could learn about and post at a later time. This will be a great help to you on those days when you’re trying to figure out what to write or talk about.

Use this as a guide. For me, I have a Google Sheet I use in my Drive account that I keep updated with new topics all the time. It keeps me focused on something I’m already interested in, and I have a smaller chance on getting writer’s block about it.

You may say, “But I don’t know everything about ___________ topic.”

Remember when you were in school, and you were trying to get your grades up, and a teacher suggested you tutor someone? Why did they do this? Were they insane? Well, possibly, but the more likely reason is because when you teach something, it forces you to stay a step ahead of your student. The same is true of you blogging or posting a video or podcast. You are setting yourself up as an “expert” in your field. You may not feel like an expert, but all it really means to be an expert is to know a little more about something than most other people do. Get in the habit of researching and talking about the topics in your field, and you’ll have that advantage the more you do it.

Vlogging – YouTube

Vlogging is like blogging, but rather than a blogger who writes her content, a vlogger talks about their content from in front of a camera. This is a great alternative for those who don’t want to write. And it’s easy to get started. Thousands of new vloggers start their YouTube Channels every day. And you could be one of them.

Like blogging, you’re going to want to have a list of topics you can talk about. You’re going to want to decide how often you post a video (YouTube’s algorithm is much kinder to new channels if they post frequently, which means your videos are more likely to show up in the right sidebar of the related video people are watching.), and you’re going to want to have a consistency to when you post.

And once people click on that red “Subscribe” button and ring that notification bell next to it, they’ll watch all of your new content.

The uploading part is easy. YouTube has made it easy to record video directly from your smartphone, and they even have apps just for managing your own content. But in order to get traffic with each of these videos, you’re going to need to add those keywords and accurate descriptions to get search engines to notice you. Just like in blogging, it’s all about the power of the search.

Podcasting

Podcasting has been around since the birth of the iPod all the way back in 2003, but it has only taken the world by storm in the last few years, with audio shows like The Joe Rogan Experience, Serial, and This American Life taking listening audiences by storm. Podcasts have become extremely popular and are growing more so each year. Having once been only a staple of Apple with a user having to download a show from iTunes and syncing it with that impossibly inconvenient mp3 player, the format is now fully streamable and is available on a number of smartphone apps and the web itself, and with other companies producing original content and distributing podcasts (or simply “pods”) like Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Audible.

The podcasting medium has allowed comedians, journalists, scientists, clergy, and even random people with microphones to connect with people who – like many of us – have to drive, walk, or take public transit throughout the day and sometimes get tired of music.

If you can figure out how to produce one and you’re a good communicator, this may be the way for you to get your audience. Podcasts are all about connecting with people over subjects they are passionate about.

Intimidating? Don’t worry, it’s easy to do that, too. Simply use a free service like Podbean, Soundcloud, or Buzzsprout and they’ll publish the content for you. If you keep it under the 30 minute mark, you may not have to pay a dime.

Start with One of These (Blog, YouTube, Podcast)

You may say, “Hey! These are three different ways to get an audience to look at my product or company!”

To which I say, “Hold on there, grasshopper!”

You’re running your organization, product, and – if you’re just starting out with little to no money – probably everything else, right?

Well, here’s where these methods can take up serious amounts of time. And it is a SLOW return on your investment. Remember, you’re not going to get your blackjack winnings from a blog or a YouTube channel unless your name happens to be Dan TDM.

What you can absolutely begin to gain in a short period of time are people. Eyes. Traffic. Talk or write about things that matter. Solve problems people are searching for. And then connect with your audience. When someone comments on your blog or video, comment back, thanking them for their comment and make a personal connection. Network with other channels or blogs similar to yours and make genuine connections. Leave comments, and don’t talk about your company or product. But the more you genuinely connect, the more your natural expertise will come out, and those audience members will begin to make the leap over to your blog or channel.

I hope this has helped, fellow entrepreneur!