Simplify Days’ Journey to Success

Barbara of the wildly successful SimplifyDays.com took some time to answer some questions and compile some advise for those of us starting out!

You’ll get a lot out of these gold nuggets whether you’re a new or veteran blogger.

1. Did you start as a blogger or did you know at the start that you would sell courses?

I started with everything all at once, my website, blog, digital products and online courses. Everything I read before starting out said to start with just the blog, build your reader base and then launch a product or course. I can see the wisdom in that but I’ve learned A LOT from just jumping in with both feet and learning as I go.

2. How did you get started?

Getting digitally organized started as a personal project for me. When others saw what I was doing they asked me questions. I eventually started taking clients by word of mouth outside of my day job and eventually formed my own business.

When I had my first baby I wanted my business to scale but I didn’t want to trade time for money. I wanted to be able to spend as much time with my daughter as possible but I also loved my business. Online courses are scalable in a way that consultations never will be.

3. How did you know what to do?

I took LOTS of courses. The first year of my business I invested every penny back into my business and into my education. The second year I invested half back in. I’ve spent a lot of time and money on education.

You can find a lot of information for free online but courses are creatives BEST WORK. They’ll provide step-by-step guides, swipe files, insights into their own businesses and more.

4. What got you to 1000 subscribers and was that different from whats working now? 

The first year my biggest list builder was my free digital Evernote Templates. This year I’ve been running a lot of Facebook ads for my webinar and now that’s my biggest list builder.

5. What have you learned about business or yourself through this process? 

I’ve learned that the online world has opened up windows of opportunity that have never been available to people before. A couple of months after my second baby was born I hosted an online webinar which generated thousands of dollars. While I was on the hour long webinar my husband and my mother-in-law held my newborn and played with my little girl in the room right next to me. My family was (and still is) amazed at the opportunity that I have to fully run my business + be with my children. The online world gives us flexibility in a way that was never possible before.

With all of the opportunities of the online world comes LOTS and LOTS of choices. There are TOO many choices and we can easily expect too much of ourselves. I’ve learned the hard way how important self-imposed boundaries are. For example, after working lots and lots of late nights my health suffered. Now, I’m really strict about having no screen time after 10pm. It’s REALLY hard. I have two little kids so I’m used to working at night. But health is infinitely more important than business.

[clickToTweet tweet=”In short, invest in yourself and be an action taker. by @simplifydays” quote=”In short, invest in yourself and be an action taker”].

6. Do you have advice for beginners?

Invest as much revenue as you can into educating yourself. I know that you can find a lot of free resources but school and mentorship is worth the investment! Talk to others about what courses or mentors they have found helpful and save every penny your business makes in order to re-invest in yourself and your business.

But remember, the most important part of the education process is taking ACTION, immediately! If you commit to taking an online course, then also fully commit to implementing everything within the course otherwise the education will never benefit yourself or others.

In short, invest in yourself and be an action taker.

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