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He built 2 productized services to $30,000+ per month š¤Æ
Welcome to a fresh edition of eBiz Insider, my free newsletter packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business.
Today...
He Built 2 Productized Services to $30,000+ Per Month
Running A Lead Gen Agency From an RV
$1000/Month + Other Benefits From a Small Podcast
$2900 Last Month Unbundling Canva
How He Earned $10M Online Despite Severe Disability
April Finance Report
Ex-Army Guyās Shortcut to a 6-Figure Online Business
$250 Giveaway
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He Built 2 Productized Services to $30,000+ Per Month
John Doherty is the founder of EditorNinja, a productised content editing agency š
In a recent interview, he revealsā¦
We currently do $30k-$40k/mo, and we are growing.
We featured John ~18 months ago when EditorNinja was still in its infancy making about $4.5K/month š¤
At the time he was also running Credo, a marketplace for digital marketing and development agencies, and earning $45,000/month from that.
So he's ultimately grown two productized service businesses to $30k+ per month š¤Æ
John's backgroundā¦
I started in tech with freelance SEO consulting back in 2011, alongside an agency job in New York City. I started a side project called HireGun, which later became Credoā¦
I actually sold Credo in September of 2022. I can't talk about the details, but I fully stepped out of the day-to-day in January, 2023.
š The origins of EditorNinjaā¦
[It] came out of a personal need to outsource editing when I was running the content machine at Credo. I also saw a lot of software companies producing copy that had typos, and companies ordering and publishing unedited content from content companies. Typos and unedited content kill conversions.
All in all, it added up to it being a big opportunity in the space, even though there are already large companies in the editing space.
So there was plenty of competition, but John felt the existing offerings were lacking and that he could create something better šŖ
Initial tractionā¦
EditorNinja has grown primarily through referrals and relationships to this pointā¦
ā¦ we had a weekly agency email at Credo where we often promoted EditorNinja.
So, EditorNinja benefited from Credo, but not vice versa.
Nowā¦
We've invested in SEO and content marketing. And I distribute content and tell the world about what we do through being a podcast guest on a lot of shows.
Google Ads work pretty well for us also. Overall, though, relationships in the marketing industry plus SEO and helpful editorial content have been the most effective for us.
š¤Ø Johnās contrarian advice for entrepreneursā¦
I actually believe it's best to NOT solve something that you are world class in. Itās better to find something in a space you know where you can easily hire others to deliver the work.
And don't do something you're passionate about; do something you're good at.
Wantrepreneurs are told to pursue their passions, but I believe that passions come and go. When you do something fulfilling and that you are good at, you'll be energized to work on it every day.
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Running A Lead Gen Agency From an RV
Today's email is brought to you by Local Marketing Vault.
That's our top-rated lead generation training š¤©
One reviewer writesā¦
I took December 2018 to watch the videos and started actively prospecting for clients in January 2019ā¦
I have been earning a full-time income since May 2019 and have been building my business ever since. I live and run my agency full-time in my RV, traveling across the U.S. That would not be possible without Local Marketing Vault, Jason & James, and the incredible community they built.
If you'd like to build something similar, check out their free masterclass video š
ā¹ļø full disclosure | sponsorship info
$1000/Month + Other Benefits From a Small Podcast
Matt Medeiros runs The WP Minute, a weekly podcast that discusses the latest news in WordPress šļø
A recent interview with Mattā¦
5 figures per yearā¦ so likely $1000+ per month š¤
Matt got into WordPress many years ago via old jobs and eventually co-founded the web agency Slocum Studio with his father.
Matt would attend WordPress events but he wasnāt a developer š
To make a name for himself in the industry, he started his first podcast, The Matt Report, which he eventually rebranded to The WP Minuteā¦
[That podcast] not only helped drive a lot of business for the studio but it was a massive resume builder and it helped me get all of my jobs since I left my agency jobā¦
I kept doing it and it just kept my name and presence out in the WordPress space.
So when I needed to find a jobā¦ the folks that were hiring me, already knew me.
Matt's podcast never had a ton of listeners.
But he emphasizes that even a small podcast can have huge benefits š
You might not be getting sponsors.
You might not have all of the listeners that you want to get.
But just by continuously publishing and putting out content, people know that you're still there doing this thing.
And they have a huge respect for it.
Sounds like Matt monetizes in a few ways š°
First there's the ad revenue from his 16k-subscriber YouTube channel, where he shares WordPress tutorials.
š¤ He also has sponsorsā¦
I have this professional product now and it's omni-channel.
And you can appear in the newsletter, the YouTubeā¦ a la carte, pick where you want to go.
Lastly he has a membership and accepts donationsā¦
If you're a listener and you just love the work that we're doing, you can either donate through a digital coffee or join the membership for $79 a year.
And that gets you access to Slack and behind the scenes.
It's a great networking point for other WordPress businesses.
Could you do something like this in a niche youāre interested in? š¤
Like Matt says, even if it doesnāt earn you a big income, it can help make a name for yourself and open up other opportunities.
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š $2900 Last Month Unbundling Canva
From the archive, published July 2023ā¦
Check out Pika.styleĀ šØ
It was started by Rishi and launched around January 2022.
The app is free to use and costs $12/month or $120/year for pro features.
Their tagline..
Turn your š meh screenshots into beautiful images š¤©
In a recent tweet, Rishi reports that the app earned $2900 in June.
Sounds like $2300 of that is monthly recurring revenue from pro subscriptions and the rest comes from display ads shown to free users.
All the more impressive when you consider itās a side project for Rishiā¦
It started as an app for my own needs but it quickly started getting tractionā¦ Considering I worked on Pika only in my free time and along with my full time-job, I think it grew pretty well.
I find Pika interesting because it basically took something that you can do with Canva ā a popular all-in-one graphic design tool ā enhanced that one feature and made it a standalone product.
(Xnapper also did this, to the tune of $8000 in 1 month.)
This might be a good framework to help you come up with your own product ideas š
Explore a popular all-in-one product
Find a feature in there that could be better
Make your own standalone version of that feature
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How He Earned $10M Online Despite Severe Disability
š¬ Tim Denning tweetsā¦
This is Jon Morrow.
He's made $10M+ writing online, but can't move his body except his face.
Jon Morrow is the founder of Smart Blogger, a website dedicated to teaching blogging and writing š
Tim againā¦
Jon Morrow has Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
It means he lives in an electric wheelchair.
Heās not supposed to live a long time either.
Doctors said he will one day get a lung infection.
They were right.
He's had pneumonia 16 times & didnāt die.
Andā¦
Jon got hit by a car going 85 mph in 2006.
His legs broke in 14 places.
He didnāt die (again).
Jon stayed in hospital for 3 months.
He realized he hated where his life was heading
So Jon did the unthinkable & quit his job.
Jon had big medical bills.
To save money he moved to Mexico š²š½ and started blogging.
Tim addsā¦
This is wild because he couldn't move his hands or arms.
He had to build a lip-operated mouse.
Jon worked on his blog from 8am-11pm daily.Ā
ā Read
ā Write
ā Chat to other bloggers
Thatās 15 hours per day of hard work, not knowing how it would turn out š¤Æ
But it turned out very well, with Jon earning $10+ million via blogging over the next several years.
Tim's takeaway from Jon's storyā¦
Your first blog should suck.
ā Your first 100 articles will be terrible
ā Keep going beyond the initial failure
Jonās first 3 blogs failed.
They helped him get good.
So don't beat yourself up if you're failing right now.
That's the price you have to pay for eventual success šŖ
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April Finance Report
My latest monthly finance report is here š detailing everything we earned and spent in my business last month.
$19,353 income
$5,988 expenses
More details in the full report.
š Ex-Army Guyās Shortcut to a 6-Figure Online Business
From the archive, published July 2023ā¦
Steven Foust was once an Army Chief Warrant Officer š«”
Now he runs an online business that earns him $14,000 per month.
Post his military service, Steven launched NCOonFire.com to help soldiers in their career progression.Ā
(NCO = Non-Commissioned Officer)
The site makes money from memberships, digital products, and counseling š°
Steven got started by building an online course to help enlisted soldiers get promoted faster.
Unfortunately, he struggled for months to get sales, finding out the hard way that ābuild it and they will comeā does not work for online courses š
But he eventually found a solutionā¦
[Steven] went on Google to figure out who his competitors were. Thatās when he came across CutoffScores.com and NCOSupport.com.
The sites were run by Fernando, an ex-military man living in Panama. Steven reached out to him and struck up an affiliate partnership: Fernando would get 50% of each sale if Steven could advertise his product on Fernandoās sites.
That partnership led to five sales the first month.
Soon after, Fernando offered to sell both sites to Steven for $15k apiece.
Steven agreed š¤
And while that was a pretty big investment, it likely saved Steven a few years of work trying to get regular organic traffic flowing to his own sites.
So two things to try if youāre looking for a shortcut to successā¦
Partner with an influencer in your niche.
See if you can buy an established asset (eg. website, Instagram account, etc)
Another interesting thing about Steven: he didnāt start selling his course until 2020.
Butā¦
Steven got out of active duty in the Army in 1998 and has been retired from the Army Reserve since 2005. When he looked back at that experience, though, he realized one thing: he was good at getting promoted fast.
In other words, he created a successful course based on knowledge/experience he had gained decades earlier š
Appropriately enough, he advises asking yourself this question if you want to start an online businessā¦
What do you know that nobody knows you know?
It doesnāt have to be recent knowledge; could be something you learned much earlier in your career or even as a kid.
Also worth checking out from Steven š
His calculator opt-in offer
That calculator seems to be a key part of Stevenās funnelā¦
Steven places several āācall-to-action (CTA) buttons throughout his other sites to drive people there.
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$250 Giveaway
Weāre doing another $250 giveaway at eBiz Facts this month.
Check the list of online business courses on this pageā¦ have you done any of them?
If so, submit your rating and review ā takes 3-5 minutes ā and once published youāll be entered into a draw to win up to $250 š
If youāve done multiple courses, you can leave multiple reviews and thereby have a better chance of winning.
(Want to review a course thatās not listed? Tell me about it here.)
ā¦
Thanks to Fardeen Khan for helping me write and research today's newsletter.
Hasta la prĆ³xima, rock on with your legendary self šŖ
Niall Doherty ā Cork, Ireland
eBiz Facts (follow on twitter)
P.S. Check out this free masterclass from Local Marketing Vault: How Tiny Two Page Websites Make Us $40,000/Month š°
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