Take Your Thought Leadership Writing from Good to Great - #050

Show Notes

As an entrepreneur, writing can be a great way to share your ideas, opinions, and thought leadership. It’s also the perfect way to position yourself as an expert within your market niche, and nurture engagement with current customers as well as prospective buyers. How can you use thought leadership to boost brand awareness and build trust with referrals, buyers, prospects?

To find out, Nola Boea and Lori Vajda sat down with authors and bloggers Kristina Adams and Ellie Betts. These writers share their tips, tools, and resources to help smart, successful, aspiring entrepreneurs get started as writers and thought leaders.

Thanks for Listening!
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Why You Should Listen To This Episode. In It You’ll Learn: 

• Why, as an entrepreneur, you should be writing articles, blog posts, and books.
• How writing on topics with a fresh perspective, no one else has, is an innovative way to garner attention and helps you stand out.
• Why thought leadership builds trust with prospective customers and those who might be a great referral source.
• Tips to help you transform the way you write into engaging and interesting thought leadership. 

In today's increasingly connected digital world, your writing has the power to foster engagement with current customers (who you want to retain) and prospective buyers (who you want to convert into paying clients). And not to mention, 83% of buyers believe it helps them trust an organization.

• (9:34.84) Why using cute titles for your blog posts, articles and books is a terrible idea! And how to choose titles that deliver a unique selling point.
• (11:03.46) Help for writers so they can get over the mental roadblocks that are holding them back from starting or finishing their books, articles and blog posts. 
• (13:47.48) Why writing one book is not enough and how you can use the Netflix model to write, publish and profit from your books.
• (14:35.22) 7 tips to improve your business and thought leadership writing, and how you can use it to set yourself apart from the competition, get referrals and attract your ideal clients.
• (18:57:10) Why your writing needs a niche and how you can turn your opinion pieces, blogs, and books about your business, industry or marketplace into one.
• (25:11:47) 5 tips busy professionals can use to create a side business, use blogging or writing to develop an income stream.
  

Resources 

You can subscribe to Lori and Nola's show, (we love you and want to make it easy) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This episode was supported by: Be-YOU-nique

DIY Build Your Own Business Website - Course Link

Episode #45 with Kristina Adams: Three Authors Share Their Tips to Help You Write Your First Book. Listen on Apple podcast, Google podcast, Spotify, Stitcher or Sticky Brand Lab

The Writer’s Cookbook website

The Writer’s Mindset podcast

Books from author Kristina Adams

Writers Cookbook Facebook page

Copyhackers website

Recipe for Victoria Sponge Cake

ConvertKit: Our #1 Favorite Email Marketing Platform  (This is an affiliate link)

Transcript

[00:00:00] Lori: How am I different? What makes me and my business unique? This question comes up a lot, especially when entrepreneurs are thinking about creating content, particularly when it comes to business blogging or writing a non-fiction book. If you have been wondering, how do I communicate my viewpoint, opinions, perspective, and beliefs in a way that it's interesting thought provoking as well as engaging to my audience, well listeners, you can stop wondering. We've got not one, but two amazing writers here to share their writing knowledge and subject matter expertise with us. During this episode, you're going to get ideas, suggestions, tools, and answers to questions about writing you didn't even know to ask.

[00:00:45] Announcer: You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast, where time strapped professionals like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

[00:00:58] Nola: When it comes to content, thought leadership and communication in general, so many of us fear sharing our ideas and being judged. So instead, we write in a way that keeps us from being noticed and standing out. Basically, we write to not ruffle feathers. But is that really a good idea? Hi, there we're Nola and Lori, your co-hosts. And we'd like to welcome you to the only podcast designed to help you successfully and quickly launch a profitable side business and personal brand you're excited about. Today's show is all about shaking up the boring middle-of-the-road, playing small and keeping our ideas and writing small. Instead, we're talking about being bold, confident, and someone who's willing to put herself and her ideas out there. But before we get started, it would mean a lot to us if you would consider subscribing to our podcast on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Not only do we love getting new subscribers, but it gives us a chance to help you. Because each week we come out with new content so you hit the ground running and be the most awe-inspiring, magnetic, confident, powerful business owner ever. Ready to learn how to write and share your thoughts, opinions, and viewpoint through the unique lens that only you can bring to the world? Awesome. Then let's get this episode started! 

[00:02:11] Lori: Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or already a business owner, today's episode is perfect for the professional woman or man who is ready to share her unique and distinct wisdom, mission, purpose, or even your experience with the world. And the best part? You'll walk away with brilliant insights and action steps you can use to nurture those ideas, grow your audience, creatively communicate your innovative solutions, and so much more. To help us do this are two incredible writers in their own right. You may remember Kristina Adams from episode 45, Three Authors Share Their Tips to Help You Write Your First Book.
Kristina Adams is the author of 15 books and too many blog posts to count. She helps writers overcome their creative obstacles through her blog posts, podcasts, and courses over at the Writer's Cookbook. When she's not writing, she's inflicting cooking experiments on her boyfriend or playing with her adorable dog, Millie. Ellie Betts as a writer normally found either working on her latest project, studying writing, or co-hosting the Writer's Mindset podcast. And typically with a coffee in hand. Her giant cat, Frankie, is her biggest distraction and favorite snugly writing buddy. Welcome Kristina and Ellie! 

[00:03:28] Kristina: Hey, 

[00:03:29] Ellie: thank you for having us. 

[00:03:31] Lori: We're so excited to have you here, but before we do, let me just say huge. Congratulations, Ellie, on completing your dissertation. That is so amazing.

[00:03:42] Nola: Congratulations! 

[00:03:44] Lori: What are you going to do with all your free time? 

[00:03:46] Ellie: I'm going to be writing books and publishing them and setting up my own little business. 

[00:03:52] Kristina: Course, you've committed now 

[00:03:55] Ellie: at a

[00:03:59] Kristina: Oh, the pressure. 

[00:04:00] Ellie: Yeah, that's fine. That's what I need.

[00:04:06] Nola: Well, before we get into the importance of business and thought leadership through writing, and how we can use it to set ourselves apart from the competition, get referrals and attract our ideal clients, and because we're a podcast all about supporting professional women who are ready to start a side business adventure, tell us, Ellie and Kristina, what is the most entrepreneurial thing about yourselves?
Wow. Silence. I am shocked!

[00:04:35] Ellie: That's a really good one to put people on the spot with that's, I'm impressed. 

[00:04:40] Lori: We do, we don't even include it in when we're asking guests. We're like, and they all look the same: deer in the headlights.

[00:04:50] Kristina: My third book, a lot of people told me not to publish, because they said I was too young, I wasn't qualified enough, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And a lot of the people telling me not to publish it were people who were not published. And my blog audience were saying, no, publish this, we need this information. We need your help. And it's like, well, do I listen to the people who aren't my audience or do I listen to my audience, which is literally what marketing is, right? So I published my first nonfiction book, Productivity for Writers. 2017. And it was my bestselling book for about two years. Woo. And so my ability to ignore people and do things anyway, out of sheer stubbornness, I would say is the most entrepreneurial thing. But also, it's not a case if it comes from arrogant. So, I'm not an arrogant person. I'm just very, very stubborn and headstrong. And don't like being told what to do, which might be another one. Like, I don't know if anyone disagree and say that I follow instructions really well or anything. 

[00:05:43] Ellie: Am I supposed to disagree with you when you tell people you're stubborn? Because we didn't practice that beforehand. I'm not lying to people.

[00:05:50] Kristina: I feel really supported by my friend right now. 

[00:05:53] Ellie: But you being stubborn is one of the things I admire about you. 

[00:05:56] Kristina: Thank you. We'll call it headstrong. 

[00:05:59] Ellie: We'll call it headstrong. It sounds better on paper. 

[00:06:02] Nola: Sounds better on paper. Okay. 

[00:06:03] Kristina: We'll use it as a nice euphemism.

[00:06:06] Ellie: I think in terms of entrepreneurial skills, never said that before. 

[00:06:12] Lori: Well, you are starting a business now that you have all that free time after finishing your dissertation. So, 

[00:06:18] Ellie: I'm going to be, but I think I would say my attitude towards learning and my complete openness to throwing myself in there and going, you know, I have no idea what I'm doing or how to do it, but I'll learn, and I like learning and I like progressing and I like building on my skills and I think that's going to be the most valuable part of my mindset going forward. So in terms of entrepreneurial stuff. 

[00:06:41] Lori: That's awesome. 

[00:06:42] Nola: Definitely entrepreneurial. 

[00:06:45] Lori: Both of them are, you really have to believe in yourself and you have to trust the process that you can learn it, say yes, figure it out later. Those are just good tips in and of themselves. Okay. The podcast is done.

So, before we get into the ways entrepreneurs can develop their business writing skills and thought leadership and put that into blogging and books, can you tell us a little bit about The Writer's Cookbook and your podcast, The Writer's Mindset, and why you created them? And before you do, listeners, I can't recommend listening to their podcasts and checking out their website enough. It is really awesome. 

[00:07:26] Kristina: So. The Writer's Cookbook came first and I set that up in July, 2014 because I just finished the same M.A. that Ellie's just finished. And I was like, I don't want to stop learning. And also, I want to be able to share the things I have learnt with people who can't afford to do an M.A. Cause I know a lot of people can't. I'll be honest. I didn't have much of a strategy back then. I didn't know what strategy was. I was just writing about writing and I didn't do it particularly regularly or anything. I just did it when an idea came to mind. And so I did that for a couple of years, and then I decided to get a bit more strategic with it and post weekly and use it as a way to market my non-fiction books and things like that. Then the site grew by 905% in a year in terms of visitors. So, it went from like nothing to about 35,000 readers a month. And then the end of last year, I think I approached Ellie and said, do you want to do a podcast? 

[00:08:17] Ellie: No, you said to me, I'm going to start a podcast. And I said, I want to do it, too! 

[00:08:24] Nola: Let's get this straight. 

[00:08:27] Kristina: I didn't have the confidence to do it on my own, even though I had a radio background. And I knew Ellie and I bounced off each other really well, and people liked Ellie and I can be a bit blunt sometimes, and Ellie, waters that down in a good way. She's good cop I'm bad cop. So, we started recording in, was it December last year?

[00:08:45] Ellie: Yeah, we're recorded the first few episodes in December, which was kind of terrifying at the time. Before we recorded the podcast episode, we'd done a few like online live things on Kristina's like Author page, and we did a couple of courses and things together. Again, the chemistry I thought was really good. And so, when we recorded the podcast episodes, it was really fun. We had no idea what we were doing. Well. I had no idea what I was doing. Kristina is [something] than me. 

[00:09:09] Kristina: No, I was being a snob. Let's be serious, I was being a snob. I said, we need to do this to make it better. We need to do that. And you're like, okay?

[00:09:17] Nola: Does that sound familiar, Lori? 

[00:09:19] Lori: I was just thinking the same thing. That sounds so much like Nola and myself. I mean, it's a similar parallel journey. I'd be like, I don't like the way this went. We need to edit it down. She said, are you sure? I said it'll be better. Trust me. 

[00:09:33] Ellie: That sounds very familiar. 

[00:09:35] Kristina: And then in March, I think it was March, we decided, rather than sticking with the name, The Writer's Cookbook, we would rebrand as a podcast and call it The Writers Mindset to focus more on the psychological roadblocks. And also, to be frank, the Writer's Cookbook is a terrible name because no one actually knows what it means. And for like the first three years I was getting hits from people who wanted to learn how to write recipes. So, that's tip number one, I would say, is consider your name and the connotations of it. Don't go for something that sounds cute.

[00:10:02] Ellie: But rebranding was good because our unique selling point is our focus on mindset. And a lot of it's something that we're very focused on in our own lives, as well as in the podcast. So, it made sense and we fought over the colors and the style and all sorts of stuff. Not fought, but had pretty good heated arguments,

[00:10:19] Lori: Creative arguments, creative process, 

[00:10:24] Ellie: Creative, yeah. 

[00:10:25] Nola: Creative disagreements, very human disagreements. 

[00:10:28] Ellie: But it worked, like, it's a good thing that we did it. And I think changing that and focusing that made a difference to the podcast. 

[00:10:35] Kristina: It did it made a massive difference to our listener numbers, actually, just from changing that one word in our name and then making it much more clear who we were helping and what our kind of mission was. 

[00:10:43] Lori: You know, that is such a great tip just in general, when you're titling a blog, when you're titling an article or a book. Is we think we need to be clever. The truth is, that when it's simple, straightforward, and the solution that people are looking for, they get it. They don't have to think about it. They just get it. 

[00:11:03] Nola: There is a lot of information out there to help entrepreneurs write their stories, and share their ideas and improve the writing skills. From each of your perspectives, both from blogging and book writing, of all the expert info that's out there, what are they missing? 

[00:11:20] Kristina: How fucking hard it is. No one talks about how hard it is to be a writer and how resilient you need to be. You need to keep going when you've got no book sales. When you get a negative review. When you're stuck and don't know where you're going next. You need all these skills. And the amount of times I've said to people, do you think you're resilient? And they go, yes. And then they exhibit the symptoms of not being resilient, is actually mind boggling. And one of the things that can help with that is planning. But I think a lot of people don't plan enough either in terms of like planning your book, launch, planning your book in general. Planning any sort of strategic stuff. Basically, the more you plan, the faster you can do the whole thing and the more efficiently you'll be able to do it and also to a better quality, because you're more likely to pick up on gaps that need filling in, or one of the things that can be quite useful for example, is picking a publication date and working backwards based on what you need to do. Then you kind of have your timeline, and it can mess with your head when you're trying to work that out, but it can be very beneficial to know what your end goal is, and then go backwards and go, okay, well, I could do a live here and I could do an interview here and I could do a blog post here and blah, blah, blah. And then all these things create a much more holistic view. 

[00:12:36] Ellie: The biggest thing I see out there is, um, there's so many people, even now, even after all the advices out there still think that they're going to publish one book and that's it. They're set for life That's it it's done. You've got to writing career. And I don't think, that's it at all, the people I've seen who are successful, who are doing well, who do have a business, put the work and you've got to keep going. It's several books, if not several dozen books before you know it, you've potentially got that full-time writing career. 

[00:13:05] Kristina: It's almost like the Netflix model now where people want to binge content and series are more likely to make money than a standalone book because people will read one book and then they will go on to read the series. And the longer your series is the more profitable it can be. So you will sometimes find people and they will have books that are very thinly linked. Like they're aimed at the same target audience. And they're promoted as a series because that's a marketing strategy that gets you a wider audience and how it's used to make more money because people have this thing, oh, I've read this one, so I'll read this one next. And it's just easier, and it takes off that need for them to make a decision about what they're going to read next. And, you know, if they do like one book, then they're going to keep going and it's not necessarily, they'll get attached to the author, they may not even remember your name for the first few books. And there is so much competition out there that one book is not going to stand out on its own. That's why series are important. And that's why doing it on a regular basis for so long is also important. And then there's some stuff to do with algorithms and stuff. I don't know how technical you want us to get.

[00:14:11] Ellie: I think the other thing is, and something that I talk about a lot all the time is you should never stop learning as a writer. Every good writer continues to grow throughout their career. So, it's something that those skills you've got to continually improve on the whole time you're going to get better. And so the better you are, you know, the faster you can publish perhaps, or the better the content is. And the more people want to read it. 

[00:14:34] Kristina: Yeah. And I think from a business perspective as well, if you are looking to make money from like publishing one book, probably not going to happen, but a book is a very good way to show your authority in an industry. So, it can be quite a good way for people to find you. Like, I know a lot of business coaches who write books on their particular area that they coach people in and it almost acts like a lead magnet because people go, oh yeah, this person is an authority. They know what they're talking about. I'm going to go to them for more personalized help. 

[00:15:02] Lori: Well, that brings me up to a question that we had. So, for aspiring entrepreneurs who are writing, non-fiction focusing on their market, is having a niche important when it comes to writing either your blog or a book?

[00:15:20] Kristina: I think definitely. Yeah, because it helps to build your authority and people learn to trust you and not having a niche is a mistake I made with the Writers' Cookbook. And that's why I was getting people coming to me looking for cooking advice for so long because they didn't know what my niche was. It wasn't specific enough.

[00:15:34] Nola: How does one develop a niche as a writer? 

[00:15:38] Kristina: I think the first step to creating it is knowing what your strengths are or the areas you'd like to develop. But also make sure it's an area you're actually interested in because if it's something you dislike, you're going to get bored. And you're probably going to run out of ideas and a lot of people forget, but when you are bored, writing something, your audience can tell on a subconscious level and they feel bored and they're probably not going to keep coming back or recommend what you've written to anyone except someone who's having sleep problems. And if you are writing about something that you're interested in as well, it helps to know if it is an area that interests other people. Because if you're just writing about something that no one else cares about then you're not really going to get anywhere and finding out if there is that need for, it is all about knowing your industry and understanding those demands. And sometimes that may change over time, but if it's an area you're interested in, you're naturally going to be researching it anyway, 

[00:16:39] Lori: Does the same apply to blogging?

[00:16:41] Kristina: I would say that's more important for blogging than books. You need a niche and your blog, because otherwise it confuses Google search algorithms and it confuses your social media audience. And everything gets watered down so then is much harder if you don't niche at the start to then do it further along because people are like, well, I don't know what you represent and what you mean, what you stand for, because you never had that identity to begin with. And so if you don't have that identity, then people can't connect with you because they don't know who you are. You're just kind of like a blank silhouette. 

[00:17:14] Ellie: The only other thing I would mention is, if you are publishing books under a specific niche, particularly if you've published other things that are not related, it's worthwhile having a pen name and just leading into that niche on that pen name, which again will probably apply to blogging as well, but it does have an impact. You don't want multiple things associated with that name. You want one thing in someone's mind, they want to hear that name and think of one specific thing you are the authority on. If you have multiple things under one pen name, it does have an impact on things like Amazon and the algorithms on that and can affect who sees your books. And obviously, therefore who buys your books. So, you've just got one specific niche on that pen name and one specific target audience, they're going to buy your books and then more people in the audience will buy your books. 

[00:17:58] Nola: So, in other words, if you've written books and blogs on gardening, you want to use a different pen name when you write books and blogs on pet grooming. 

[00:18:08] Ellie: Exactly right, yes.

[00:18:10] Kristina: If it's a tangential link, then it's not as bad. Like if you're doing different topics and to self-help for example, or if you're writing different versions of romance, it's not as bad, but like I separated off my fantasy from my romance and non-fiction because not all of my audience reads fantasy by open about the fact I have is I can pen name and some of my readers did come across, but I am aware that, you know, a lot of people who read romance don't necessarily read fantasy. And you have to be aware of if there is an overlap in your audience or not. Because if those audiences are too different, it will affect your search rankings, your sales, your social media algorithm, visibility, all of these different things that can make it much harder for you to get your message across.

[00:18:56] Lori: That's such a great tip and one that I hadn't even thought about. You know, I know when you're getting started writing, in general, one of the things, again, related to niche is people fear that if they're too niched, they'll get fewer readers. Is that been your experience? 

[00:19:15] Kristina: No, I fought. I stopped tuning into the mindset stuff for a while, cause I did it when productivity for writers came out and then I stopped doing it and I didn't get as much engagement and people just didn't care as much. And then when I leaned into it more like the engagement and therefore the amount of time people spend on Cookbook listening to the podcast and in our Facebook group and stuff has been a lot better. And also, people are more willing to spend money with us because they trust us to help them build their mindset. 

[00:19:44] Ellie: And it's better to have like 10 really loyal fans who are super into one thing you talk about that a hundred sort of could care less kind of fans who care about some of the stuff you do, but aren't that interested.

[00:19:57] Kristina: Yeah, exactly. 

[00:19:58] Ellie: They got a lot more out of the 10 fans. 

[00:20:00] Kristina: Yeah, and then they're going to spread the word for you. And then your audience grows exponentially because of those people who are loyal to you in the first place. But if people don't really care, 

[00:20:08] Ellie: The hundred fans that don't care aren't going to tell anyone. 

[00:20:11] Nola: So, just think of an entrepreneurial that's trying to get their thought leadership out there. How can they do it in such a way that sets them apart from the competition and doesn't sound so vanilla? What can you do to stand out? 

[00:20:24] Kristina: Stop overthinking it. Too many people overthink their writing and the act of writing. And the more you think about it, the more you work yourself up in, the more anxious you get, and then you just stop. And then you get nothing done. You create this mental wall. The more you think about something and the more you panic about it. And a lot of people have this issue with writing with podcasting was videos. If they're not used to it. And if you just go, okay, yeah, I'm going to write something and then you just word vomit onto the page, that's when you come up with the actual good stuff. But too many people get in their own way. And they're like, oh no, I don't want to sound like such and such, or I really want to imitate this. So, if you need to understand your competition and read what they're doing. But then just do your own thing and don't overthink it. And if you find that you are, dictating can be really good because too many people have got this thing where they write an essay and blog posts aren't like writing essays and neither are books.

[00:21:14] Lori: I think that is a brilliant idea because everything you just said is what happens to me when I go to write for myself. And I get how this makes total sense for writing a book. What about when it comes to writing articles or your blog post? Does it work the same way? 

[00:21:31] Kristina: A hundred percent. Did I say, something to you Ellie once about writing styles, blog posts? What did I say when you did the first one for Cookbook? 

[00:21:39] Ellie: Well, I think the main thing I remember was writing it like it's a conversation not an essay. 

[00:21:44] Lori: Can you give an example or speak a little bit more about that? Because I think you've tapped into something that happens quite frequently, especially when you're just getting started.

[00:21:53] Ellie: Yeah. The first blog post I wrote for the Writer's Cookbook all those years ago, I wanted it to be really, really good. And so I tried to make it sound really, really sophisticated. And I wanted it to be like grammatically perfect and look really good on the page. And Kristina sent it back. It was like, you need to make this just more colloquial, just more interesting. Like, people don't want to read big blocks of texts most of the time, if they're reading a blog for instance. Particularly on mobile, which a lot of people are reading them on. So, you're going to reach more people if you just relax it a bit and make it sound more like you're just having a conversation with a friend. 

[00:22:26] Kristina: Yeah. And people get afraid of breaking the rules of grammar, and I'll be brutally honest, the writers who make the most money, regardless of the type of writing they're doing, are the ones who break the rules.

[00:22:36] Ellie: If there's a good reason. Not just for fun. 

[00:22:38] Kristina: Yes, you have to know the rules, but you don't have to follow them. You need to understand them to break them. But if you're following them to the point where a sentence comes across really clunky, for example, then people are going to be like, what are they doing? Why do they sound like they're trying to put on a pair of jeans that are two sizes too small, you know? But that's what it sounds like when you're trying to force something that isn't your voice into being your voice and your readers are there because they want you so lean into being you because ultimately that is your USP. It is not how grammatically correct you are. Because this isn't school anymore. 

[00:23:15] Ellie: That's what I was going to say actually about USP. I think particularly when it comes to putting yourself out there, if you lean into your USP and why that benefits people, that's, what's going to get people interested. So, there's no point in just being sort of a bit, blah, and a bit of vanilla, like you say, and not really committing or not wanting to ruffle the feathers. I tell them why you're amazing, why you're the best and what you could do for them. That's going to get people interested and get people wanting to come and find more of your content. 

[00:23:45] Lori: Do you have to say something shocking in order to grab people's attention or do you just have to know what your opinion is and be able to articulate it?

[00:23:55] Ellie: I don't think it always has to be shocking. I think that does work. If it's a true opinion, then fair enough. And it will pique people's interests. But just being honest and true to what you do believe in will still work, I think. Tends to be my experience. 

[00:24:09] Kristina: There's been too much of a trend in the last few years, the people being shocking and controversial for the sake of it. And it's like so transparent, like don't do it for the sake of it because a few years ago it was wow. There was this whole let's be authentic thing. And everyone was just recreating someone else's definition of authentic rather than actually being authentic. And that trend has thankfully died now. And people are actually being more authentic because people are talking less about being authentic.

[00:24:39] Nola: That's so funny. Cause I was just about to make a comment about being authentic, but I will hold that to myself.

[00:24:50] Kristina: You do need to be authentic, like that is important, but it's a case of actually being authentic, not saying you're being authentic and recreating what another writer does, right? Like by all means study what other people do. But don't shoe horn things for the sake of it, because you feel like it's what you should be doing rather than what comes naturally to you. 

[00:25:11] Nola: I think you'd, like you said, the audience can subconsciously pick up on that. And it's the authenticity that draws them to you. right? Definitely. So, our podcast is all about showing professional women, how to turn their knowledge, passion, great idea into an income stream so that they can create the lifestyle that they want to create. So, with that in mind, how can a busy professional creating a side business, use blogging or writing to develop an income stream? 

[00:25:41] Kristina: So, the main thing I would say is to actually learn as much as you can about that type of writing first. So, if you want to have a blog, make sure you understand blog writing, and you're not just like writing what you want to write, make sure you understand the structure and what your readers want from you and what is doing well for your competitors. And also understand SEO because SEO, I think, is really important for running a blog. I don't accept guest posts that aren't optimized for SEO because our biggest source of traffic is SEO. It makes a huge difference. And the better you become at that one particular form of writing, then the more people who are going to see your writing share your writing, and the more you get seen as an authority in your industry and then you may even get opportunities you didn't expect like potential clients coming your way. You might get brands who want to work with you either in terms of sponsorships or affiliates. You'll get guest posts and guest interview opportunities, where that only comes from being good at what you do in the first place.

[00:26:44] Ellie: And the other big thing for me, would be time management. I know that's not necessarily specific to blogging, but it makes such a huge difference. Like in the last few months I've been doing my full-time job and working on my M.A. and doing the podcast. And making time for things and planning ahead and allowing yourself that time to do the thing X, Y or said, not just saying, oh, I'll do it tomorrow. Makes a huge difference. Even if you only do a little bit one day, doing a little bit of 10 days or a week, you'll come out at the end, say, oh, look, I did this this week instead of trying to go, oh no, I'll do the old on Saturday. And it gets to Saturday and you can't be asked and it's never going to happen because you tried to leave it to the last minute. Which I am terrible for doing don't get me wrong, but it is something I'm working on. I've managing my time, but I have made a huge difference to getting stuff done. 

[00:27:32] Lori: I am in the same boat as you are Ellie. And when it comes to that, and then I feel the pressure and if my creativity isn't lined up with the time that I've set aside, because I waited, I feel even more pressure, which brings us to what we really want to focus on here is, and you've given us a lot of great tips so far, but we want to now get really focused on some of those examples that you have given us. Whether that's shortcuts that you can tell us about or tools or resources, anything that will help give actionable steps is great. So, here's a few questions that we came up with and feel free based on your experience to add what you know listeners tend to struggle with as well. The first is, how can you develop confidence in writing?

[00:28:23] Ellie: Just do it. Like, I know that's so much easier said than done like a million times easier said than done, but nine times out of 10, if you just do it, you'll feel more confident afterwards. Whether that's, you know, writing that blog posts, pitching that email, writing your next story, finishing writing the book. When you get to the end point, you're going to realize that you actually can do it, and you're going to be better equipped to do it the next time it comes around. 

[00:28:52] Nola: Don't wait until you have confidence to do something. Cause so many people do. It's like as soon as I build up the confidence, I'll do that because confidence comes in the doing. 

[00:29:01] Kristina: Oh, yeah. And the thing I would say on top of that is if you're really bad at getting in your own way, write when you're tired, because when you're tired, you literally can't process your inner critic and trying to get the idea down at the same time. You don't have the Headspace for it. 

[00:29:15] Ellie: Tired or drunk. 

[00:29:17] Kristina: Drunk is another good one, actually. Having, going and write drunk, edit. It does work. It genuinely does because you just don't have the brain capacity to stop yourself. And something I've been doing for the last couple of months is writing as soon as I get out of bed. And I used to be terrible for like scrolling through social media and having conversations with people and checking emails, first thing. But now I get up and I make sure I've written at least a thousand words. Usually, it's about 1800 and before I do anything else, and it gives me a real sense of accomplishment first thing. And then once I have done that, I'll usually reward myself with something like breakfast or a coffee, or the time with the dog, you know, something to look forward to. But because I've been rewarding myself with something after the writing session for so long, I associate that warm, fuzzy feeling, the reward gives me with writing as well. And I would hasten to add don't aim for 1800 words. If you're not used to writing, 

[00:30:13] Lori: I was just going to say that. My eyes got so big. 

[00:30:18] Kristina: I have been typing since I was about five. So, and my mum won an award for how fast you could type. So, it's almost like a genetic thing. But don't aim for that if you're not used to it, set yourself like a five-minute timer and just go all in on writing. Do not aim for more than five minutes. And don't do anything else when you are writing. The only thing I would say is maybe put some music on, just to drown out everything else. 

[00:30:39] Lori: Can you give us any tips or resources for writing blogs or blog posts or LinkedIn posts on thought leadership or about your business niche? 

[00:30:50] Kristina: Copyhackers is really good for writing business blog posts, because it's just super in depth. I've never really come across another blog that in depth and they have a guide on there on how to write a blog post and what their process is, and they really guide you through literally every step. And it's therefore very valuable whether you are just starting out or you're more advanced because they do things a little bit differently, but in a good way, 

[00:31:14] Nola: What about putting together like a comprehensive content strategy? What tips do you have for that? 

[00:31:21] Kristina: Learn what one entails first. Cause I think most people think that they know what a content strategy is and then it tends to be like lots of different dots that aren't completely connected. And what you want actually is either a straight line or kind of like a spider's web, because you want it to guide people down the yellow brick road, essentially. And so, if there is no logical path for them to take, they're not going to understand what you want them to do next. 

[00:31:46] Nola: So, writing a blogging content strategy or a strategy that entails blogging and book writing and podcasting, you want them all to connect and lead people down a path? 

[00:31:58] Kristina: Yes. And say like, you're a coach for something like a wellness coach, for example. You want content that shows people you're an authority in wellness. I really like maybe you've got a blog post on mindfulness for when you're walking. Maybe you've got another one on eating healthily when you're pregnant, and all these things develop how people think of you and build you up as an authority on that topic.

And you could go more niche than that. If you wanted to, you could do mindfulness for pregnant women and spaced out. Or, you could do wellness through eating for people with depression. And then if you create content around that thing that you're trying to sell, then it's going to be much more beneficial and guide people further along, and they're much more likely to convert and to trust you with their money and with the fact that you can actually help them, if you've already taught them a little bit with your content, maybe with a book, even on your sales page, you want to have a little lesson on there. So they feel like they're going to learn something from what you're selling as well. 

[00:32:58] Lori: One of the things that you had talked about was writing, in particular, a book to show your authority. And I think you can do this if you were doing blogging, or if you were even writing a speech that you wanted to give or a script for doing something live. Can you give any tips for getting started if you've never done it before, but you have this vision of doing it? How do you get started? 

[00:33:21] Ellie: I'm going to say it again, just do it. I mean, I recently wrote my first script actually for a short film and it was a completely new medium that I was totally panicky about and completely overthinking and just terrified to do, I guess, which sounds silly because I've written lots of other stories and lots of other pieces, but just doing it in that new medium was terrifying. I didn't just go, okay, I'm just going to go write now. It was hard. Like every single page was difficult, you know, that I didn't get into the flow with it. Didn't feel natural at all, but I just kept going. And just try things out. 

[00:34:01] Kristina: The other thing I would say, and this is something that I've only recently started doing is to outline. I never used her outline. I just had like a bullet pointed plan and the more people I interviewed for the Writer's Mindset, the more I realized how many successful authors outline. And I thought, you know what, I'm going to give this outline a go. And I managed to outline it. And I spotted a lot of holes in the narrative, just from the outline. And that meant that I was already doing the problem solving before I sat down to write. And it is the problem-solving part of writing that is the hardest part because you need to be able to spot the gaps in what you're doing, regardless of what you're writing. You need to spot those gaps of where people might not understand things or plot holes or lack of research. So, if you have an outline, and then it's much easier to spot those and it's a quicker fix cause you're editing fewer words and then you can also write much faster regardless of what it is that you are writing. And I've always outlined blog posts in the form of bullet points. But now, like my novel outlines, my nonfiction outlines are just much more in depth. And because of that, I can write them much faster and feel more confident and I'm hoping it will mean the editing process is faster, but that's still a work in progress. We don't know that yet. Because I've only written the outlines. I haven't written and edited something off the back of an outline yet because I was getting the ideas out my head before actually writing. 

[00:35:18] Lori: It's funny because I also haven't used an outline and I remember the first time in working in a digital marketing agency and a manager asked me for my outline and I had this look on my face, like, what? It was completely, what are you talking about? That's not how I organize things. And he couldn't imagine how I could write without it. And my writing is solid, but you're right. There's a struggle. And so now you're making me think maybe I should be exploring outlining as well, because like you I've heard a lot about it.

[00:35:51] Kristina: Yeah, I get overwhelmed very easily. And my head is just like a thousand diseased hamsters running around constantly breeding and causing trouble and spreading disease. Yeah. That's how bad my brain is right now, but I keep functioning and it is because I have found these systems to keep going. And it is things like outlining that is made me more efficient and also more confident because I've already done the biggest thing. Cause people think writing is the hardest part and it's not, it's the planning around it. So, if you've done the planning and outlining and stuff first, then you've done all the problem solving and you've got a structure in place. And then you can just sit down and write and you can do that almost more autonomously because you know what direction you're headed in. You're not coming in completely blind. 

[00:36:38] Lori: That's a good point. Well, switching gears, before we close up the show here, we Nola and I love eating. As a matter of fact, we met over dinner and the idea for Sticky Brand Lab is where that originated from. So, we love to focus and ask our guests to give us a recipe. And we asked you for a recipe that was related to being successful. You gave us a recipe. For Victoria sponge cake. Can you tell us first, what is Victoria sponge cake and how does it reflect your experience and journey to successful entrepreneurship? 

[00:37:13] Ellie: if you do not have Victoria sponge cake, you're missing out. Is that just not a thing in the States? Oh, my goodness. 

[00:37:20] Nola: Never heard of sponge cake but not the Victorian.

[00:37:24] Kristina: I don't know if it's the same thing, but it's basically two layers of sponge and then you have jam in the middle and it's controversial, but some people put cream in that layer as well. And some people don't, it depends who you ask as to whether or not you should put cream in that layer. 

[00:37:38] Lori: Should you? 

[00:37:39] Kristina: No, but that's because I'm lactose intolerant. So, I can't eat the cake if I put the cream in it. And no vegan cream works in the middle of a cake. That's terrible. Yeah.

[00:37:48] Ellie: The reason we chose that one though, the reason we went for the Victoria sponge is because. Whilst on the surface, obviously it sounds like a very basic thing, two layers of sponge, some jam, maybe cream. There's actually a lot that goes into it. Obviously, there are those different layers and, you know, cheesy as, it sounds, you need those layers as a writer, you need to have there's multiple aspects to your skillset. And the versatility as well. So, like in the cake, for instance, the jam can be any flavor you like, or the raspberries, obviously the best one, you could add different things to the sponge to make it slightly different flavor. You can add toppings if you want, it would be horrendous, I don't see why you would, but absolute sacrilege. But you know, it's there, the options that there, so that versatility in obviously a different way is also vital as a writer. But you can't make those changes. You can't swap things out unless you mastered the basics. You've got to work on doing the basics first and learning the rules before you start changing things to suit your tastes and the way you work. And before you start breaking the rules. 

[00:38:58] Kristina: And now I really want a Victoria sponge cake. 

[00:39:00] Lori: I've never had one. And all I can think about is I need to make this recipe. 

[00:39:06] Kristina: They're so easy to make, but they're also really versatile and my boyfriend doesn't really like cake, but he'll eat a Victoria sponge or chocolate cake. That's how good they are, 

[00:39:14] Nola: What's your tip for making it successful? What basic do you have to absolutely have mastered? 

[00:39:20] Kristina: Let it cool before you add the jam, 

[00:39:22] Ellie: I was going to say the same thing. 

[00:39:24] Kristina: Because it would just like disintegrate 

[00:39:26] Ellie: It just slides off. 

[00:39:27] Kristina: Just don't be impatient and always use...always, always, always use fresh eggs. When you're baking, because if you use old eggs to bake, A, it ends up tasting aggie and B, it's probably not going to rise as much. But Mary Barry, who did the recipe we sent you always, always says to use fresh eggs and Mary Barry is queen, so do as she tells you. 

[00:39:48] Ellie: Kristina is the baking expert.

[00:39:50] Kristina: I'm afraid so. 

[00:39:51] Ellie: You better listen to what she says. 

[00:39:53] Nola: Oh, my goodness. We have so much in common as far as groups, you know. 

[00:39:59] Lori: Because I do the baking. 

[00:40:02] Nola: Yes. She is the baker. Yep. Well, we have some personal questions to ask you is a little similar to what used to be on TV. Maybe it still is how the dating game, you know, those shows where the couple asked to reveal something they should know about the other. And we're going to do something like that. Okay. We'll start with you, Ellie. What is one thing that Kristina is passionate about other than writing? 

[00:40:30] Ellie: Other than writing, I would say 

[00:40:32] Lori: Other than Millie as well, because we know that she is, I'm not sure where her boyfriend falls in this, but I do know Millie comes up there.

[00:40:43] Ellie: I would say that Kristina also has a passion for mindfulness, which I think is a big buzz word recently. But Kristina is very good working on herself and trying to improve her mindset and improve. Maybe, obviously everyone's called issues, but Kristina likes to work on that and work on herself and make herself feel better, which I really admire.

[00:41:05] Nola: And Kristina? What is one thing that Ellie is passionate about? 

[00:41:10] Lori: Other than Frankie and writing. 

[00:41:13] Kristina: Just learning old things like she's been learning Mandarin, for example. And before she got Frankie, she did loads of research on cat stuff, even though she was a dog person before that. And she's just really open to learning new things regardless of what they are or how left-field they are like, she's learning gardening now, for example. I really admire that because I'm still managing to kill plants, even when I really try it. And she's just very good at it. 

[00:41:39] Lori: So, this is a general question. You each have pets. Who's the most over-protective pet mum? 

[00:41:46] Ellie: Definitely Kristina. I just sort of let Frankie get on with it, to be honest. He's a cat. He's not unhappy, he's sleeping or he's eating and you know, that's fine. I think Kristina worries more about Millie. Although Millie brings up more issues in all fairness.

[00:42:00] Kristina: Yeah. Cause it really is a Westie. She's just like allergic to life. So she does actually have a lot of health issues and it does feel like in our house, it's me who has hay fever at the start of the year. And then it's my boyfriend and then it's the dog. So, there's like three months of no allergies in this house. And that's literally it.

[00:42:21] Lori: Thank you both for being guests on our show. And thank you listeners for tuning into this episode. We hope it makes all the difference in getting started on your side business so you can create the best and most exciting life ever. Kristina and Ellie, would you tell our listeners how they can learn more about you, your company, podcast, services, and Facebook page?

[00:42:43] Kristina: Yeah. So, you can check out the podcast on the blog at WritersCookbook.com and that'll have all the links you kind of need basically. And my books, you can find at KristinaAdamsAuthor.com and I've got non-fiction, I've got romance, I've got chicklet and I've got some fantasy, little bit of everything. Bad mistake when you're writing under the same name. 

[00:43:02] Ellie: She's telling you this stuff based on previous experience, you see. You can always find us in a Facebook group is writerscookbook.com/Facebookgroup. There's loads of really good threads in that people are chatting, asking questions. You can ask us anything, we're very open people. But there are other people that will join in if you've got a question about writing, it doesn't have to be fiction. You can ask absolutely anything in the group. 

[00:43:27] Kristina: And we have really good accountability threads every week and they can be really good if you're trying to get stuff done. It's not just like writing accountability. It's like, I need to mow the lawn says Ellie. 

[00:43:37] Ellie: Listen. Mowing the lawn has been on there for about three weeks.

[00:43:40] Kristina: So it doesn't always work. 

[00:43:45] Ellie: I can see out the window. And I just think it's a feature now. You know? You for some 

[00:43:50] Lori: so much like Nola looking out the window and panicking on her lawn as well. We, as soon as you did that, I had this vision of, oh my God. She does that exactly like Nola does.

Listeners, you can also get the links, details, information about their services, along with the recipe by visiting our website at stickybrandlab.com/podcast-freebies. 

[00:44:19] Nola: If you found the information shared today, helpful, and you decided to start working on your business website blog, or start writing your book, let us know by posting here where you're listening, or on our Facebook page. This way we can check your website out, read your blog posts and send you love and encouragement on writing your book and congratulate you on the amazing and bad-assery decision you've made. 

[00:44:41] Lori: Be sure to come I'm back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember: actions create results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day. Small steps, big effects. 
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[00:45:00] Nola: Do you have questions about creating a personal brand, side hustle or small business? Sign up for one of our clarity sessions for more information, contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact.

[OUT-TAKE]
[00:45:14] Lori: To help us do this are two incredible uh. So you're blah and I'm uh!