The Art Of Paid Traffic | Proven Online Advertising Strategies You Can Implement Today

Do you ever feel like you are working too much in your business? As business owners, many of us find that we are working way more hours than we would like to because there’s always work to be done when you’re running a business. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can actually work less while making more in your business. In today’s episode of Art of Online Business, I have a case study for you. I sat down with Laura Peters to talk about how she went from working 80 hours a week in her business to decreasing her workload to 50 hours a week and making more than ever. Laura is the creator behind Mike & Laura Travel and the CEO of Scale Your Travel Blog. After watching their travel blog grow rapidly in 2020, she decided to teach others how to grow their websites using SEO, affiliate marketing, and email marketing. To date, the Scale Your Travel Blog program has helped thousands of travel bloggers monetize their websites.It can be hard to give up that control in your business and let other people do thing

Have you broken your business lately? You really should. If you’ve ever felt like you couldn’t even take a simple vacation because you felt like your business was going to burn to the ground, you are not alone. This is a common issue that so many entrepreneurs have. The key to solving this issue is setting up the systems and processes in your business so that it will continue to run smoothly and generate revenue even while you are taking a break. So where do you start? Break your business. Yes, you read that right.In this episode of Art of Online Business, I am sharing the easy but powerful exercise you need to do to break your business so that you can better prepare for anything that could go wrong while you’re away. This will allow you to look at issues from every angle and come up with a plan of action if an issue comes up. You can take a vacation as an entrepreneur without your business collapsing. By taking these simple steps, you’ll be able to set up a machine-like business that can run smoothly while y

As business owners, we should be building our businesses around our life, not the other way around, but perfectionism can make that hard. Many of us end up working way more hours than we would like because we struggle to let go of certain tasks. In today’s episode of Art of Online Business, I sat down with Ashley Gartland to talk about how you can start to create more time freedom in your business so that you can do more by doing less and achieve your version of success. Ashley Gartland helps small business owners set a time freedom goal for their business and identify the shifts and solutions that will help them achieve it so they can make time for what's most important. She's all about taking a subtractive approach to business and finding ways to do less, better—and not so her clients can be more productive but rather so they can live more rich, fulfilling lives.Less is more when it comes to achieving time freedom. By setting your priorities and determining what success looks like for you, you can

Evergreen is a big topic for many business owners. Whether you currently have evergreen offers or are starting to create one, it’s kind of an elusive thing that everyone strives for. We all want to relax on the beach while money falls down from the sky, but the reality is that evergreen is a lot of work. It takes a lot of time and work to set up your evergreen funnel. As great as it is, it’s not really a “set it and forget it” situation. You have to optimize it, keep an eye on it, and be willing to go in and look at the data to make changes accordingly. In today’s episode of Art of Online Business, I’m sharing 3 ways that you can increase your evergreen sales. With the methods I am discussing, you can make the most of your evergreen offer. You want to serve your customers in the best way that you can, and to do that, you have to put the work in. These tips will help you create an evergreen webinar funnel with integrity that meets your customers where they are and increases your sales. In this episode, you’ll

Let’s turn the conversation about getting visibility for your business on its head. We all want to generate more revenue, increase our profits, and help more and more people, right? Well, in order to do that, we need to broaden our audiences and attract them into our business, and we are often taught to reach out to as many people as possible to do that. But what if we approach it differently? In today’s episode of Art of Online Business, I sat down with Mai-kee Tsang to talk about sustainable visibility. This means putting ourselves out there more in a way that feels right for us, so rather than trying to reach as many people as we can, we can do it in a sustainable way. This is so important because it is about safety first and strategy second. Mai-kee Tsang is The Sustainable Visibility® Mentor, Certified Trauma-Sensitive Leadership Coach & Podcast Guesting Strategy Trainer.She helps underestimated & underrepresented humans in business to take an intersectional & trauma-sensitive approach to vis

How simple is your business? If you listen to this podcast often, you know that I talk about simplicity all the time. Simplicity in your business can mean having one flagship offer, one audience that you serve, one primary marketing channel to attract people into your audience, and one primary sales campaign. Now, can you have multiple offers? Of course you can, but if you only have one offer for your one audience, you could easily take your business to a million dollars if that’s what you wanted to do. The problem that many business owners face is what we like to call shiny-object syndrome. Before they get any traction on one thing, they start chasing another or trying something else. By doing this, they miss out on expanding their first offer and increasing their revenue with it. All roads lead to your primary offer in your business. The key to increasing your sales and scaling your business is to diversify your marketing efforts. By having multiple pathways that lead to your primary offer, you will be able

Do you prioritize building long-term wealth? I will be the first to say that this isn’t something that I have been focusing on much in my life yet, but it is something that I really want to learn more about. Someone who has been educating me a ton when it comes to this topic is my guest for this week’s episode, Salena Kulkarni. Salena is a wealth strategist for entrepreneurs. She shows them how to replace lifestyle income and create the freedom to exit their businesses in 2-5 years through low-risk alternative investments.With this episode, my goal is to educate you on what’s possible and the things you can do with your business if it is generating great revenue and profits. I want to show you how to leverage your existing business right now, whether you are already doing well or heading in that direction, in order to build more long-term wealth. No one cares about your money as much as you do. By learning the 4 pillars of wealth and taking control of your financial wealth building, you can get yourself on tr

In the first four years of my online business, we were able to hit seven figures. I don’t say that to brag, but as more of a cautionary tale. I really thought that was what success looked like because that was what I was told. You aren’t successful until you hit that mark. I’m here to tell you that is a bunch of crap. I hit that mark and felt empty and like I didn’t know what to do next. My mental and physical health and my relationships all suffered in pursuit of this goal. After a while, my revenue actually dipped. Along with a friend's help, I figured out that it was because my brain was self-sabotaging my success. I had convinced myself that the success I wanted would come at the expense of my health and relationships. It wasn’t until I worked through that limiting belief that I was able to increase my revenue again. In today’s episode of Art of Online Business, I am sharing a coaching call with one of my members inside of my Accelerator program. This student had begun to associate the idea of hittin

Have you ever felt frustrated trying to figure out how to create a funnel that actually converts? Funnels are incredibly effective marketing tools when optimized correctly. But how can you make that happen? In today's episode of The Art Of Online Business, I sat down with Neill Williams who created a funnel for her business that converts like crazy. Neill is a former member of my Accelerator program and is currently a coach inside of the program where she helps members uplevel their businesses on their own terms just as she did. Neill is a Master Certified Life Coach through The Life Coach School, specializing in Time, $$, and Business. She is the host of The Unbusy Your Life podcast and creator of the $10K in 10 Hours Mastermind.Only after ditching her own belief that success was measured by the number of hours worked was Neill able to achieve true lifestyle freedom while juggling her roles as a mom, wife, Master Certified Coach, entrepreneur, and employee. Now she helps coaches build their side hustle

In the last episode of The Art of Online Business, I talked with Jude Charles all about using storytelling to stand out in the crowd. The online business space is getting pretty crowded these days, so it’s more important than ever to find ways to set yourself apart from the rest. Jude explained the power of using a story in your business and how to pull a story from your memory and use it to drive home a point and separate you from everyone else. This week is a continuation of the conversation with Jude. In this episode,  he’s interviewing me and helping me craft a powerful story that I can use in my business. At the end, he will bring it full circle and show you how you can use this method to increase sales and uplevel your business through the art of storytelling. For over 15 years, Jude Charles has been producing documentaries for entrepreneurs. He has produced stories for Google, Steve Harvey, and dozens of visionary CEOs.Jude is the author of Dramatic Demonstration. This book is a roadmap that teaches yo

Do you ever feel like your business gets lost in the crowd? Chances are your business niche is a very crowded one. The online space is getting pretty dense these days. So what are some things that we can do to stand out from all the noise and distinguish ourselves and our business from everyone else out there? In today’s episode of The Art Of Online Business, I sat down with Jude Charles to talk about how to help your business stand out with storytelling. He shares tips for pulling stories from your life that are relevant to your promotions or launches to catch your customers' or clients' attention and drive sales. For over 15 years, Jude Charles has been producing documentaries for entrepreneurs. He has produced stories for Google, Steve Harvey, and dozens of visionary CEOs.Jude is the author of Dramatic Demonstration. This book is a roadmap that teaches you how to dig deep to find compelling stories that no one else knows, and then leverage those stories to grow your business. Jude’s mission is to

Are you looking for a simple and effective way to grow your email list? It can be easy as business owners to overlook simple things that can help us succeed even when they are right in front of us because we are too close to our own businesses. Having a business coach or outside eyes on your business is so important for making sure you don’t miss any growth opportunities.In this quick tip episode of The Art Of Online Business, I am sharing a simple and often overlooked way to grow your email list. It’ll also increase your awareness and positioning, as well as attract your ideal audience to your business. That strategy is podcast sponsorships. Find a business that works in the same niche as you on a complimentary, not competitive, side and offer to sponsor their podcast for a little while. This will directly connect you to their audience who are also your ideal audience.This is a highly leveraged way to grow your email list and if done correctly, it will pay off tremendously. Start by researching complementary

We have done it! We have reached 600 episodes of the podcast. It’s mind-blowing that this podcast has come so far. To celebrate, in this episode of The Art of Online Business, I want to share 6 lessons I have learned in 600 episodes. These business lessons have all been a direct result of building and growing this podcast. These lessons have taught me so much about podcasting, business, and life and I am now able to run my business in a way that is more congruent to my strengths, my values, and what success means to me. If you don’t run your business through the filter of your values, I really encourage you to start doing that. Success looks different for everybody, and I hope these tips will help you get clarity on that. Even though we have been at it for 600 episodes, I feel like we are just getting started. I still have so much cool stuff coming your way! So I want to take a moment to thank you so much for making this possible. I appreciate you showing up every week, hitting that follow button, and helping

If you have a team, you will inevitably experience frustration with them. This comes up a lot in my Accelerator program because it’s something that happens to everyone (whether you are just starting out with a team or you already have a team), so in this episode of The Art of Online Business, I am listing out a few exercises that you can do if this is something you are going through right now. As CEOs in our business, we must take responsibility for our own actions, so the first step is always to take a look at yourself and your own leadership. As the owner of your business, it is your responsibility to identify what isn’t working and find ways to make it better. This simple exercise is one that I have done countless times in my business and it is game-changing. Every time I try it, I learn something new.  This will help you change the way you look at the issues you are facing by taking a step back, removing the names from the equation,  and determining if you have the right people in the right seats. When ev

Let’s talk about why feeling good matters for business success.In this episode of The Art of Online Business, we are going to be taking a break from the ads, the copy, the sales, and funnels and instead talk about something that doesn’t get talked about too often: confidence as a business owner.I sat down with Judith Gaton to talk about creating confidence in yourself and all of the feelings and emotions that go into that. When you show up as your best self, you are able to create a bigger impact in your business, help more people, and show up differently online in a major way.Judith Gaton is a stylist, master certified life coach, and lawyer. Her signature course, Style Masterclass, teaches that thought work is the key to a lasting makeover. By using both confidence coaching and mindset work, Judith helps her clients to see that they can dress and love the body they are in right now.Judith believes that when style & confidence are dialed in, women are free to go do their work in the world. Her ultimate s

Back in episode number 567 we talked about Facebook ads tracking and how to improve the validity of your data.Today I’m here to tell you that Facebook ads are dead, unless you do what I’m talking about today.Facebook ads really aren’t dead, but I want to dive into and piggyback off of episode 567, which talked about the validity of data and how we improve it.To understand how well your ads are doing you need to do what I call “triangulating the data.” You basically take data from multiple sources: Facebook ads manager, Google analytics, and your email CRM.There are other tools that you can use, but essentially what I talked about in that episode is taking data from multiple sources, and then comparing each source to try to tell the story—to paint the picture of what’s actually going on with your campaigns.Today I want to expand on what we talked about in episode 567, and talk about the latest advertising and data collection changes Facebook is making to their platform. In this episode, you’ll learn:How Facebo

Today we’re going to talk about TikTok, and specifically how to use TikTok to grow your business, make sales, and generate leads.If you’re like me, you realize an opportunity exists with TikTok, but you haven’t yet pulled the trigger.When I used to think of TikTok, the word that came to mind was “overwhelming.” I’d watch the videos and say, “I have no idea how they did that. I can’t do that. It would take me forever to figure that out.”Well, my guest today is the reason my opinion about TikTok has changed. Her name is Keenya Kelly. She’s a member of our Accelerator coaching program. She’s also a coach, author, and a speaker.Keenya helps female online course creators, coaches and consultants increase sales using TikTok. Again, if you’re anything like me, you’ve often thought TikTok is a place for young people.Keenya makes a very strong case today that your audience is on TikTok, and you don’t have to get all fancy in order to be successful. You don’t have to learn all the functions and do all the things to sta

Today I want to talk to you about why your free Facebook group is actually hurting your business. Now, some of you who are listening might be saying, “Rick, what are you talking about? My group is amazing.”Well, I want to share with you a common theme that I’ve been seeing for years now. I see this time and time again when it comes to free Facebook groups: they’re actually hurting your business.As with anything, there’s always outliers and exceptions. People have communities that are actually worth their focus and their attention. They’re being very intentional and strategic about the community.But more often than not these Facebook groups are actually doing your business more harm than good, and I’m going to share the top two reasons why in today’s episode.In this episode, you’ll learn:The challenges of being beholden to Facebook’s algorithmAre you giving away too much content for free?Is your Facebook group sabotaging your paid membership?My recommendations for where to host your communityLinks & Resour

I’m so excited about today’s episode. Our guest today is one of my favorite people. I’ve known him for years. We used to be in a mastermind group together.Zach Spuckler has done so many things. You’ll hear about them as we dive into this episode. It’s been so fun to watch his journey. Zach is now a member of my Accelerator coaching program.One of the things that we’re working on is growing and scaling his membership, and I love the name of it. It’s called, Not Your Average Membership, and he has taken it to a six-figure run rate in about five months.I asked Zach to come on the show and share how he’s done that. What’s gone into it. How he launched it. Why it is a membership with an actual mission: he’s very clear on who this is for and who it’s not for. How he’s leading with his values in creating this membership, and why it’s always open for enrollment—it’s not an open/close membership like you often hear about.We also get into the topic of membership churn. His churn rate has been fairly high, so we talk ab

Today’s quick tip episode is a “What would Rick do?” episode. What would I do in a specific situation?The situation I’m referring to is a recent conversation I had with a friend of mine. She’s one of our Accelerator Facebook ads coaches. Her name is Jess Brookes, and she’s the founder of the Ad-preneur Academy.She’s a brilliant Facebook ads strategist. She teaches virtual assistants and social media marketing managers how to grow a Facebook ads management business. She shows them how to get better results with their existing clients so they can grow their business faster.Jess and I were talking about how we can optimize an offer and really accelerate the growth of that specific program.I want you to be thinking about your biggest challenge right now in terms of growing your offer. When we fix this problem it will have a positive domino effect on the rest of your business.That’s what we’re talking about in today’s quick tip episode.In this episode, you’ll learn:The importance of clearly defining the value your