Business Expert Interviews Launching
August 7th, 2012
Corbett Barr + How To Start A Blog That Matters
A string of record heat, sunny days in Seattle and I’m finally enjoying the sweet spot of a cool, clear morning. I swear I’m not complaining about the first sun we get of the summer (but for real people, it’s been HOT!).
Over the weekend, I sent out an email to many of you, asking if you were ready to launch.
The response I got was amazing – and hearing you claim your direction, tell me what you were launching – just made the sunny weekend here that much more sweet!
So – thank you to those of you who hit reply, took a chance, and let me into your dream.
Today’s interview will hopefully encourage more of your to make a decision and commitment to your businesses (and set a launch date!).
I sat down with Corbett Barr, creator of ThinkTraffic.net to find out:
- What lessons he learned from his first launch
- How he continues to push his work into the world – and is very successful with each launch!
- What advice he has for people ready to launch their first “thing.”
- Why he thinks its important to remember that blogging is not a business.
I know you’ll find our conversation insanely useful – because that’s what Corbett is all about. Heck, I was even taking notes.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6t63xzgGpM]
A few sites/products mentioned in this interview:
Evernote Essentials
LiveYourLegend.net
Start A Blog That Matters (aff)
Don’t forget – when you finish watching the interview, leave a comment below leaving your most important to-do or takeaway.
Thanks so much for shooting this Anne, it was fun! If anyone has questions on what we talked about, I’ll be happy to answer them here.
Great interview!
The big takeaway for me was “you never know how something is going to turn out until you do it,” and “just put your head down and do the work.”
After a few weeks of analyzing and thinking and researching and asking questions, I recently made the decision to stop the analysis already and just go ahead and create a simple little minimum viable product and get it out there, then recalibrate from there based on results. What a relief! Before I decided to “just do it,” I spent weeks agonizing over whether I should wait until my audience was bigger, my email list was bigger, my bank account was bigger, and so on. It’s very liberating when you finally decide to quit making excuses and just produce!
Thanks so much for this insider’s look into launching, the inspiration and wisdom, and all the actionable advice, too. : )
I loved this interview Anne. Perfect timing as I feel I’m going through what Corbett is talking about when he discusses re-branding and how he has handled it with the peeps he’s worked with, i.e., using some of what you already have, re-designing, archiving some of that, sort of rolling it into the new idea/site.
I’m workin’ on a few ideas and I think I may have a line on something that could work itself into a more/better idea for my “brand”.
I can’t wait to share it with you and everyone on Fearless Launch!
Jean – I knew you’d like it!
If you have any questions for Corbett – I think you had 1 in the FB group too but we didn’t get to it on our call – feel free to ask it here! Corbett will drop by later to answer any questions!
Anne 🙂
Kimberly,
So glad you enjoyed it!
And – re: agonizing over whether or not to wait – I’m so glad you decided to just DO IT!!
-Anne
Corbett~ What are the pros and cons of trying to make an offering from an established blog vs. having a product, then blogging about it.
What’s your take on this? Some say it’s easier to start with the offer. But, what if you already have a blog?
And,(To paraphrase Lauren Forest’s comment, Anne Samoilov),
… How has that changed / impacted a person’s ability to monetize an actual blog directly?
Thanks, Corbett!
Hey Jean, this is a fantastic question.
To me, the benefit of blogging first is that you can learn more about your audience before creating your product. The biggest risk in creating a product first is that you will create something no one actually wants. It’s also much easier to launch a successful product when you have a platform to tell the world from.
On the other hand, plenty of bloggers become so obsessed with blogging itself that they never get around to launching a product. They make up a million excuses (the audience isn’t big enough, they don’t know what the perfect product is yet, they haven’t found their ideal “niche” yet, etc.).
My preference is to actually start doing both at the same time. Outline your product and start a blog to validate whether your ideas will be received well. Adapt your product as you go and build the audience that will become your first buyers.
Awesome answer, Corbett!
I guess you’d say I’m in the “obsessed with blogging” category. I have an established blog (a bit over a year & 1/2 old) but have been “waiting” for the perfect scenario to make an offer.
Luckily, I’m working with Anne S. and get to have her (and her helpful tribe) help support and steer me in the right direction. Looking forward to developing and launching an offer this fall–however imperfect.
Thanks so much!
Great interview lots of great tips, exactly the push I needed.
Wonderful interview Anne and Corbett. So many nuggets of wisdom. I especially liked the line, “A blog is not a business, it is a communication platform,” and all that you shared about not being afraid to get multiple ideas out there and then see what “takes.” I love the reminder not to get caught up in content creation at the risk of neglecting the launch itself. I am a content creation queen. I love the ideation piece and I sometimes avoid the more detailed steps of the actual launch by staying immersed in creating the content and/or sales page. Thank you so much!