My T-shirt tutorial website is live<\/a> and I have never been more excited about a website launch!<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because for the first time I feel like I\u2019m doing things in the RIGHT<\/strong> order.<\/p>\n Even though 2 Create a Website has had tremendous amounts of success, I always felt like I did a lot of things backwards.<\/p>\n For example, I waited way too long to start a list, sell products, etc. That\u2019s largely because I didn\u2019t have to.<\/strong><\/p>\n Having said that, it worked very well for me because I got an early start and was able to capitalize on search engine optimization, residual affiliate programs that I still earn from today and other advantages you gain\u00a0as\u00a0an early adopter.<\/p>\n But things have evolved since I launched this site<\/strong>, and my strategy has to evolve as well.<\/p>\n When I launched a website many years ago, I\u2019d focus\u00a0on building up a ton of content for search engine traffic and monetize that free info with affiliate links ads.<\/p>\n That won\u2019t work as well today.<\/p>\n I also care\u00a0more about building a list and selling my OWN<\/strong> products instead of someone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n In this post I will discuss what I am doing differently with my new site, and how I\u2019ve grown in a business sense.<\/p>\n But first\u2026<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been following me lately, you can\u2019t be surprised about a new website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since getting into Merch by Amazon last fall, I have been completely obsessed with print on demand \u2014 the process of uploading an image, adding it to a product and earning a royalty when it\u2019s sold.<\/p>\n By the end of this year, I will cross the six figure mark in royalties<\/strong>, and most of those earnings have come\u00a0recently.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also branched out and I\u2019m\u00a0selling designs in over 25 different niches\/topics thanks to Merch.<\/p>\n Not bad for a part-time gig!<\/p>\n I decided to create Passive Shirt Profits<\/a> for two main reasons:<\/p>\n I keep hearing people in the POD world complain about Photoshop or Illustrator being difficult to learn, and I say to myself, \u201cThat\u2019s \u2019cause you haven\u2019t taken my courses!\u201d \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to just focus on individual print on demand sites like\u00a0Merch By Amazon.<\/p>\n I want to teach practical skills<\/strong> such as coming up with creative shirt concepts for many niches (one of my secret weapons with Merch By Amazon) and software.<\/p>\n It seems so many people are doing Merch sites and courses with a lot of the same info. I want mine to include more practical lessons.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to research what potential competitors\u00a0are doing<\/strong> and pay attention to comments in private groups, forums, etc. I used this as inspiration for my upcoming courses.<\/p>\n With that being said, let\u2019s get into what I\u2019m doing differently\u2026<\/p>\n I will never, ever, ever, launch another site again without having an email list.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t launch one\u00a0for this site until 2010. By that time, 2 Create a Website\u00a0was eight years old!<\/p>\n I also did not have any products to sell at the time, so I didn\u2019t really utilize my email list to the fullest.<\/p>\n This time I started an email list immediately, and thanks to my private group and podcast I already have 31 subscribers after just 2 weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n I launched my PSP Podcast<\/a> on May 29th without announcing it<\/strong>, and had 30+ downloads and two email subscribers within the first week.<\/p>\n (I have a call to action for my list at the end of the episodes.)<\/p>\n That goes to show that people are searching and listening to podcasts about Merch and print on demand, so choosing that as one of my traffic methods seems to have been a good choice.<\/p>\n Podcasting is always a great option for money\/business topics anyway.<\/p>\n After two weeks, I\u2019ve already had\u00a0150 downloads<\/strong>! (The additional traffic boost came from announcing it to my private group after the first week).<\/p>\n By the way, I\u2019m loving Pat Flynn\u2019s Smart Podcast Player<\/a>! (No affiliation) It\u2019s so functional and works great on mobile too!<\/p>\n I love that people can listen to all shows in one place on my landing page, search episodes and share on social media \u2014 all in one concise, mobile-friendly interface!<\/p>\n Three courses for PSP\u00a0are already complete, and should be out within a week or so. Make sure you are on my list if you want to be notified<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m just waiting for my reviewers to give me feedback so I can polish them up before launch.<\/p>\n One reason I\u2019m announcing the site before the courses launch is so I\u2019ll have people on my list.<\/p>\n And it feels super encouraging to have people in my private group actually\u00a0ASK<\/strong> me when the courses are coming out!<\/p>\n That\u2019s confirmation there is demand for what I\u2019m teaching, and that\u2019s always a plus when you create a site and product.<\/p>\n Also, when you wait a long time to launch a product,\u00a0you may struggle with what to include and what to leave out because you\u00a0already have so much published content.<\/p>\n This was a huge struggle<\/strong> with me on this site when I first launched my affiliate course in 2014.<\/p>\n It took me a full year of updates to finally get it to a point where there is a significant amount of different info\u00a0that I don\u2019t have elsewhere.<\/p>\n Now I understand why people say your first course draft is always your worst because you are constantly adding\/improving over time.<\/p>\n And just for the record, it\u2019s totally fine to include material in your course that you\u2019ve covered in blog posts, emails, etc. (especially if you are upfront about it). I personally wanted it to have a lot of new material.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t struggle with that with PSP because I have very little content out here on this subject, and that was completely intentional<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I cannot believe I actually have a website with only one<\/strong> column!<\/p>\n At first I thought it would feel restrictive.<\/p>\n Then I realized I actually enjoy reading clean sites with lots of white space (especially on mobile), and I rarely pay attention to the sidebar links and widgets.<\/p>\n More importantly, when I check my Google Analytics I realized\u00a0how many people have the same browsing habits!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Because more and more people browse on mobile devices now, that means the sidebar drops below the main content (if your theme is responsive).<\/p>\n As a result, many people don\u2019t even see your sidebar<\/strong>, much less click on the links!<\/p>\n So I made the decision to go with a minimalist design approach. We\u2019ll see how long that lasts! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n There\u2019s not a lot to do at PSP just yet, and that was done for a reason.<\/p>\n Right now, I\u2019m focusing on podcasting and building my list for the upcoming courses. I\u2019m keeping it very simple right now so I can track certain activities.<\/p>\n I\u2019m using the Maker Pro StudioPress theme<\/a>. (affiliate link)<\/p>\n This is the first time I\u2019ve ever had a niche community prior to building a website and it was very helpful.<\/p>\n The great thing about starting a private group before<\/strong> launching a site and product is that I have been able to gain insight\u00a0into what people struggle with so I can address those issues in my courses.<\/p>\n When you create a course, it\u2019s easy to fall into the trap of adding what YOU<\/strong> think is important, but a customer might value something else.<\/p>\n Here you are going on and on about step B and your audience is yelling\u2026.<\/p>\n \u201cHey!! But wait! You didn\u2019t even explain step A well enough!\u201d<\/p>\n We make a lot of assumptions<\/strong> when we\u2019re creating our products and many times it\u2019s because we don\u2019t really know what people want.<\/p>\n In addition, we\u2019re often too close to the subject and assume people know or will learn it the way that we did. So we skip what we think is obvious to us, but it might not<\/strong> be obvious to the student.<\/p>\n I am also having people review my courses\u00a0before launch. I also did this with my Spreadshirt course, and I promised to never launch without this step.<\/p>\n It\u2019s always good to get a person in your target audience<\/strong> to view the course with fresh eyes from THEIR<\/strong> perspective.<\/p>\n Again, we are often so close to our content, we miss key information that someone might need.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve read over and over again that you should always have an intro course to upsell other advanced courses.<\/p>\n Plus, if someone likes your intro course they are much more likely to buy more.<\/p>\n So for example, I have a 101 course for someone who knows absolutely nothing about print on demand, what software to buy, etc.<\/p>\n The follow-up\u00a0courses are on brainstorming, software, etc.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also planning to have smaller courses and then offer a bundle that will be less expensive than buying each course individually<\/strong>.<\/p>\n My first courses on Udemy taught me a lot about what students like and don\u2019t like. Those lessons were invaluable.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve learned from feedback that people like\u2026<\/p>\n I\u2019m using Thinkific<\/a>\u00a0(no affiliation), and I\u2019ll do another post about why I chose them and ditched Teachable at the last minute. Thanks, LaTosha<\/a> for the push to switch.<\/p>\n (Learn why I won\u2019t be uploading to Udemy anymore<\/a>.)<\/p>\n If you value your sanity and want people to respect that your time is valuable, you HAVE<\/strong> to learn to set boundaries for yourself and business.<\/p>\n![\"Launching](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/newSiteII.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSay Hello to Passive Shirt Profits!<\/h2>\n
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I Started an Email List Early<\/h2>\n
![\"Yes!\"](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/yes.png\")
<\/a><\/h2>\nThe Podcasting Hype is Real<\/h2>\n
![\"Podcast](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/podcastJuneCount.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Smart](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/podcastPlayer.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI am Not Waiting Eons to Launch a Product<\/h2>\n
I\u00a0Simplified The Site Layout<\/h2>\n
![\"One](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/oneColumn.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI Paid More Attention To What My Audience Needs<\/h2>\n
I\u2019m Starting With a 101 Course<\/h2>\n
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I\u2019m Learning to Set\u00a0Boundaries<\/h2>\n
![\"Drained\"](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/drained.png\")
<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Hello\"](\"https:\/\/blog.2createawebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/hello.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n