Writing regularly on my blog and sharing that writing with my email list is the second greatest contributor* to the growth of my business. Period.

*the biggest is Facebook Groups…more on that later

And yet….

The question I hear over and over again from my 1:1 clients is something along the lines of “I know I should be writing on my blog more often but I just can’t find the time. How do I make time to write? And what do I write about??”

To answer question #1 I give you my (technical and professional) writing process:

Randomly think up incredible blog title in the shower. Say it out loud 4-5 times to ensure I remember. I don’t. Jot it down on my AquaNotes pad so I really can’t forget. Maybe start to write outline on said notepad. Let the hot shower water run out planning the whole thing in my head.

Slurp inspirational tea while packing daughter up for her day. Run her to daycare.

Listen to 5 minutes of a podcast on 1.5 speed in the car on the way to daycare.

Listen to 5 more minutes at 1.5 speed on the way home. (Total podcast minutes: 15!)

Jot down two notes in my iPhone notepad while idling in my car in the driveway. Turn off car, admonishing myself about wasted gas, and go inside.

Decide I need a few more podcast minutes so I listen while boiling water for the second cup of tea. Get LaCroix, which is crucial to the writing process.

Bring tea upstairs and sit down in front of computer, ready to write. Clean out email inbox.

Ignore 2 phone calls and check Instagram. Post new cute photo.

Read at least 3 articles from Medium/Bloglovin’/Feedly as inspiration gathering. Jot these notes down in my May Designs notebook (the grid paper is especially satisfying).

Finally feel prepared to write, for real. Gather all notes (shower notes, iPhone notes, notebook notes) and drop them into the top of a Google Doc.

Write free form style until I can’t think any more.

The intro is easy. The middle is harder but skipping around helps… I think.

The end always sucks.

Step away to eat and chat on Slack. Check some Facebook Groups. Let the dog out. Eat more.

Do some other work that doesn’t require much brain power. Start to collect/create images for the post.

Wonder how it’s 2:30pm already.

Go get daughter from daycare. Commence early evening play/snack time/dinner/checking Twitter on my phone.

Remember there’s a conclusionary section to write as I put the kiddo to bed.

Make another cup of tea and pin stuff I’ll never make/do or watch Broad City (for inspiration, of course).

Pound out rough draft of conclusion. Hate it but go to bed leaving the doc open on the top tab.

Wake up and rewrite conclusion that feels better. Re-read entire post. Check for errors or missing links out to data or other sources.

Copy/paste post into WordPress, add images, check links.

Prep email. Link to blog post. Be terrified. Hit send.

 

As you can see, it’s a really concise well thought out process (insert snort laugh here). I’m not kidding when I say that this is my day in and day out life. See, I write every day (either for this blog or for the ConvertKit blog) and each day is hard. Each day has blinking cursors and challenges and content blocks and research dead ends. Each day has ideas and plans and never-ending lists of what I could write about. But how do I know how to write what matters for my readers?

That, my friend, brings us back to that other thing that has grown my business. That thing that is the number one contributor to my business’ success. The answer to question #2.

Facebook Groups.

Because of Facebook Groups, I know exactly what to write about each and every week. In fact, I have a running Google Doc with blog post ideas that fueled me in my personal “post every day” mission I took on this last February.

On top of that, Facebook Groups have helped me add to my bottom line.

Over the years, I’ve crafted a network of referrals and raving happy clients who sing my praises in public and private Facebook Groups. This network has grown my business from $800/month to $5,000-$8,000/month (and some months last year I even hit that magical 5 figure month!).

Look: I’m not going to tell you that the methods I used help me grow a 6 or 7 figure business. Or that they exploded my email list to over 50,000 subscribers. Or that my website traffic shot through the roof and my host called saying I had to up my plan. That’s just not the truth.

But the truth is that the tactics I’ve used in Facebook Groups grew my email list from 300 to 1,700 in just under a year the first year I started implementing them. That I was finally confident in my ability to pay my mortgage each month and have a little extra in the bank thanks to building a referral based business. And that my pageviews jumped up to the point that I noticed in my Google Analytics (but no one was knocking down my door asking for more money just yet).

Oh, and knowing what to write about each time I sit down to the computer is actually priceless. #mastercard

I want to help you do the same thing.

If you’re interested in growing your business through powerful interactions in Facebook Groups right now, then you can learn more about Growing With Groups here. This is a DIY course you can do in your own time, diving into your Facebook Group marketing game plan.

One of the questions I’ve had since announcing the course is “Is this for Facebook Group leaders or for people who participate in groups?” To that I say “Great question!” and “It’s for both! As someone who both leads a few groups and participates in many, I have tactics to share for both, no matter how far along you are on the FB Groups path.”

Ready to join us? Get more info and snag your seat now.