How do you put a price on something you love? If you want to make a living and donโt want to starve, you figure it out.
Entrepreneur and coach Carolina Millan has suggestions for those who want to monetize their passion, which she describes in her book, โ7 Steps to Online Profits.โ
Millan and millennial expert Chelsea Krostโโโa top-rated marketing and branding voice, speaker, consultant and LinkedIn instructorโโโtook a deep dive during Krostโs #MillennialTalk Twitter Chatย to look at how to turn your passion into an online business.
Those who want to monetize should have a vision and a plan to get there. That should lead them to see if there is a market for what interests them.
Krost recommends taking these preliminary steps:
- Define passion.
- Conduct market research and competitive analysis.
- Define if this is a layered offering to your current brand, business or separate side hustle.
- Who is your niche audience or customer, and where are they online?
- Create the offering, whether itโs a product or service.
โEveryone has those unique qualities and skills they can use to stand out,โ Krost said. โYou cannot be someone else. Your unique qualities are what you should highlight and build on. Authenticity is key.
โIf you canโt address and solve peopleโs pain points, you arenโt going to be very successful converting them into customers or clients,โ she said.
Without being complicated, Millan suggests keeping โthreeโ in mind.
โFigure out what makes you stand out from your competitors,โ she said. โWhat are three things that make you unique and different? What are your top three skills?
โThen identify who your ideal client would be,โ Millan said. โWho would benefit from what you know? Who is the ideal person youโd love to work with?โ
Problems and pain points
Gain a good grasp of needs and how to fulfill them.
โIdentify the top three problems or pain points your ideal client has,โ Millan said. โThen you can connect them with your solution.
โThe more authentic you are the better,โ she said. โJoin the conversation already happening in your ideal customerโs mind.โ
Millan has her top three strategies to start an online business based on passion:
- Generate content that positions you as an agent of value, someone who is out there to serve. Help people, preferably through video content. Then share it on the platforms your ideal client is most likely to be on.
- Create something of value you can give to people for free in exchange for their name and email address. That might be an e-book, web class or video series. Start building your email list so you can bring people into your own ecosystem.
- Think of the next logical step your prospects need to follow to achieve the result they wantโโโafter they get your free offerโโโand that could be your first paid product or service.
โThen thereโs the paid way,โ Millan said. โBuild a funnel with a video and an application form so people can fill it out to talk to you. Let them raise their hand. Send paid traffic to said funnel targeting your ideal client.โ
Krost and Millan continued their monetization conversation, including common mistakes to avoid when getting started, overcoming limiting beliefs, top business models, best social media platforms, using Facebook ads — or not — and the best ways to sell online. Catch all of that here.
