If you truly want to turn your hobby into a business, you need to be able to answer three very important questions.

Resources mentioned in episode:

Product Idea Generator
The Goodness Squad
The Goodness Squad on Facebook

Email resources I recommend:

ConvertKit (affiliate link)
MailerLite (affiliate link)
Drip

The Goodness Squad: Welcome to the goodness squad. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. Welcome to the goodness squad.

Misty: This is episode #33 of The Goodness Squad podcast. During this episode, I am going to be sharing with you the very first of 4 steps that you need to take in order to turn your side hustle or your hobby into a full-fledged business. One that actually makes you money. 

This is season #2 of The Goodness Squad podcast. And during this season, we are focusing on how to monetize your content marketing business. In other words, we’re talking about how to earn money from your blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or Instagram feed.

My name is Misty Marsh. I have built and sold a profitable online business and now I am on a mission to lift you, your influence for good online, and your income. During every episode of The Goodness Squad podcast, I give you an easy to understand, easy to implement tip for your business. So make sure you subscribe today.

 Do you want to know what the very first step is that you need to take in order to turn your hobby into a full-fledged business that makes you money? Because lady, I’m telling you that should be your goal – to make money, real money, significant amounts of money.

If you don’t believe me and you don’t understand, and you’re still not comfortable with that, go listen to the last couple of episodes in this season. Because you have got to understand that concept and be fully on board with having a goal to make money. Now, before I can give you this first step, I have to tell you a story. And this is a story that I heard early on in my days as a content marketer. I cannot remember exactly where I heard it, so I don’t have anyone to credit. The idea of the story did not come from me, but I have tweaked it and made it a little bit more my own for the purposes of this podcast.

There is a man who is a chemist. He’s really good at chemistry and he creates a formula of bug spray that will kill any bug, anywhere in the world. He’s a genius and he has solved this huge problem, right? We only have to now have one can of bug spray and we could kill anything we want at any time. And he is so excited because he just knows this is going to change the world. This is going to really help people. And he is really excited about this problem that he has solved, the solution that he has created.

So he hires a designer and they create labels for this incredible can of bug spray and they put it on the shelves at the stores and it sells, but not so great. It just isn’t selling very well, not nearly as well as he hoped. And he just wants to scream and take these people by the shoulder and say, “this is the solution you need. Why don’t you get it?”

And ultimately, he’s right. Having one can of bug spray would be far better than having 12 for all the different bugs, but people just aren’t buying it and he’s wondering why. Maybe some of you are in this same situation. Maybe you already have a product and you’re wondering why doesn’t it sell as well as you’d hoped.

So this man, he hires a marketing consultant and this marketing consultant tells him “the problem you’re solving isn’t specific enough.” And he’s like, “wait, what? I’m helping people kill bugs. It’s not like I’m trying to help them all raise their children. It’s a very specific problem. I’m helping them kill bugs.” And the consultant says, “you’ve got to get more specific.”

So he tells the chemist to take the same formula and to relabel it. Simple, right? All he’s telling him to do is relabel it. So he relabeled some cans as roach killer and other cans as ant killer and other cans as wasp killer. And, he tells them put it back in the stores. And this guy’s thinking, I don’t know if I picked the right marketing person. This guy is crazy. Just calling it something different isn’t going to make a difference.

But he decides that it’s not selling well anyway, so he might as well give it a shot. So he relabels it and he puts it back in the stores and sales increase significantly. So he goes back to this marketing consultant then, and he’s like, dude, you totally know your stuff! This really helped. Tell me something else. What else could I do? How else can I make this better?

And he says, okay, so let’s change the labels again. Let’s make it even more specific.  He tells them we’re going to label it not just as roach killer, but as Texan Roach killer. And you’re going to put that specific bottle in the stores, just in Texas. Again, we’re not changing the formula.

Why can you do this? How can you do this with integrity? Well, it’s the truth,  the formula helps with every problem. It helps with every bug. So he’s not lying, but he’s helping people to see that it solves their specific individual problem.

So these people go to the store and they see a can of Roach killer and they see a can of Texan Roach killer, and they see a can that kills every single bug. And guess what? Guess which one they pick? If they live in Texas, they pick the can that says Texas Roach killer. If they have problems with roaches. If they have problems with ants, they pick the one that says Texan Ant killer. And this is because that is the specific problem that they are dealing with in their life at that exact moment.

The bigger solution, the idea of just one can, they can’t even see it or comprehend it or understand it. Once that man has gotten that Texan Roach killer in their house and it works, now he can send them an email and say, Hey, guess what? You know how you bought two cans from me, Texan Roach killer and Texan Ant killer? I actually have a solution. You don’t have to have two cans or five cans in your home. You can have just one with this new can of Kill Everything killer.

So this is such an important concept for you to understand. Why does this work? It is because people are individuals. They have very unique, specific problems, and people believe this even if they don’t have an individual problem, even if their neighbor has the exact same problem, they think their problem is different.

So the people in Florida, they think their roaches are different than the roaches in Texas. They just know it. They’re bigger. They’re different there, and it’s harder to kill roaches in Florida than it is in Texas. They’re just different. It’s so darn humid down in Florida. The roaches here are crazy. And so they feel like they have a very different individual problem and you have to speak to that.

In addition, when you say that you can fix everything, it waters down your credibility. So you look at that can of roach killer, one that says it’ll do everything in one that it says it’ll do roaches. And if the only problem you have is roaches,  you don’t need the can that kills everything. And you kind of think, yeah, I don’t know if they say they can do everything. They probably don’t do anything well. It waters down that credibility.

Now you might be wondering, well, the big companies don’t do this. Big companies solve lots of problems at once. So let’s take Johnson and Johnson, for example. Johnson and Johnson has a gazillion products.  So Johnson and Johnson has first aid supplies. They have bandaids, they have medications, they have baby products, they own Neutrogena, they own Clean and Clear face wash. They own Acuvue contact lenses. Those are a lot of different products and I could go on right.

And so you may be thinking this really successful company, Johnson and Johnson, solves a lot of problems all at the same time and they’re crazy successful. So I want to pattern myself after that. This is one problem, and I’m not going to dive into this deep here, but this is one problem from trying to copy people who are more successful than we are – we’re not looking at what they did in the beginning. Johnson and Johnson started with one product. One problem. One solution. It was a first aid kit that included a manual. One problem. They combined this first aid kit and manual and made it accessible to the individual families. That was the first mass produced First Aid kit that people could go buy as a package. They solved one problem.

And when that did really well, people started trusting them to solve a second problem and a third and a 10th and a hundredth problem. And they grew, but solving one problem in a very specific individual way gave them credibility.

What does this mean for you and your business? Well, I want you to be able to answer three questions for your business.

Who do you help?

What problem do you solve for them?

How do you solve it?

So let’s look at this with me and what I do. I help Latter-day, Saint moms earn money through content marketing. Let’s dissect that a little bit.

First, I help Latter-day Saint moms. I don’t help men. I don’t help just women. I don’t help just Latter-day Saint women. I help Latter-day Saint moms because I am a mom. That’s the problem I get. I get what it’s like to be a mom with kids at home while you’re trying to run a business. That’s different than somebody who is single.

Does that mean that somebody who is single shouldn’t go out and have their own business? No, they should. Does that mean that none of my tips will apply to somebody who is single or an empty nester? No, the vast majority of them will, but I will have some very specific tips that are unique to moms. That is who I want to help more than anybody because it’s who I am.

And that might change when I become an empty nester. I‘ll face new challenges and I will be able to help those people as well. After I have gained credibility from helping Latter-day Saint moms.

Second, I help you to earn money. I don’t help you with Come Follow Me. I don’t help you with your Sunday School lesson or with Young Women’s. I don’t help you raise your children. I very specifically help you to earn money. That’s the problem I’m solving.

Third, I do it through content marketing. I’m not teaching you how to earn money by working from home for Jet Blue. I’m not teaching you how to earn money by teaching English to Chinese kids online. I am teaching you how to earn money through content marketing.

So do you see how this creates a very specific situation? You are here because you are very likely a mom who wants to earn money and is hoping to do so through content marketing. So you’ve chosen me, a Latter-day Saint mom.

There are other people out there who help moms earn money through content marketing. But if you were to look at that person and me, and you’re a Latter-day Saint, you’re probably going to choose me as long as the content is equal, right? I still have to be producing high-quality content. If somebody else who’s a little bit more general is producing higher quality content, then that’s going to play into the decision as well. But all other things equal, you will choose the one who specifically helps Latter-day Saints because you are a Latter-day Saint.

This is your first challenge. I want you to answer those three questions. Who do you help? What problem do you solve? And how do you solve it? Three questions. And you need to answer them on a general level for your business. Just like I did.

Some of you are probably thinking, well, Misty, you could still get more specific than that. And yes, I can. So guess where I do that, I do that inside podcast episodes like this, I do that inside blog posts, I do that inside Facebook lives, I do that inside Instagram posts and Instagram stories. I get more specific there. I do that inside products. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

So what do I mean by more specific? Well, every single piece of content that you create, whether it is a product or an Instagram post or a blog post or a podcast episode or YouTube video, I don’t care what it is, any type of content you create has to answer those three questions. Who are you helping? What problem are you solving? And how are you helping them solve it?

So let’s dissect this very specific podcast episode. What problem am I solving? I am solving the problem of not being specific enough in your niche. That’s the problem I’m solving.

So does that problem, does the solution to that problem help you make more money? Yes. So it is a subproblem of the main problem. I solve your inability to earn the type of money you want to earn. So it’s a subproblem from that. And I am working on that inside this podcast episode.

Now does every single Latter-day Saint mompreneur have the problem of too broad a niche? No. So I am focusing on those who have that specific problem. Now, maybe you have a product and it’s not selling well enough. This is an answer to your question. I’m helping very specific people who already have a product who aren’t able to sell it well enough.

And number two, I’m helping people who are just starting out so that they start off on the right foot. And how am I helping you? By asking you to answer those three questions. So even inside this podcast episode, I have a very specific group of people and trying to help with a very specific problem in a very specific way. So every piece of content that you create needs to do that now.

Something that is really, really important is if you have to pick one of these three to focus on more than any, it’s the problem. Problems in our life create pain. They create all sorts of negative emotions. Sometimes they create physical pain. It’s could be emotional pain and it could, it’s just frustration, anger, hopelessness, problems, create pain.

That’s what you’re in the business of solving for people. You’re helping them to get out of pain on some level. That’s why I say almost any business can be life changing. If you can take away some type of pain from somebody, then you’ve changed their life. So when you create a piece of content, it must solve a problem.

People are going to pay you either in time or money to solve their problems to get them out of pain. So before you create any piece of content, I want you to think about what problem does this solve for people?

And I want you to take it one step further. I actually want you to create a list of 50 problems that you solve for people. I recently did this with one of my coaching clients and she was able to come up with a list of 50 problems in just minutes. It was incredible. She knows her target market. She knows who she is serving and what problems they have.

If you struggle to come up with a list of 50, I want you to ask the people that you are serving. What problems do you have? What pain do you have? What frustrations do you have? What causes you hopelessness? What makes you want to give up? I want you to ask them, where is your pain? Then come up with a list of 50 problems that you can solve.

In later podcast episodes during this season, we are going to be talking about which problems I want you to solve in your free content and which problems I want you to solve in your paid content, your actual products. But for now, I just want you to come up with that list of 50 problems.

I know I typically only give you one assignment or challenge per podcast episode, but for this one I have two. The first is I want you to answer those three questions for your business as a whole. Number one, who do you help?Number two. What problem do you solve? And number three, how do you help them and how do you solve the problem?

And then I want you to create a list of things, 50 sub problems. More specific problems that you can solve to help your people and to change their lives.

I also want to tell you about a problem that I have recently solved for you. This is the problem, that you are not a designer. Sorry, friend. I love you. You have incredible talents, talents that I don’t have, and probably won’t have until sometime in eternity, because I’m not you. I simply do not have your superpower.

Most of you listening to this probably aren’t designers. So you create the content for an eCourse, the content for an ebook, a workbook, a planner, or whatever it is, but you don’t have the ability to design it and make it look pretty. You don’t have the ability to make the design match the stellar content that you are able to create.

I know you have this problem because you’ve told me you have this problem and I have solved it for you inside a product called the Product Template Vault.

This is a vault full of templates for you. Hundreds of them.  Templates you can use to create your own product, your first product, your 10th product, your hundredth product. I don’t care. It is going to save you time and stress and frustration because you might jump into Canva and try to create a beautiful product and spend hours and leave frustrated because it still looks subpar.

And you know your content isn’t subpar, but first impressions matter. And people are going to see the design and they’re going to wonder about the content and it frustrates you. So I have solved this problem for you.

If you were to purchase every single one of these products separately, or these templates separately on my website, which you can go and do, it would cost you $195. And this is not me hyping up the price or trying to make this seem a gazillion times more valuable than it really is. This is actually what I sell these products for, $195.

But for those who are on my email list, you get a chance to purchase this product for $49. I have told you, I treat my email list subscribers like my VIP and I mean it. So if you would like to purchase the Product Template Vault for $49, you need to be on my email list. If you are on my email list, you will get an email later today, Friday, August 14th of 2020, with the opportunity as a link to purchase this for $49. That link will work for you for 5 days.

Everybody on my email list gets a chance to purchase this for $49 for 5 days. If you are not yet on my email list, go sign up. You’re going to sign up at mistydmarsh.com/productideagenerator. So that is free. The product idea generator is completely free. You’ll get that. And then I will teach you a little bit about it and help you out with it. And then a few days later, you will get an opportunity to purchase the Product Templates Vault for $49 for five days. 

I want you to do this friend. You’ve got to do this, don’t delay. Go sign up, get yourself on my email list. If you delay, you’re going to forget, and you’re not going to do it. And you’re going to have to pay $195 instead of $49 for these product templates.

Friend, there are templates for an eCourse. Do you have something you want to put in an eCourse format? I’ve got a template for you. Books, planners, workbooks, video covers, there are all sorts of things. Templates you can use to create all sorts of products for your people. I know you have the content inside of you, and I know that something that is holding you back is the ability to make that content, the design of it, the look of it, match the quality content you can create.

Let me help you! Head over to mistydmarsh.com/productideagenerator if you aren’t on my email list. If you are on my email list, then go check your email because you have an email with a link to the Product Template Vault. I will see you there.