How Do You Decide What Content to Give Away for Free (and 12 Other Listener Questions) [Podcast S02E13]

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 13 of the This Is Your Life podcast. In this thirteenth and final episode of the season, Michele Cushatt and I take questions from my listeners.

I get questions daily from my listeners and readers. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to answer them all. So Michele and I decided we would collect them, pick the most common ones, and then devote the thirteenth episode of this season to answering them.

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In this episode, we answer the following questions:

Al asked, “After 100 podcasts and over 1,500 blog posts, what are the top three things you’ve learned from your experience?”

Derek asked, “What is the best time to have live-call seminars or live-video seminars: during the day or evening, or on a weekday versus a weekend? Is there one time that’s better than another?”

Aaron asked, “When I post links for other bloggers, I’ve been told it helps their traffic. But my traffic falters. So I want to help, but I also want to protect my brand. Is there a way to find a balance?”

Jim asked, “With all of your success, you must experience a lot of judgment, maybe from yourself as well as others. I struggle with it, too. So how do you manage it?”

Laura asked, “At what point is adding a newsletter to your blog a good idea? What are the benefits, and what cautions do you have?”

Mark asked, “In Episode 4 of Season 1, you discussed strategies for building your email list. What are your insights on best practices for terms of use and privacy statements for those who trust us with their email addresses?”

Leslie asked, “I just transitioned from the automatic WordPress subscription to MailChimp, but I don’t really know what I’m doing. Where do you recommend I go to learn about pop-ups and subscriptions and that sort of thing?”

River asked, “I love creating wow experiences for my clients, but I’d love for you to share how you avoid driving yourself nuts by constantly anticipating their response. How do you distinguish between people pleasing and creating a wow experience?”

A listener from Ohio asked, “I’m calling to ask about a behind-the-scenes aspect of monetizing a blog. Should I open a separate bank account for my blog, and if so, when would you recommend that I do that? What tips do you have for keeping good records for tax purposes, etc.?”

Jerry asked, “How does an employee lead when he’s not in charge?”

Randy asked, “I noticed that you include a transcript for your podcast episodes. I’m wondering if the opposite would also be helpful, to include an audio version of every blog post I write?”

Allison asked, “I recently became a moderator of a writing critique group. Pretty quickly, a power struggle ensued. It was difficult, and we eventually had to part ways. For the future, what do I need to do to be a better leader in these types of situations where there’s a power struggle within the group?”

A listener from Israel asked, “How do you decide what content you give away for free and what you hold back for online courses or other products? I know you’ve said to give away your best content, but doesn’t that end up short-changing yourself in the long run?”

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here, courtesy of <a href="http://www.sermonscribe.