What’s the best way to build a successful online business?
There are so many options, it’s been hard to make up my mind.
But it’s time to act.
I’m going to do a blog about personal reinvention in midlife and later.
And a YouTube channel.
And probably a podcast.
Content creation is the path I’ll take, re-purposing what I create for use on all three of those platforms.
The goal is to build an audience that finds enough value in the content to stick with it and maybe even help shape it. That kind of audience should also attract advertising, sponsorships, promotions and affiliate deals.
I’ll also eventually test a line of drop-ship merchandise. I have a few ideas for that, and my research suggests it’s pretty easy to set up to function on an automated basis — all outsourced.
The real profit opportunity seems to be in digital products —
books, courses, designs, white papers. Once created, these too, go on auto-pilot, ordered, paid for and delivered via internet. No inventory or manufacturing costs. I would create digital products aimed at specific topics in which that audience expresses interest.
It’s ambitious — very ambitious for this “old guy making content” — but ambitious is good. My comfort zone is writing, not shooting and editing video or producing audio content. I will certainly be operating beyond my comfort zone, but extending my comfort zone is a big part of why I’m doing this.
I’ve know all along that a blog would be part of the plan. For a while I even considered building a family of blogs. But I don’t want this to turn into drudgery, which it would if I were forced to write about topics that don’t interest me.
When I first started this project, I discovered Project 24,
a subscription membership to a system of courses aimed at producing profitable blogs and YouTube channels. The modules exploring ways to select blog/channel topics suspended me in uncertainty. I couldn’t discover a topic I wanted to “live in,” which is what I knew I would have to do to be successful. I would have to inhabit my topic in order to produce truly superior, compelling content.
By the way, Project 24 is excellent in every way. You can sample their product on YouTube at Income School and Channel Makers. They have an affiliate program, in which I will enroll as soon as I’m eligible, so that I can earn commissions on referring people to their program. For now, I’ll just recommend them, because I believe in their product.
I actually never discovered a new topic to explore.
Instead, I re-discovered TheRestofYourLife.com,
a blog I launched in 2011 about people in midlife and later who reinvent themselves by making significant changes in their lives. That topic seems particularly relevant today, considering the great “COVID RESET” still unfolding as I write this in mid-2022.
As you can see on that site, I identified nine different categories of personal reinvention, which I labeled “Zones:”
CEOwners — people who start their own businesses.
Benefactors — people who devote themselves to serving others.
Adventurers — people who commit to adventurous efforts.
Seekers — people who search for deeper meaning.
Expatriates — people who settle outside of their home country.
Lane Changers — people who switch careers or occupations.
Postgraduates — people who study to master new subjects.
Ramblers — people who spend all/most of their time traveling.
Competitors — people who thrive on physical or intellectual
competition.
In my “About the Author” section I explained the blog:
“I’m Rick Barlow, and I’ve created The Rest of Your Life because I am drawn to stories of personal change and reinvention. They fascinate me. So I’ve decided to make a place where I can collect, explore and share these stories, and provide information to people interested in creating change in their own lives.”
That’s the territory I plan to cover. I was excited by it all 11 years ago, and I’m excited by it today. I drifted away from it six years ago when I took on another responsibility that demanded lots of my time. That’s under control now, requiring less time.
Mainly, therestofyourlife.com will be about the stories.
Stories are what we all crave and enjoy. We live our own stories in our minds every day. We learn from stories and we teach from stories. This blog telling the stories of people reinventing themselves later in life seemed to me then and seems to me now like a winner.
The challenge is finding those stories. There must be thousands of them, but they are mostly invisible from a distance. And the stories only really come alive when you hear them first hand. Googling is just the first step. You have to actually interview these people in order to get the good stuff. Today, of course, video is everything, and even back then I had planned to include edited video interviews in my blog posts.
But in 2011, how could I get those video interviews?
I was no videographer, and I couldn’t afford to fly all over the country interviewing people.
That was the obstacle I was struggling with then. Zoom had not arrived. Skype was not high definition or even reliable. That obstacle set me adrift.
Fast forward to the age of Zoom and great video cameras on everyone’s phones and everyone at least somewhat familiar with shooting and editing video, even me.
The obstacle is gone.
The main task now is to find the stories.
Then shoot the video interviews, edit and post them on YouTube, adapt them as blog posts and edit the audio for podcasts.
But first, that vintage blog needs a complete re-design.
You’ve noticed, I’m sure, especially if you’re reading this on your phone.
And, no, I’m not going to do another do-it-yourself website design like I did here at riscorick.com. It was fun, and I learned a ton, but I have a much more ambitious concept for the resurrected therestofyourlife.com.
With that in mind I prepared a kind of RFP (Request for Proposal)
describing what I was looking for in the re-design. So far I’ve sent it out to the designer I worked with on the original site and to a local internet marketing agency I worked with on another project. I’m going to try a couple of freelance sites too, like Fiverr and Upwork.
Here is the RFP:
TheRestofYourLife.com is a project I began working on in 2010 and began publication on in 2011. In 2015 I put it on hold, pending a re-design of the site, which was badly out of date. I was looking for a brighter, more wide-open look and more effective use of images. My work on that re-design was interrupted by other priorities, but I am eager to reinvigorate this project.
I continue to want a “wide-open,” bright look, with the first page offering quick, easy access to everything a visitor might need to know to use the site — designed for simple navigation.
I’m open to suggestions on everything, but here are some guidelines:
I’ll include a video “About Me” section.
An Introduction section should include not only the introduction to the site’s purpose and content type, but should also include the introduction for each Zone. Within those Zone introductions, there should be a button to take the reader to a separate offering of all the posts in that Zone, displayed from most recent to oldest.
A “Most Recent” section should display the 3 most recent posts, each having a button to take the reader to the complete offering for that Zone.
A “Most Popular” section should show the 3 posts having the most views to date, also with a link to the appropriate Zone.
A “Tools and Resources” (or some other designation) section will display images and descriptions of products and services related to the content (affiliate marketing links), including book reviews. Here, too, I’d like to display the 3 most recent posts with a link to the full section.
A search function should be available to allow readers to use keywords to find relevant posts.
An email subscription pop up should appear near the end of each post (is this possible?) inviting readers to sign up for “more stories like this.”
Ads will probably run along the right side, or possibly in a section across the page under the Most Popular section, above the Tools and Resources section. Not at the bottom.
Social sharing buttons will be included on the first page and on every post.
I plan to make YouTube videos for every post (more accurately, posts might often be adapted from video interviews), so I will likely embed them somewhere in the post.
Posts will always feature a large image and, possibly, additional images as are appropriate. No thumbnails, however. Medium size images.
Lots of white space. A clean, modern look with vivid colors. No pastels. Interesting fonts (like Comic Sans MS) where practical, although always readable.
Must be designed on WordPress. If it can be done on Kadence using Gutenberg, all the better. I’m familiar, if not proficient, with both. In a pinch, I’d like to be able to manage small changes or adjustments myself.
I’d also like to be able to reach out for assistance when needed.
Some sites I like:
apartmenttherapy.com — I especially like the way they use images — very few actual thumbnails. Tons of content here, but lots on the front page.
ourfoodstories.com — I like the white space and the large images.
sincerelyjules.com — I like the large images, but also the slider in the middle serving up post choices.
camilacoehlo.com — I like the layout.
addicted2diy.com — Nice layout.
Please let me know whether you can take this on and what you estimate the cost to be. Also estimate the time it will take to complete. Consider that I will want to discuss the work as it progresses and will want to discuss any ideas you suggest.
Note that I included sites to provide examples of what I’m looking for.
Check them out. What do you think? I much prefer bright, open design to the boxy, cramped design of so many blogs.
I expect to pay a freelancer no more than $1500 for this design, although I’m sure the agency will bid at least $5000. Bids lower than $1000 scare me.
Theoretically, the agency will provide a more graphically interesting design, along with a fixed price.
The freelancer will want to charge by the hour. But the freelancer’s work samples might reflect a strong graphic design sense, and he might be a very efficient worker. I might actually get better design as well as lower price.
If you could afford either, what would you do?
I’ll describe my selection process and the actual work experience.
In the meantime I have lots to do.
The “The Rest of Your Life” trademark filing is up for renewal, but that’s an easy task. The re-designed site and even the Facebook Group and YouTube channel I’ve established will help support that.
Then I’ll need to review and groom all the content on the current site. Some of the links are probably broken at this point. Some of the posts might be too out of date to use.
There are even two Zones that I haven’t written introductions for yet — Competitors and Adventurers.
Then I’ll need to tackle the research function — finding the stories of people who have reinvented their lives. I might even try Fiverr for some of that. If I had a couple of good freelance researchers digging around for me, it could streamline the production process.
And there’s much, much more, but no need to lay out the whole plan here.
It’s enough to say I’ve found my niche — later life reinvention —
which is within the broad category of self-improvement. We’ll see where that takes me.
More later.
Most important: if you know of any stories that fit my agenda, PLEASE drop me a note at riscorick1@gmail.com.
Thanks.
I am RiScoRick — vertical, self-propelled, with my wits about me, and a complete attitude of gratitude.
Out.
