If you are scared of niching down, I love Desiree’s story for her super specific niche and how she was able to flip the monetization switch.
Desiree is a mother of 9 (not a typo), whose spiritual pathway led to what she called Home after years of searching for a place that fit her ideals.
Her personal studies led her through a series of questions that transformed how she practices her faith. Now she educates others, answers tough questions and holds people’s hands as they make the same transition she did years ago.
And she has proven to be a valuable resource for her audience.
She came to me with decent traffic and a loyal following.
But…with all the successes she could list, she had been unable to show any income for it.
She was stuck and couldn’t figure out how to turn the wins into paychecks…
Read her story below and figure out she finally turned her blog into a business that both serves her audience AND helps provide for her own family.
Table of Contents
ToggleWho Is Desiree Hausam?
Desiree started the Green Catholic Burrow to support a niche she was intimately familiar with.
Green Catholic Burrow, Desiree’s blog, is a support for people who are recently converted to the Catholic church.
A lot of issues can come up when you transition from one community to another so different.
There are a lot of culture shock issues and whatnot. Desiree tries to address a lot of those soft issues as people are coming into the church. She addresses hard truths in an approachable way.
What Success Had You Had, & Where Did You Get Stuck?
My blog was going well, I was growing my email list. Overall things were going well. I was getting 10,000 monthly sessions. My site had a really established, loyal following.
I had a lot of wins and none of them had dollar signs.
So many things were worth celebrating but I still had nothing to show for it. I really needed some monetary validation for what I was doing.
My major roadblock: I could not launch a product.
I had created a few things: a workbook in a tripwire (that lost money after I tried to push it with ads). But none of them were producing income. Again, success without cash.
What Changed Or Shifted To Lead To Launch Your First Product?
During the Accelerator I had a chance to launch twice (What??)
The first one… I had been trying to come up with a product and launch it for at least 6 months before I joined up with Alison. It just ended up being a little workshop. I had had in mind to create this huge, giant course. But I kept getting bogged down by the enormity of what I wanted to create.
Taking Action
So Alison encouraged me to create something more manageable. Something I could put together and get out there to practice launching.
I stopped getting stuck on making every detail perfect on a huge project and created something I could feel good about but also launch quickly.
I made a thing. People bought it. No one asked for a refund. I made a significant profit of $100 with a $15 product by launching only to my email list in a discreet way with no big sales party madness.
Confidence
My next launch was a lot different. I had a lot more confidence that I was capable of making something worthwhile. Taking the action and actually launching completely shifted my mindset.
The thing itself also got me really excited. I knew it was the right time for this product and that people really needed it and could really benefit from it.
I actually had the confidence to make this a beta launch, so the product is not finished yet. And I made $660 on this launch. So my blogging income goal was $1,000 and I came in just under with $800.
What Advice Would You Give To Past Desiree?
I think it’s really important when creating products to hit on something that you KNOW they need. If you know they need it and you know it will help them, then you can really get excited about selling it.
It changes the sales process. I’m selling something I believe in, I feel good about telling people about it and I am qualified to create it.
What’s Next?
I want to get back to focusing on my traffic. It has always been really consistent. It’s down a little bit after focusing so much on launching. That is my primary goal is being less lazy and getting back to Pinterest.
I also want to start working on an evergreen version of my course. People are asking for it so I want to provide that for them.
And the possibilities are endless.
I have been successful for so long and stuck at the same time. Now I finally feel unstuck. I have gained the momentum to keep going, and I believe in my capability to give my readers what they need.
Learn More About Desiree
If Desiree’s story touched you, or if you need support for your Catholic conversion, visit Green Catholic Burrow for more information.
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