Week 1: Start with Information Architecture

• List all the pages of content you want to create. If many, write these on post-it notes and plan them out on a table

• Decide which of these need to be Global (ie visible from every page). Usually this would include Home, About, Contact, and your key areas of business

• Now decide where everything else sits. It should ALL sit under one of your global categories

• If necessary, create sub-categories (eg. “Work” then divided into “baking” and “painting”)
(people should always be able to access your content in 3 clicks or less)

Week 2: Choose a platform

• List all the functionalities you need (eg. Commerce, blog, membership areas, etc)

• Stocktake your capacity for design (do you have coding experience OR access / funds to pay someone? This will help you decide whether or not to DIY)

• Do your due diligence. Decide on a platform, based on functionaries, your capacity, and your budget

• Create empty pages or folders in the website back-end that match the map you created in Week 1

Week 3: Decide on look & feel

• Background: White is best for backgrounds - it’s easy to see and clean on a screen. If you dislike white, go for something similar (cream, pale beige, etc). Use a strong contrast for the text (nothing too pale). Black is good, but softening it slightly by using charcoal instead is easier on the eyes. Light colours on dark can be hard to read on a screen. Green is difficult to read on a screen.

• Broader palette: This is when you use your brand palette. Maybe you want to build this into banners, featured areas and borders, or maybe you bring it in with photography

• Fonts: Use font pairings you chose in Lesson 4 (check your Style Guide), making sure they are web fonts (again, see Lesson 4)

• Photography: You should have a suite of on-brand photography that you can use from Lesson 7. Collect these together, ready to add into your website while you’re writing content

Week 4: Begin writing content

• One page at a time, start writing the content for your website. Start with the About page since you started that in lesson 6. Then work your way through your other Global pages. (Don’t worry about the Home page, you can leave that until last)

• If you have time, start working through the second and third tier pages

• Remember some basic rules for website writing: most important content above the scroll; sub-headings and bullet points (plus keep it on-brand and Plain English - see the bonus lesson on Good Writing)

• Edit for SEO: Key words / search terms; Image captions, image metadata; Page descriptions

Week 1: Choose a platform

• List all the functionalities you need (eg. paid areas, etc)

• Stocktake your capacity for design (do you have coding experience OR access / funds to pay someone? This will help you decide whether or not to DIY)

• Do your due diligence. Decide on a platform, based on functionaries, your capacity, and your budget

Week 2: Create a content plan

• Decide how often you intend to post from your blog or newsletter

• List your ideas according to colour codes (Lesson 8, Workbook 2, pp25-29)

• Use the content planner on Canva - put in anything timely (eg. Christmas, Mother’s Day)

• Now add in your own content, being sure to mix up the colours

Week 3: Write your content

• Based on your plan, write 4 x posts ahead of time (use images from your Suite in Lesson 7)

• Schedule them

• Make a note to share on social media every time you publish a post

Week 4: Invite subscribers

• Create sign-up forms on your website and social media (what to expect, minimise information required)

• If a newsletter: create an opt-in incentive (showcase your skills, make it relevant, make it easy on yourself)

• If a blog: create Pinterest posts that link back to your blog (good for SEO)

Week 1: Make a plan

• Decide when you hope to launch this new thing, and work backwards from there to figure out how much lead-time you need

• Try to allow yourself a long lead-up (eg. 4 - 6 weeks). Ideally, allow this time AFTER the completion of these 4 weeks. If not, prepare to work faster on these tasks

• Decide how you are going to advertise: eg. newsletter, social media, paid advertising, etc

• Create a “nurture” post on your social media or newsletter and publish it now - this builds goodwill. Prep some more if you have time, and schedule them leading up to and throughout the sales period

Week 2: Write a sales page

• Write the content that tells people everything they need to know. This is your sales page (see Lesson 6)

• Decide on platforms; payment gateways; info you need from your students, customers, clients; any post-payment content you want to share with them (eg. forms, surveys, etc)

• Decide how you want people to pay and sign up. Will you offer payment plans, earlybird discounts, etc? Test them all

• Publish the page & tell people about it

Week 3: Write an email sequence

• Overview: this is now open - here’s what it is, the details, all about it, a call to action

• FAQs

• Share a testimonial or case study

• Present a problem and solution (eg. “Statistics show XYZ, in this object/workshop, I give you the solution”)

• Your story: a bit of your journey to get here, and why it’s important for you to do this

• Investment objection: I understand that investing in yourself is scary, here’s why it’s important (+ testimonial)

• Vision casting: “How would it feel to have achieved XYZ?” (+ testimonial)

• Recap the overview: a brief run-down of what you’re offering

• Reassurance: “I’m here with you every step of the way, AND I know what I’m talking about” (+ testimonial)

• A final reminder (give them the deadline)

Week 4: Showcase your skills

• Plan a free or cheap workshop or e-book you can offer

• Offer discovery calls (or discovery workshops)

• Share content or lives on social media to showcase skills

• Share testimonials on social media

Week 1: Start planning

• Decide on your angle (why you? why this book? why now?)

• Plan your content: break it down into smaller and smaller segments, starting at the key story/message, then sections, then chapters, then chapter-subjects, then pages/paragraphs within those chapter-subjects.

Weeks 2 and onwards: Start writing

• Start writing, piece by piece, according to the content-chunks you created above.

• Aim to do this every day for at least five days a week.

• Don’t worry about whether inspiration is flowing or not, just follow your section plan. Minimum 20 mins a day.

Weeks 3 and onwards: Tell people

• While you’re writing every day, start telling people in your ideal audience that you are writing a book. This is to build interest for when you are ready to publish

• Tell them on social media

• Share excerpts in newsletters and blogs

• Talk about the content but also the process (the ups and downs) to take them on the journey with you

When you’ve finished

• Put it away for at least a week, then edit: look for inconsistencies, ways you could explain or express things better

• Put it away for another week, then edit again: this time, look for spelling mistakes and typos (this is called sub-editing), but also do another broader edit if you see anything that could improve

• Invite trusted people to provide feedback. You need to be able to a) value their opinion, b) trust that you can feel vulnerable with them, and c) know that they are in your target audience

• Edit if and how you want to, based on the feedback you receive

Week 1: What is your story?

• Set your goals for being on social media - what do you want to achieve (in practical terms)

• How will you know you are making progress towards those goals (tangible KPIs)

• Choose a name and story (your style, how you show up online) that helps achieve those goals

Week 2: Choose a platform

(See Lesson 6, Activity 3; and Lesson 8 Activity 4)

Week 3: Plan your content

(See Lesson 8, Activity 4)

Week 4: Post and engage

• Start posting content according to your plan

• Make time to engage: answer comments and DMs, comment (meaningfully) on the posts of people who comment on yours, comment on others in your target audience, repost and tag them, link to your socials on your website, newsletter, etc

Week 1: Plan your content

• Use or continue social listening to find out exactly what people want to learn for you, and the challenges / obstacles they face

• Map out a content framework: break it into themes, break these into individual lessons

• Decide how long you want your course to be (based on the content covered, and what you think your audience will want - ask them on social media or in surveys if you can)

Week 2: Choose your delivery

• Choose the format(s) of your course (eg. video, text, audio, live online, in-person, etc), based on your strengths and your audience’s needs

• List all the functionalities you need (eg. Drip feed content, gated areas, accepting payments, etc)

• Do some research. Decide on a platform, based on functionaries, your capacity, and your budget

Week 3: Start writing / recording

• Start writing or recording, section by section, lesson by lesson. Just get it down. Aim to do this every day for at least five days a week. Don’t worry about inspiration or not, just follow your section plan. Minimum 20 mins a day.

Week 4: Prepare for sales

• Use the framework under “Sales” and begin the process of telling people about your course