In this post, I’m going to tell you how to start your little online empire with coureses and E-books. This is something I’ve done for fifteen years, and lately I’m passionate about helping other women succeed the way that I have. The world is a better place when women are doing good work and making good money! So, let’s get on with the nitty gritty of how to make this all work.
Step 1. Mindset. Please Read This Section. Do Not Skip.
Look. This post is going to contain some real-deal tactics and strategies. But none of them are going to do you a bit of good if your mindset isn’t right.
If you really truly want to make your online business work, the key ingredients are going to be 90% mindset and 10% tactics. Without the mindset, you will not have the steam to persevere, stay consistent, and push through the hard times.
Online business is “Simple” but it isn’t easy. That’s why 99% of people daydream about having a bank account full of money, but only 1% do. The 1% don’t have a monopoly on good ideas or skill. They simply do the hard shit that most other people aren’t willing to do. And that hard shit isn’t physical labor….it’s the mindset work:
A. The bravery to set a very high standard for your life.
Most will not raise the floor because they don’t want to have their hopes dashed. They keep the floor of their life low as a defense mechanism to avoid failure or dissapointments. Don’t fall into this trap. Decide to raise the floor, and set the highest standards for your life that you possibly can.
B. The willingness to fail. Constantly.
This online business stuff will ONLY work if you are willing to fail, and fail often. This means being willing to sit in front of a camera, create a video, post it to the internet, and be totally comfortable with looking like a doofus. Or being willing to post an offer that nobody buys.
Successful business owners fail, and fail often.
C. Sheer determination and commitment to making it work.
Look. If you don’t REALLY want this, then I recommend you quit before you even start. I’ve met plenty of people who tell me they “want” an online business and the freedom that comes with it, but their actions say something totally different.
If you’re determined, that means you’re showing up and taking action. That means you’re not staying out late every Friday night having cocktails and spending Saturday hungover. That means you’re using your free time wisley.
Successful online business owners are clear headed, sharp, and focused.
That means you show up and do the damn work. That means when things aren’t working, you try something different until they do start working.
I don’t care what you say you want. Show me you’re determined with how you act. Commit to this and you will see results. Without commitment and determination, there’s no point in ever starting.
D. Your goal is to Help Others, not to Be Liked
Many people struggle to grow their online business because they’re too afraid to post on social media. Their afraid of being seen, which is another way of saying “I’m terrified I won’t be liked by every person who sees my content.” News flash. You won’t.
If you want to start making a great living with your online business, let go of needing to be “liked”. You aren’t posting so that people like you, right? You’re posting to help whoever needs your help. That’s it.
Can you imagine if Eckhart Tolle or Wayne Dyer never put themselves out into the world because “What if engin3gurl1986 doesn’t like me? I’m too scared. Best not post.” It’s silly.
Lastly, if they don’t pay your bills, who gives a shit? You’re not here for a popularity contest. You’re here to help the people who need your help, and to make a living doing so.
The Mindset Keys
- The bravery to set a very high standard for your life.
- The willingness to fail. Constantly.
- Sheer determination and commitment to making it work.
- Your goal is to Help Others, not to Be Liked
Step 2. Solve a Problem
Your online business needs to solve a problem for people. To figure out what problem your online business solves, make a list of 10-50 solutions you are really good at in your own life. Don’t hold back. List anything and everything. Big things and little things.
Pay special attention to the things that come very easily for you. Those things that come super easy might seem insignificant to you, but are likely a huge solution for others.
For example, I started my online business back in 2009 helping women lose weight. I was a personal trainer at the time, and I always had a very easy time helping women understand and follow through on simple diet changes that made a huge difference in their bodies. When I brought these simple tips onto YouTube and in an E-book, people went nuts for them. This garnered me my first six figures within a pretty short amount of time.
The solution you can offer the world is usually staring you right in the face. Here’s a few examples of solutions that I’ve offered with my online businesses:
1. Healthy recipes that actually taste good (my original youtube channel) *Helps women lose fat
2. Short workouts that burn fat and transform physiques *Helps women transform their bodies
3. Somatic body work that reduces anxiety *Helps people soothe anxiety
4. Meditation lessons that help the body heal from illness *Helps heal stress related illnesses
6. Diet techniques for healing autoimmune issues *Helps reduce symptoms of autoimmunity
7. How to make income online selling info products *Helps increase income and time freedom
Make a list of 10-50 solutions, followed by the exact statements of who it helps and how it helps them.
Step 3. Start posting social media content NOW!
This is very very important. Don’t wait to post. Start posting now, and make it a consistent habit. This will build your audience, and will be the foundation of your business.
I recommend YouTube or Podcasts, with a sprinkle of Instagram. I’m recommend putting an emphasis on YouTube. Here’s why:
The more time your audience spends with you, the more they get to know, like, & trust you. When you are posting to YouTube, your people get to spend a solid 10+ minutes hanging out with you. They get to see what you’re about. And this makes them 100% more likely to buy.
There’s a statistic that it takes the average person 100 minutes of content time to make a purchase. The relationships you build with customers on YouTube vs short form platforms is incomparable.
So, focus on posting at least one good video per week as you create your products to launch. It won’t do you any good to spend time creating a product if you don’t have an audience to sell that product to!
Step 4. Create Your MVP (minimum viable product)
Don’t try to make the “perfect” product. Just do your best to create an e-book or course that will genuinely help others, and get something out there to sell. You can always perfect it later!
To create your e-book, I recommend using Adobe InDesign or Canva. Write it out on a word processor first, then pop the contents into canva. Alternatively, you could also hire a person off of fiverr or upwork to help you with this step.
When it comes to creating a course, that can be an involved process, and you might want to check out my Passive Income Secrets Program. This is not a sales tactic btw, it’s just a topic that requires literal multi-lesson videos and training that I put together for you in that program.
What I can tell you briefly is to consider using Circle (where I host my courses), or Teachable (I love teachable!). I don’t like Kajabi, but that’s just my experience.
When setting up your courses, it’s important to create an experience that is truly helpful and engaging, which is why I like Circle or Teachable. They both have community options that add a level of engagement to the experience, and can be helpful for the students. Teachable also has a great upsell and order bump feature on their checkout pages, which increases your bottom line.
After ten years on Teachable, I decided to switch to Circle because it has a very robust amount of features that create an awesome experience for my customers. There’s live video, community features, an email tool, automations and so much more. It’s really good!
Step 5. Sell your Stuff
Now it’s time to sell your stuff. This means marketing. Which is just a fancy way of saying Show Up on Social Media & Make Awesome Content. One of my favorite marketing teachers, Frank Kern, says “show people you can help them by helping them.”
If you create a helpful product, and then you show up on social media to help them for free, they will understand that your helpful product WILL help them, because you’ve shown them you can help them with your free stuff. That sentence was a word salad, but let me demonstrate.
Imagine sitting across from a woman who says “I promise I can help you lose weight. Just trust me and buy my e-book, and you’ll see how helpful I am!” 🤦♀️
Now imagine sitting across from a woman who says “Here are ten specific meals that you can start eating that will speed up your metabolism. And here’s a quick 20 minute workout. And here’s what I do to track my macros btw. That’ll help you too.” She has just proven she can help you. She has also built up authority in your mind. You trust her, you like her, and you want to buy her stuff because she’s PROVEN she knows what the hell she’s talking about.
This is what GOOD marketing is in 2025. This is what selling looks like in 2024. If you post good, free content you will likely have very good sales and profits.
Step 6. Enjoy your newfound freedom
Online business has given me 15 glorious years of total freedom. It is my sincere wish that if you’re reading this, you take the leap and experience the same total freedom in your own life.
It won’t be “easy”, but it will be worth it. And if you commit to this path, the fruits are so very worth it.
Step 7. Get Passive Income Secrets Program (if you want)
I created the Passive Income Secrets Program to give you every single thing you need to succeed with your online business. This program will fill in all the gaps for you, and will give you the exact steps to starting your passive income streams in 2025.
This program includes over 70 lessons, and 15 years of online business experience all in one simple to follow program.
This program will help you avoid the costly and time consuming mistakes most online business owners make, and just cut straight to the chase of getting your first sale and turning your dreams into income streams.
It’s already helped so many women to start their little empires…check out the testimonials on the sales page!!
You can get the Passive Income Secrets Program Here.
Whether or not you get the Passive Income Secrets Program, I am here to help, and I am cheering you on. You’ve got this, my friend. Take the leap, get started, and choose to make this work!
Love,
Brenda
