The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 54. What is the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp?

Episode Date: December 27, 2022

What is the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp? In this episode, we are breaking down exactly what the bootcamp is and what you can expect when you sign up. If you have wanted to start your blog and want a course that will break it down step by step for you, have someone there to answer your questions, and find the community of others doing this same, this course is for you! Take a listen to this episode to learn more!Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsCheck out The Blog Depot. This is a community and course that we have set up for you if you need questions answered before you start your blog. Join the waitlist for The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp, our online course and coaching that helps you build the blog that you have always dreamed of.SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode54

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Hey, welcome back to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Today, we are really excited to talk more in depth with you about our signature course, The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp. A couple episodes back, we shared more about the Blog Depot, and that's our intro program that we have that kind of talks to people about whether or not they want to start a blog and kind of help you make that decision. But today we're going to dive into this signature course, the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp. And this course is created for somebody who knows that they want to blog. So they've kind of gotten through those initial questions and they know that they want to

start a blog. So back in 2017, when Spark began, we were sitting around my table and Jennifer expressed that she had this dream about helping people start their blogs. And I looked at her like the wonderful friend that I am and thought that she was nuts. I was like, who's going to pay us to help them start their blogs? That is an interesting idea. Who's going to pay us to help them start their blogs? Like that is an interesting idea. Now, mind you, I'm not a bad friend.

I was just, I didn't really know that people were actually like taking courses and creating courses. I was kind of new, quite honestly, to the content creation world at that time. And so I didn't realize that Jennifer actually had a really fantastic idea. So thankfully, I opened my brain a little bit to the possibilities there. And what happened next was kind of funny. So we were sitting around my table. She told me about this dream that she had about helping people start their blogs. And I just tucked it back and was like, oh, that's interesting.

But then a couple weeks later, I ran into somebody who had a need for exactly what Jennifer had said. And without thinking, I was like, oh, we can help you with that. And so I get in the car and call Jennifer and said, hey, you know that like pipe dream that you said a couple of weeks ago, I just found our first client and to it, she said, oh, well, we don't, we don't have anything set up. And so we did that real quick, like, like literally quickly, we decided to throw together Spark Media Concepts. I don't even think we had a name at that point. Did we, Jennifer? No. And we were, yeah, like you said, we were scrambling. So we were just like brain, we were having these massive brainstorming sessions to try to come up with what we were even going to call ourselves because we knew we were like

going to take this seriously. But yeah, we had a lot to do to be able to get ready for that first client. We did. But we did it, which is an amazing thing. And so that was at the end of 2017. And for did. But we did it, which is an amazing thing. And so that was at the end of 2017. And for two years, we did exactly that. We worked with people one-on-one. And in two years, we learned a ton. One, we learned that we're not always very productive when we work next to each other. We learned that the hard way. There were some days that we wasted a lot more time than we were

productive because we got to chatting. So we realized if we were going to work together, we needed to have more of a plan, but we would essentially do people's blogs for them. We would set them up. So we would have like an initial consultation, essentially. We would have them fill out a form. They would tell us what they wanted, what they needed, and we would do all the setup. But here's what we learned in that time as we were helping people in that one-on-one space. Jennifer and I were giving all of our time and energy to setting up this amazing website or blog that this person would need. And then at the end, we would hand them over the blog. And we also had some different modules that they could go through to learn how to create content and things like that.

But we were more invested in it sometimes than they were. Not all of them, but some, for sure. Some of those people have very much gone on to be extremely successful, which is amazing, and to watch and everything. But there were some that it just never clicked. And what we finally realized two years in is they're not clicking with this because they're not doing it. We handed over this website that can have the capacity to give them whatever they want in regards to success because it's set up the right way, but they honestly didn't know how to work the dashboard or do the

backend. And so when the pandemic hit in 2020, we kind of did a course correct and we were separated. Shocking. That made us a little bit more focused on our goals because we couldn't be around each other because there was a pandemic and we were all scared of each other back then. So we were in our, we were in our homes and we would meet on Zoom and we said, what are we going to do? I believe, Jennifer, did you listen to a podcast? Is that what gave you this idea? Yeah. And I couldn't even tell you what episode it was. It's always when I go on a walk and I listen to a podcast and then I'm like, hey, I have an idea. So she called and said this idea and we literally just put it into play.

We felt like we were at a need for a shift at that point. And we were going through, obviously, a very traumatic experience as a world at that point too. And it felt like this time to shift. Like, how are we going to do this? We're so used to working next to each other and doing what we need to do, but we're going to have to shift our entire business model because we didn't know what the future held, quite honestly. So we worked, I believe, all of April 2020. I mean, hours and hours we worked on this new course, which is the

Ultimate Blog Bootcamp. That's when it was born, was April 2020, ready to go in May of 2020. in May of 2020. And this course is the epitome of learning how to blog. It is knowing how to use your website from the inside out. It's knowing how to create content. We truly empower our students with everything that you need to know in regards to starting a blog. I'm so proud of this course. And I am super confident that anybody who takes this course has exactly what they need to get started. So if you know that starting a blog is something that you want to do, I hope that you will listen to this episode with an open mind and just ask yourself, I wonder what this course could do for me, because we are truly invested in helping anybody who wants to start a blog do it. We're tired of hearing so many people say that they want to, but they're not taking that next

step forward and actually doing it. We really do want to take you by the hand and say, we got you, we can help you do this and make this happen in 2023. So yes, this course is really about empowerment. It's about being with you every step of the way and really just giving you all the resources, all the tools you need so that you could actually get your blog up and running without all the stress that comes along with having no idea what to do. So if you're somebody who maybe goes out and likes to figure things out for yourself, and you want to do all the research and you want to make all the connections, that is awesome. There is tons of information out there. But what we've done is we've taken all the years of experience that we've had as bloggers ourselves.

I've been blogging since 2013. Amy, have you been blogging since 2016? Is that correct? 2017. 2017. Okay. So yeah. And throughout that time, we used to get to go to conferences and things like that. So we've been able to meet other bloggers, other experts in the field. I'm somebody who loves to attend any sort of trainings that I possibly can. So we've invested a lot of ourselves into learning more and more about blogging. And I think it's a journey that we're on every single day as we meet more people on this podcast and just through this course and the company that we've created. So what we've done is we've continuously improved this course. And so like Amy said, we are so proud of it.

And we know that if you want help setting up your blog, this course will help you. So like Amy said, it's an online course. So there are modules and we basically break it down so that you can walk through the steps and have your blog set up in six weeks. Now, it's not just a course. Now, the course is going to include everything you need. Everything you need, it's going to walk you through it step by step. But people still have questions. And we want to be able to be there for you if you have questions. So there's a couple ways that you can reach out to us with questions if you take this course. We set up a Slack group that is available throughout the six weeks.

And in there, it's broken down into sections. So you can see where to put your questions. You can ask questions 24-7. you can see where to put your questions. You can ask questions 24-7. We check that group throughout the week on a daily basis and get back to you whether we need to record a quick video or just answer your question. You're never going to go a long time without having a question answered. So that is one really quick and easy way to ask us questions and also just to share within the community and connect with other bloggers that are in that group as well. Yeah, because I think a lot of times when

you're setting up a blog, you also want some feedback. And that is why Slack is so awesome. And because you're not just connected to Jennifer and I, but you're also connected to the people who are taking the course as well at the same time. And that's been really fun to see people connect to. You automatically get that blogging community and that connection. I was just in a Facebook group last week that somebody was actually saying, I really wish that I had a blogging community. And I purposely clicked on the comments just to get an idea of what people were saying. And so many of them were saying, I wish I had a community. I feel like I'm doing this all by myself. And I don't have anybody that I can just ask questions to.

And I was so proud that we have that for people. And everyone is invited into this community. Like if you want to start a blog, then start with a community. And that's what the bootcamp is. Yeah. And I don't even know if we've mentioned this, but since 2020, we've helped over 80 people throughout this process, throughout this course. So there's a lot of opportunity for connection and community within the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp. Yeah. And something else we do that I think

is kind of above and beyond what a lot of other courses offer is that we have a live component. And so we will have three live office hour opportunities within that six weeks where we will hop on a Zoom call and you can come and ask any other questions that you might have. Sometimes it's easier to ask questions when you're face-to-face with somebody or when you can pull up a screen share on Zoom and show somebody. So really like that visual aspect. So no matter what kind of help you need, you're going to be able to find it within the boot camp because we just have created all those different options because we know everybody learns differently.

Yeah, that's something that we've definitely learned about ourselves. You've probably heard us mention this on other podcast episodes, but I'm a very visual learner. And so when I see like a lot of text, I kind of cringe. And when Jennifer sees videos, she cringes. So our brains are just built very differently. And so we do try to have both components within the course that you can walk through to make that easier to digest because everybody does learn very differently. And we've just done like a total overhaul. So it's, I mean, this course is as amazing as it's ever been. I'm so proud of it. So it's really broken down that you are going to know exactly like what to do first, what to do next. And you're not going to

have like huge questions about if you're making the right call. It's broken down into different modules, like Jennifer said. But first and foremost, we go over those fundamentals of blogging. And I know that sometimes people want to put the cart before the horse. But really, this is essential when it comes to blogging. We talk about this in our beginner course, The Blog Depot, and whether or not you've taken that or not, we do kind of go over that in the blog bootcamp as well, because we don't want you to skim over this part. It's important. And it is worth the time that it takes to think about what you want for yourself, what you want for your business. How do you want this to look like?

What your niche is, who you're talking to, how are you going to serve them? And not just those things, but also like how to attain your domain name, what hosting company to use and what theme, all of those things are really important. And we don't want you to phone those in because trust both of us, we've both had to go back and change things. It's just worth it to put in the time and effort and energy from the start and know what you want and then move forward that way. Now, with that said, I don't want you to feel like, well, I don't have any of that stuff figured out, so I'm not ready. I don't want that to hold you back. We can help you through that part. Like if you have like some ideas of what you want to talk about or

different, or maybe you have different ideas. Maybe, you know, you just want to start a blog, but you have a couple of different ideas that you're kind of leaning towards with what you want to start blogging about. Perfect. You are still a perfect match for the bootcamp because we can help you narrow that down. We can talk to you about how you can refine your niche, how you can speak to a specific audience, because I'm sorry, I'm just going to keep saying it. And so is Jennifer. If you want to grow, you got an itch to start. It doesn't mean that you can't branch out later, but we just don't feel like it's very good advice

that people are saying that you can just start with talking about anything and everything. I just don't think that's very good advice. So think about that, about how you can kind of narrow that down a bit to start. And maybe that's narrowing it down who you're talking to exactly. Maybe you can talk about a couple of different topics, but you're talking to a specific person

instead. So just some things to think about and some things that we dive in at the beginning of the bootcamp that we think is really, really important before we dive into the setup and the preparation and all of that. Do you want to start a blog, but you aren't sure what to do first? Are you still wondering what you're going to write about and who your ideal reader is? Have you researched blog platforms only to be left with even more questions and have no idea what platform to build your blog on? Guess what? We created the blog Depot just for you. The blog Depot is a nine module course that

was designed for someone who thinks that they want to start a blog, but wants to build a solid foundation and ask themselves the important questions before jumping in. In the blog Depot, we will help you understand what you need to build a successful blog and important questions to ask yourself. And we do it all with our self-paced online course and membership community. You get access to the course and community forum immediately upon signup. And as a special bonus, we do a live coaching call with Depot members every month. So you can talk to us about your specific questions and needs.

We want you to feel confident when you decide to finally start blogging someday and the blog Depot will help you do it. It's only $47 a month, but if you sign up today and use code UBP50, you'll receive 50% off your first month. The link to join us is in the show notes, and we can't wait to help you build your solid foundation in the blog depot. Yeah, it's just really important to be intentional when you're starting your blog and kind of know what your goals are and who you're going to be talking to. Because if you get too far into it and you don't have those things really figured out, then you'll start to feel like you're maybe floating or flailing a little

bit with your blog. And so that's why we've created it the way that we have is so that when you go into it, you sort of know what your goals are and who you're going to be talking to and what you're going to be talking about. And that's not to say it will probably change and grow and adjust over time as you start to figure things out and get feedback. But we really want you to be able to be intentional and mindful of why you're doing this, because there's going to be some hard parts along the way. So we want you to be able to really keep that in mind as you go through some of these harder pieces of it, and just keep your mindset in that place where you know you can do it. Some of it might be hard, but you know you have a resource, you know where to go for help,

and you can do this, and you know why you're doing it and who you're helping with it. So then we jump into the actual setup of your blog. And I know a lot of people get excited at this point. They want to go ahead and start writing the content because, and that's the fun part of, and the reason that we want to blog, but there's some steps that we need to take for setup before we get to that point. And so our goal is to streamline that for you so that you know what to do and you can get through that part without hitting a lot of roadblocks or stumbling along the way. So we're going to walk you through how you actually install and set up WordPress on a

self-hosted website and how to install your theme. We recommend certain themes. We walk you through all the plugins that you need, which are what adds functionality to your site. And so we've streamlined a list of free and paid plugins that you will need for your website to make it function optimally and help you to be able to share content in a way that's helpful to your readers, that helps your site load quickly and is completely optimized. We also go over email marketing and how to set that up. You've heard us talk before about the importance of owning your content and you do that with your blog, which is why we always recommend if you have

a social media presence that you have a blog to go along with it. That way people can always connect with you and how they connect with you is through joining your email list, which is something that we really do encourage our students to make sure that they are taking an active role in growing that list. So how to integrate an email marketing software with your blog is also a piece of the bootcamp because that is an important piece of blogging, quite honestly. Your email list is critical because those are the people who have actually taken the next step and said to you, I like your content and I want to make sure that I see more of it. Our emails are overloaded. And so I mean, I'm unsubscribing every day from things that don't serve me anymore, or I don't need, or if they just over email, things like that. So if someone is actively opening your emails, then they are choosing that

relationship with you and they want to continue that connection with you. And so we want to make sure that that is set up correctly. We recommend a few different platforms to use for that. And we go over the installation of how to use that, which we think is a really important piece of it. Email marketing is an essential piece of blogging. Growing your email list is just as important as SEO and keyword research in our opinion. And in order to grow your list, you need a reliable platform that will allow you to connect with your community and turn them into email subscribers. That's where ConvertKit comes in. ConvertKit is the go-to marketing hub for creators like you that helps you

grow and monetize your audience with ease. ConvertKit allows you to grow your audience and reach, put your funnels on autopilot and earn an income with your email list, all with an easy to use platform that is approachable, even for beginners. Click the link in our show notes to learn more about the different plans that ConvertKit has and how it can help you propel your business to the next level. So yeah, essentially we're going through all those technical steps. You're going to install WordPress, a theme, the plugins that add the functionality to your site. So that could be things like compressing images. If you're going

to be a food blogger, you'll need a recipe card because it's set up in a way that Google can properly read it and share your recipes with people who are looking for them. We have you install a caching plugin, which essentially helps your site load faster for visitors, which is a good user experience. We talked to you about things that you might not have thought about, like how to load the photos onto your site properly, because that one is such an important step, but it's very often overlooked is making sure your photos are sized correctly for the web and that you're compressing those images so that you're not bogging down your site when people come there. So we talk a lot about creating a positive user experience. And that means not only

creating content that people are going to like, but making your site function in a way that behind the scenes, it's doing what it needs to do so that your readers can get what they need quickly, not get frustrated and not take off because it's confusing or slow or whatever the case might be. Yeah, that user experience is a really important piece that we truly do dive into. You know, when we first started this, there was a lot of things that we've learned along the way, such as like having a big header that like if your image is huge at the top and it's using up all that real estate, that's really important. We give you reasons why. Like anything that we tell you to do in the boot

camp, it's because we've researched it. We've tested it. We know it's, this is something that we would recommend. And nothing that we tell you to do or instruct you to do or encourage you to do is ever just because. Like there is a reason because. There's a method to the madness that we have, essentially. So there's a reason behind everything that we recommend. And that's something that I feel really confident that we're able to share. Because if you're new to this, you need somebody who's willing to say, hey, I've been there and I've done this. And I wouldn't recommend that. You don't know what you don't know. And so that's what the bootcamp is, is it's offering that knowledge that we've already done, which I think is really helpful, such as like how to write a blog post, how to size your

images, how do you set up your pages? All of that stuff is really important. We teach you how to do that within the bootcamp. The content creation piece is something that we do spend time on because it's so much more than just sitting down and writing. I can remember saying that to Jennifer, I just want to write. And she had to have like a heart to heart with me one day and say, but you're not ever going to attract anybody that could actually benefit from your content if you're not willing to spend a little bit of time on keyword research and SEO. I was literally just sitting down and writing to write. That's just what I wanted to do. And I want to say here, you can totally do that for a blog, but I think that your goals have to align with that. If your goal is to grow a blog and turn

it into a business and make money off of it, you are going to need to do some keyword research and SEO, which we teach you in the course, how to do a basic level understanding of that. If you just want to write and you don't really want to worry about any of that stuff, then I would consider yourself more of a hobby blogger. And that's okay. There's space for all of those different types. So keep that in mind. But the bootcamp is truly designed for people who want to earn revenue for blogging. And that's completely possible still in 2023. That is totally possible to earn a significant revenue blogging. It takes time. It takes energy. It is not a business you will build overnight. It's just not. It's something that takes time to do. That doesn't mean it's just not. It's something that takes time to do. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing. I love my job. So yeah, it's really about looking at it from a holistic aspect and saying, what do I want to do with this? And what we want to do is provide you with all of that.

So it's not just setting up your blog, but we're going to teach you how to create content that can grow it. And we're also going to teach you or at least give you resources in regards to treating your blog like a business. So we have people that we can refer you to if you have legal questions. If you want to talk about trademarking your name, you're going to need disclaimers and things like that on your site. We're not just going to tell you, oh, it's fun to blog and here you go. There's going to be everything you need, like all the resources that you need to set your blog up to be successful and to be a business. Yes. And I think that's an important question to ask yourself too. Is that me? Is that what I want?

And ask yourself that. And when you ask yourself that question, if you say to yourself, well, I don't think I could ever grow it as a business. I'm going to encourage you to think highly of yourself and ask yourself, do I want that? Don't just sell yourself short before you've ever started. Because I truly believe that anybody can make it in blogging if they put in the work, if they put in the time and energy that it takes, if they set it up correctly and all of that. I don't think that's a special thing that you have to do. I think it's just staying the course. And so knowing that the mindset piece is a really important piece, like we said, and that's definitely going to be integrated throughout because we all have bad days. We all have days that we have imposter syndrome or feel like, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this or whatever because of the blogging or a lot of other things in life. But we really

do want to be your cheerleaders in this and remind you of why you wanted to start your blog, why you signed up for the bootcamp, why you dove into this, why you've decided this is your path. That's really important. So who is the blog bootcamp created for? Really, it is for people who know that they want to start a blog. And it is more geared towards people who want to grow it as a business and take it pretty seriously. Now, that does not mean that people who are working 40 hours a week, that can mean like you have 10 hours a week to work on your blog. So it is for people who

want to put in the time, energy, and effort in that six-week period to get it up and running. And what better time to do that than now? I truly believe that if you put in the time and you follow the checklist that we provide in the course, you can have your blog set up in six weeks. We generally say it'll take about 10 to 15 hours a week to do the course and to set up and all of that. So just make sure that you have the time for that. Make that commitment to yourself. Remind yourself of the reasons why you want to do this and why you're going to see it through, even when there are things that you're not going to be able to understand at that given time. It will definitely be a learning process that Jennifer and I will be there with you

every step of the way. That truly is the purpose of this community. We could easily create this course and not have the community aspect. We could create the course and not give you access to Slack. That just doesn't feel right, to be honest. It's never felt right to us to just sell this course. We are only launching it four times in 2023. And part of that is because we want to be there for our students. We want to be there in the best way possible for you. And so it's a great option for anybody who knows that they need that help and support and the guidance, the guidance that you're doing things the right way. That way you don't, like if you're working on something and you go down the completely wrong path and now you've lost hours and hours of time,

we can prevent that. We can help streamline it. So while six weeks might feel like, wow, can I really get that done? I would just ask yourself, do I actually think I could get it done in less time? Or would the accountability push me forward to where I could have my blog up and running by two months after? I mean, that's pretty incredible. So the community aspect is one of my favorite parts of it. I think it's Jennifer's too. So the community aspect is one of my favorite parts of it. I think it's Jennifer's too. Yeah, I know we've looked at this a million different ways. And we said the only way we want to do this is if we can be working with our students

and be available as a resource and be able to answer those questions directly with them, because that's the way it feels right. And that's what helps us learn and grow and our students learn and grow as well. Yeah. We also have an opportunity right now that any bootcamp student can, after they're done, join our continuing membership that we have. It's called the Ultimate Blog Membership. And anybody who joins the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp gets one month free into that monthly membership. And so you are not just going to get support throughout that six-week period in the Ultimate

Blog Bootcamp. But if you want to stay connected to us and want to receive training each and every month in regards to like a blogging topic, you're going to have that opportunity to do so in the Ultimate Blog Membership. It is currently only offered to those people who join the boot camp. We might be changing that someday, but we're just not quite sure about when in that group, we do two calls every month and you get a training call that we either bring in a guest expert or Jennifer and I coach and train on something. And then we have a live Q and a every month in there where our students can ask us questions. Maybe they want to dive deeper into a specific topic. Maybe they have questions regarding their own blog. It really is just

like this open forum that you can ask questions that you have that month. There are lots of pep talks that happen. I'm notorious for a good pep talk. And I think sometimes it helps just to be with other people who are doing what you're doing. That's what makes the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp so different. I think when we surround ourselves with people who encourage us to level up, it's amazing what we are capable of. And that's what we want to invite you into is to level up. If you have decided, I want to start a blog. I want to do this the right way.

I don't have time to waste, actually. I don't want to have to figure this out on my own and I can really use some support and encouragement. We would love to have you in the bootcamp. And so if you have any more questions about whether or not this might be a good fit for you, there's a couple of different ways that you can connect to us. You can join our email list. We will put a link in our show notes to make sure that you're on our email list. And then you can also reach out to us on Instagram at sparkmediaconcepts, or just send us an email at sparkmediaconceptskc at gmail.com. And we would be happy to talk to you. And you could let us, if you could just let us know a little bit about what you're thinking

about, maybe what you want to start a blog about, anything else you'd like to share. We would love to just connect with you and help you navigate whether or not this would be a good fit. Because something that we've also thought a lot about is we want the bootcamp to be a good fit for you. We want it to be the answer to the problem that you're having

or to the dream that you have. We don't, our goal isn't to sell a bajillion bootcamps to people who don't utilize them. Our goal is to turn you into bloggers and do that the right way. So we really do want this to be a good fit for you. So please just reach out to us if you have any questions

about anything that we've gone over today. And like I said, we're launching this four times in 2023. So you'll have four different opportunities, but we would love to have you in, in the January round. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at spark media concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are

ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.