This post is one-stop in the month-long Blogger Babes blog tour which began here. To read this post in-context, we recommend starting at the beginning–then hop along with us for the full journey.

Interestingly, this is Tsoniki and my tenth year blogging. I had websites since 2004, but my very first blog post was published in February 6, 2005. Regardless of the fact that we may be #digitaldinosaurs, there are always new tips, tools and resources available to make our blogging process easier or faster.

Streamlining your article writing process

Do you have a routine for writing your actual post?  Peck it out in MS Word, Notepad or Google Docs?

If you type in MS Word, you will find that you’re pasting unwanted formatting commands into your WordPress “Add New Post” Text area box, when you copy-paste your content into the latter.

Some people are fine with typing in a plain text editor such as Notepad – but others like to see what the finished post is going to look like before they import it.

My editor and I use Google Docs for article collaboration, but we’re transitioning over to Content Cloud since my partner Heidi and her editor love it so much. A blog task management system like Content Cloud is really helpful because because Heidi and I each have our own editor (though we both write or suggest articles for both blogs.) We also share an assistant,  a developer, a designer and two social media assistants. That’s a lot of people and work to track to keep Blogger Babes running efficiently.

A good task management system can help you streamline your production process to maximize your time and effort while minimizing stress for your team.

Two other task management systems that members of our team have used are CoSchedule and TeamWork.

 

The above resource is an excerpt from our debut “How to Write Blog Posts Faster” Tutorial, one of seven documents in our comprehensive Blogger Monthly Tutorials launching on May 1st. Each tutorial eKit comes with a tutorial, 21 tips sheet worksheet, calendar, worksheets, all our recommended tools and much more!

Click here to sign up for the Early Bird special release of $5 per month!

Win Two-Hours of Blog Coaching with Heidi and Ponn ($298 value)

We’re crowdsourcing the name of our Monthly Training tutorials. So, we need your help!

Grand Prize: Two-Hours of Blog Coaching by Blogger Babes Co-Founders (Value $298)

• Two one-hour blog coaching sessions, one with Heidi and one with Ponn. Coaching will be conducted separately on the phone (domestic), Skype, or our recorded webinar room (international).

How to Enter:

1. Make one comment below for each monthly subscription title you create. Make sure you use your primary email, so it’s easy for us to reach you if you win!

Rules:

1. Any age, any country. Minors with guardian’s permission.
2. Unlimited number of entries across any/all guest blog posts from now until Monday, April 20, 2015.
3. Deadline date: Monday, April 20, 2015 11:59 pm Pacific Time. [After all, we need time to design the covers. 😉 ]
4. Winner selection: Heidi and I will select one winner and announce it Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

You can even champion your title by letting us know on Twitter @TheBloggerBabes or Facebook @TheBloggerBabes.

[Note: these actions do not serve as contest entries. Official entries must be made on this blogpost…but, we’d love to connect with you nonetheless.]

Next Steps:

• Check out our draft sales page now, take some time, and share your proposed title below in the comments area on or before April 20th 11:59 pm Pacific time. While you’re there, sign up for our Early Bird release special!

• Follow the rest of my tour to meet new bloggers, “spy” on other creative title entries, and learn along with me. Here’s our blog tour schedule.

Can’t wait to read your replies!

Ponn Sabra is a best-selling author and homeschool mom of three tween and teen daughters, also bestselling authors and probloggers [https://PonnSabra.com]. The Managing Partner of Blogger Babes, Ponn finally gifted herself a sewing machine last month. Since she hasn’t sewn in over 25 years, she’s eager to frequent Tsoniki’s site to see herself “Be Crafty” again real soon. What have you gifted yourself lately?

There are several great reasons to start your own monthly subscription service. I’ve mentioned 5 mistakes to think of when starting your own creative subscription service and 4 advantages of having a subscription service as a part of your creative business. You might want to start one to grow your audience, make more money, and expand your business. But before you jump right into this new business venture, there are three important questions you need to ask yourself.

Question #1: Is this is a profitable area?

It doesn’t matter if your subscription service is the best idea ever if no one is willing to pay for it. You don’t have to spend six months researching an audience in order to figure this one out. Just look around. Are there other products that are selling well in the area you plan to build your subscription service on?

People are often looking to receive a regularly monthly shipment when it comes to fabric and other craft supplies, we can see many examples of this when looking at a variety of online quilt shops.

Question #2: Is this subscription site going to interest my existing audience?

Many creative business owners that launch a successful subscription have already built an existing audience. This is essential because you want your existing readers and subscribers to join your new membership site. Don’t launch a subscription service for knitters if your primary audience is quilters. You’ll only confuse your followers and overwhelm yourself by serving two different audiences.

Question #3: Is this a recurring need?

You want to build an audience that consistently needs what you have to offer. It’s okay if your product seems pretty basic – so is toilet paper but people still buy it each month. Remember if your audience doesn’t need or want to use your product each month, then it might be hard to generate sign-ups for your subscription service. The newest fabric is a great place to start with a subscription club, but so is something basic like solids or charm packs.

If you have an idea for a subscription site, then you should carefully evaluate it by asking the questions above. A great guide that will teach you how to start your own subscription site is Little Monthly Payments. This step-by-step resource shows you how to generate an idea for your subscription service and implement it.

For the month of February, you can save $30 on the course by using the code SAVE30BUCKS! Let me know what your idea is, I’d love to support you!

Earlier this week, I talked about five common mistakes for starting a subscription service. Today, let’s talk about the advantages of your creative subscription service!

Advantage #1: More time.

As a small business owner, time is one of your most valuable assets. With a subscription service, you don’t have to go out looking for new buyers in order to get paid again. You release a new product each month and enjoy the profits. You’ll save time that you can use to grow other branches of your business or to spend with loved ones.

Advantage #2: Keep costs down.

Depending on what you are selling, you may be able to purchase large quantities of product in bulk to help keep your costs down. Of course, if you are that embroidery designer I mentioned in Starting A Creative Subscription Service and you’re sending out PDF files, your costs will be minimal over the long term. You simply create the product one time, and sell the subscription! This is great because you do the work one time and continue to sell subscriptions.

You may have to pay for a few technical tools in the beginning, but the long-term cost of running a subscription service is low if you are offering embroidery patterns or other files delivered online. This is not a business model that you’ll have to sink hundreds or thousands of dollars into every year. You pay the initial costs then just up-keep or maintenance costs for things like hosting and domain names.

Advantage #3: Subscriber loyalty.

This is a big one. I am very loyal to my favorite fabric shops and when one announces a fabric club or block of the month, it is easy for me to say yes. I know I am going to consistently receive excellent customer service and I love the product.

When you consistently provide good content to your subscribers, they will become loyal. This is important to growing your business because happy, loyal customers are often willing to tell their friends or co-workers about your product. This can put even more money into your pocket each month.

Advantage #4: Subscribers spend more.

Once you’ve converted a subscriber into a loyal customer, then he is likely to look at your other products and services. A customer that feels like he’s receiving a lot of value for his $10 subscription will be more willing to pay for your $100 coaching session than a cold prospect would. This means that you shouldn’t be shy about sharing your other products and services with your current subscribers.

Starting a subscription service is a big task. But that’s where a course like Little Monthly Payments can help you. You’ll find that the process of launching a subscription service is broken down into easy to follow steps that you can start taking today.

Creating a subscription service is fun and exciting, but it also takes a lot of work and preparation. These four points show you that there are many advantages to having a subscription service offered as a part of your creative business, keep them in mind as you work to launch your own subscription site successfully. For the month of February, you can save $30 on the course by using the code SAVE30BUCKS! Let me know what your idea is, I’d love to support you!