Are you ready for the last quarter of the year?
This is Q4 for us bloggers and do you know what that means?
It’s considered the quarter where bloggers can make the MOST money.
Many bloggers actually make ALL their income in this last quarter.
It’s that profitable.
Do you want a slice of that pie?
Over the years as a blogger, I’ve learned how to leverage Q4 to make more money.
I usually release courses during this time and create a lot of evergreen content for more traffic and places for my affiliate links.
But, if this is your first Black Friday frenzy as a blogger, then let’s look at how you can take advantage of entire last quarter so that when Black Friday rolls around, you are making sales.
In this guide, I will share with you how blog traffic changes season to season, my 13-week traffic and income plan, what to do the week before Black Friday and a converting Black Friday launch plan.
Are you ready?
I have never shared any of this information on my blog or courses before!
How Blog Traffic Changes Seasonally
For many bloggers the graph above is typical of traffic throughout the year. The only exceptions are high domain authoritative brands, businesses and blogs that cater to spring and summer like wedding blogs and travel blogs.
Their blog traffic is the opposite, with high traffic months during the spring and summer and low during the winter and new year.
Q1: Jan 1- March 31
The results of blogging you did in December will pay off in January the most. You will see an increase in pageviews and sales if you followed my blog traffic recipe.
However, with that boost, you will see traffic tanking in February and March.
Many bloggers are excited for a new year but this enthusiasm wanes by March.
During this time Google and Pinterest usually go through a round of updates and algorithm changes.
This quarter – Q1 – is still a great quarter to start thinking of more course ideas, lead magnets to get more of a converted audience.
I also use this time to write big pillar posts that will bring traffic all year long.
I do this as a way to piggyback from the boost in pageviews from December.
With new and highly valuable blog posts, traffic stays and converts.
Q2: April 1 – June 30
The second quarter is a popular quarter to get back into the swing of things and blog more consistently.
As well, many bloggers launch products during Q2 because this is right before the slowest quarter (summer).
Affiliate products may also have deals and launches during this time as well, making it a good quarter to promote your affiliate offerings.
During this quarter, I don’t usually do much except create more lead magnets to grow my email list and create more networking opportunities with guest posting or guest podcasting.
Q3: July 1 – Sept. 30
This is the slowest time in the blogging world. Pageviews take a dip because people are outside or taking a blogging break to be with family and enjoy summer.
I mean, this is what happens to me!
My twins are done with school and I am suddenly running all over town doing swimming lessons or play dates and plan road trips.
I decrease my time blogging over the summer so I can spend time with my family!
During this time, start thinking of your holiday gift guides and round up posts.
Many bloggers start promoting holiday gift guides in September so you can get a jump start by writing those posts in the summer.
Start trying out more products and services so you can become affiliates for (like other people’s courses).
This is a great time for education and learning more about blogging.
Q4: Oct. 1 – Dec. 31
The last quarter is when bloggers make the MOST income and a have a big boost in pageviews.
Many bloggers launch products during this time and affiliates launch their products too. Black Friday is also a very profitable time for bloggers.
It’s during this time that you can apply to Mediavine (an ad platform where you can display ads on your site and get paid per impression) since your traffic is on the up and you’re nearing their 50,000 session requirement.
You can leverage this by creating more blog posts and working to grow your email list.
Currently, I’ve been working on a new course for freelancers and will unveil it for Black Friday.
I’m also pumping out more long-form content on my site as a way to gain more pageviews in the next few months.
13 Week Traffic and Income Plan
The last quarter, Q4, is the best quarter to launch products, services and create content for traffic.
Let’s look at a 13-week plan that you can adopt to help you stay on track and create content that makes you money.
* Note: this plan is for creating a product in the beginning of Q4 and launching it later in the quarter. If you are not interested in creating a product right now, you can still follow the plan, just omit the course creation plan.
October Plan
In October, your goal is to create a digital product like a small course, one-hour masterclass or a full-blown course.
You can also create an eBook, planners, tripwires or printables.
The example in my plan is for a digital course like a masterclass. The idea is that this product is small but highly valuable. The topic and the format is what will make your product valuable.
You might have to take a survey of your audience or get some beta people to take your class or try your printables to see if it’s a viable product to sell.
October Takeaways
Emailing your list – in week two you will email your list and let them know about your new product or give them an update of your latest product.
You don’t want to surprise them on the day of the email that you launched a new course for them. Give them heads up and tell them exactly what you are working on.
This is what I did with my audience. The email subject line was: I’m creating something for you + (the point of your email, i.e easy ways to save money this holiday).
How has your week been, [FIRST NAME]?
Tomorrow the electrician is going to come to do some electrical work at the house that will take all day. This means no electricity in the house for over 8 hours!
So, right now my husband is packing up our fridge food and sending it to my MIL’s house for storage. This also means no working on the computer tomorrow, no TV and no toaster!
Luckily, today my in-laws are picking up my twins from school and doing a sleep over since tomorrow there is no school.
And, I’ve been working like a mad woman recording and writing lessons for something for you! Yay!
I’m working on a new course called (course name).
I even added five new lessons today! I’m excited to tell you more about it in the coming weeks. (Selling crafts) is a great way to stay home with your little ones and still make an income.
My last two crafts sold over $100 each!
—
I tell my audience the name of my new product and I entice them with mentioning I’ve added more lessons (making it more valuable) and giving them the benefits of buying this course (selling crafts is lucrative).
Create a Facebook Live – If you know of an affiliate launch coming up – like Ultimate Bundles – then create a Facebook live during that event and use it to answer questions from your audience. This can be anytime in the 13 week plan.
Scheduling your pins – It’s important that you look like you’re on social media every day, even if you are not. I use Tailwind to schedule my pins so that my pins are circulating on Pinterest every hour of every day.
SEO Gift Guide – to leverage Google and Pinterest, you can create a piece of content that pinners LOVE to save and can rank in Google. This means finding the best keyword for your gift guide and you can leverage it more by adding affiliate links like I did with this gift guide for writers.
If you need help with SEO, check out these posts:
- 129 SEO Topics for Writing Your Next Blog Post
- SEO Writing and Pinterest Topics for Your Blog
- What is SEO?
November Plan
In November, you’re gearing up for the Grey Friday Black Friday launch. Ideally, this is for your digital product, but if your affiliates are also having a Black Friday deal, this plan would be suitable.
* Grey Friday is typically for products you already have and want to boost income with a flash sale.
November Takeaways
- Make sure you have finalized everything you need before you launch your product.
- While it’s not in the calendar, do email your list and keep mentioning your product and where you are at with it.
- If you want, create a Facebook Live and open the live for questions about your new product. This gets them excited and your product on their mind. If you don’t have a product you’re creating, do a Facebook live on an affiliate product.
December Plan
December is the downfall of all the lead up to Black Friday.
But, don’t let that stop you from creating more content. This is the PERFECT time to start writing daily to boost your traffic and get you into Mediavine.
December Takeaways
- Find the time to blog every day. The blog posts you create every day don’t have to be long-form, but they do have to be valuable. So, roundups are your best friend here!
- If you are an affiliate for a blog hosting plan – Bluehost, Siteground etc.. – you can start promoting the idea of starting blog. Create a Facebook Live and email your list about this topic.
The Week Before Black Friday
An easy way to boost your income is to create a deal the week before Black Friday called Grey Friday!
This is almost a flash sale where you have an existing product and offer a deal on it for a very short time.
The best way to take advantage of a Grey Friday deal is to do a Facebook Live and during that Live offer your discount deal.
When the Live is finished, the deal is gone.
Teachable makes it easy to discount your products so when the day comes, set the discount for that day and when your Live is done, remove the discount manually.
In Teachable go to coupons –> this course only –> and create the coupon.
Your Facebook Live can be about a valuable topic that isn’t marketing.
For example, you can do a Q/A regarding your niche and mention your Grey Friday Sale in the beginning of your live.
Leading up to your Grey Friday Facebook Live, make sure to let your list know about it and promote it on social media like Twitter and on your Facebook page.
Personally, I wouldn’t mention that you’re doing a Grey Friday Facebook Live as this is too markety.
Instead, talk about the benefits – Q/A On Healthy Tips for Busy Moms Live or How to Prepare For Baby Lead Weaning Live.
Black Friday Launch Plan
Your Black Friday Launch plan will be for your own products or affiliate products.
If you created a product in October/November then this will be the time you launch your product.
If you already have products, then this would be the time to create bundles and discount your bundles or discount your course.
I will provide a 4 day email sequence.
These emails are sent before Black Friday, during Black Friday, after Black Friday and on Cyber Monday
* Many bloggers also use Cyber Monday as a way to extend their deals and make more money.
Email 1: Before Black Friday:
email subject line: I answered your questions + (special tip) —> Regarding my course
(insert personal story)
Did you catch my Facebook Live over on my Facebook page last week?
I answered all your questions about (course name).
And guess what? I show a sneak peak of what you’ll get when it’s available.
My favorite questions were:
- How much money can you really make (what your course is about – making crafts to sell)?
- Does your course talk about (ex: materials to make crafts)?
- Does your course help me (make money selling crafts)?
If you missed it, make sure to check it out today!
(go into special tip)—
Guess what? Over the weekend when I was searching on Pinterest, I suddenly had this amazing idea on how to (good tip relating to your product).
It’s my little secret hack. Want to know about it?
Here it is – (explain your tip).
Okay – hit reply and let me know if you’re excited about (course)! There are only X more days until it becomes available!
And I will have a very special deal just for my subscribers! Be on the lookout later this week.
(signature)
P.S. Check out my Facebook Live replay for more info on (course).
Email 2: Black Friday Email
email subject line: Black Friday for (your audience) – (course) is Here and It’s 40% Off! (Black Friday for writers – (course) is Here and It’s 40% Off
If your email subject line is too long, consider changing it up. Fore example, say “my new course” instead of the name of your course.
I strongly suggest you leave in “Black Friday for (audience)” in your email subject line since your subscribers will have a ton of emails in their inbox about Black Friday and you don’t want to be left out.
It’s up to you if you want to disclose how long the deal is for in your email.
One more thing – if you want, give your subscribers an “out” of these marketing emails.
First things first. If you don’t want to hear about my Black Friday sale and my new course, just click here. You won’t hear anything from me all weekend! 🙂
I’ll keep this short and sweet because I’m sure you’re being bombarded with Black Friday offers everywhere!
(course) is here!
If you’ve been wanting to learn more about (x), my new course will help you!
And, I’m giving you a special offer today! Grab (course) for $100 off!
It will normally sell for $197, and I don’t know when (of if) I’ll be discounting it again.
But there’s more!
If you sign up today for a one-time payment of $97, I’ll throw in
- (ex)A 2-hour coaching call (worth $150)
- (ex) Access to my Writer’s Template Library (worth $35)
<< Click here if you’re ready to take advantage of this fantastic offer >>
But, if you sign up tomorrow, you will still get the discount, but no extra bonus offers.
It’s time to invest in yourself, (name).
1. (Course)
In this course you will (benefits of taking the course).
2. Writer’s Template Library
Inside this vault, you’ll get access to all of my templates – from pitches, to on-boarding email series to article trackers and more.
All this for only $97!
Don’t you love this time of the year? Right now it’s snowing majestically outside while I’m inside working from home in my cozy PJs and sipping a cup of toasty warm coffee.
Working from home is truly a blessing! And I truly want that for you. You can work from home. A mom that makes money blogging!
I’m here to help you and I want you to succeed – without breaking the bank!
Let me know if you have any questions!
(signature)
Email 3: Day After Black Friday
email subject line: Last Day to Get (course) for only $97
Personally, I would make this email more casual and conversational. You will still promote and market, but only to remind them that the offer will disappear after today. Using a countdown timer is effective for this too.
Did you survive Black Friday?
(tell personal story about your Black Friday ordeal)
I just wanted to hop into your inbox to let you know that (course) will go back to its original price of $197 after 11:59pm EST.
If you need more help on (benefits like creating crafts to sell), then make sure to scoop up this amazing deal!
I may not offer it at $97 again at such a low price!
Today is the last day!
If you have any questions, please email me! I’ll be here to help!
(signature)
Email 4: Cyber Monday
email subject line: You Can Still Grab (course) for 40% off!
This email can incorporate early testimonials from beta readers or Black Friday students.
This is the last time you’ll hear anything about Black Friday or Cyber Monday from me. I respect your inbox! 🙂
Today is Cyber Monday and is actually the biggest day for deals online! I love this day because that’s when I shop for all my twins’ Christmas presents. Plus, (more story).
I want to make this short and sweet – I’ve received a ton of emails from people asking if they could get (course) bundle still and I’ve had to say no.
But, I did’t want to leave you empty-handed either!
So, for Cyber Monday only, (course) is 40% off!
You can’t pass that up, (name)!
Here are some very recent results from students in (course).
Lisa hit the jackpot in such a short time since starting the course –
Exciting news to share and a testimony to how well Elna’s course works – I just sold 3 crafts totally $800!!! This is crazy and I can’t believe it. I never imagined this would happen to me so fast! Thanks Elna!
Gianna smashed her fear about selling crafts –
I just got off the phone with a customer that wants my customized onesie bear for $50! Thank you, Elna, for your wonderful course; I can honestly say that without it, I don’t think I would have found the courage to talk to others about my craft.
Mandi took the course and made mega cash with her crafts!
I wanted to share some exciting news! I have been trying for years to make money with crafts, but nothing worked until I read your lessons in your course. I used those lessons for my craft selling and the very next day started making money from it – over $200! Then the day after? $500! Thank you Elna for having such a valuable course! I will more than double my investment in this course with only my blog!
Today is your day to take action and make a living out of your crafts! Grab (course) for 40% off today!
(signature)
Email Sequence Takeaways
It’s up to you how you structure your emails. I highly suggest you don’t copy word for word these email templates.
Why?
Because when groups of people have the SAME emails, your emails will be deemed spam emails and not reach your subscriber’s inbox.
So, craft your own personal emails for your launch sequence.
The takeaways from this launch is to be upfront with your audience and share the benefits of taking your product.
It’s okay to lean into the negative aspects of NOT grabbing your product, but I personally don’t do that type of marketing or selling.
It’s best to hype up the benefits of your product.
Also note that these emails are just a template and won’t be used for my business (or even followed).
This template is one I used in the past and proved to be converting.
I hope you like!
Take Advantage of Q4
In psychology, you learn that people like certain times of the year for buying.
They adhere to this time frame and helps business make money.
You can just look on the calendar for Coffee Day or Donut Day and see companies using this to boost sales.
As bloggers, we are using the same concept for the last quarter of the year.
By using a time frame – Black Friday – you can make more sales and conversions!
Over to you – how do you leverage Q4 for more sales? Share in the comments!
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