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Samuli

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
61%
Oct 29, 2012
18
11
Hey everyone,

It's time to bite the bullet and aim to do everything I can with all that I have.

I just begun a fitness business http://www.VahvaFitness.com
Lifestyle website http://www.VahvaLifestyle.com

and my personal website http://www.SamuliTapio.com where I talk about the challenges I face and everything that interests me(reality).

It has been 3 days, and we launched pretty successfully. Lots of views and subscribes, but we aren't planning to make any money for the next 1-3 months.

One thing. The uncertainty is both awesome and horrifying because I seriously know nothing.

If you have any tips regarding my sites, I would appreciate it 110%.

I am already working 24/7 and eight days a week, and doing everything that I can.

I wish you all the best,

Samuli Tapio
 
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Carnage

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
152%
Sep 4, 2015
173
263
33
What do you plan to do with these blogs?
I see on your fitness website you offer online coaching and an infoproduct.
What exactly are the other two for?
 

phenom4hire

Onwards and Upwards
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
80%
Mar 26, 2011
119
95
37
Jesup, GA
@Carnage-He also has a section for body weight exercise equipment although I didn't realize he sold anything right away. The site looks simple and clean even if a little hard to distinguish what it is for. I would have swore it was just a blog with some fitness post at first glance. I would find a way to make sure your viewers know that you sell these fitness products immediately coming to your site without being to in your face about it. Im sure you can also mention this at the end of your articles as well especially if a specific article relates to a specific product that your offer. Ill go over all three sites again and try to offer more insight. Good job on taking action.
 

Samuli

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
61%
Oct 29, 2012
18
11
What do you plan to do with these blogs?
I see on your fitness website you offer online coaching and an infoproduct.
What exactly are the other two for?

Online coaching is just personal training that happens via internet on email and skype, the goal is to offer personal training in bodyweight and fitness skills.

The info product is for collecting leads(mailing list).

@Carnage-He also has a section for body weight exercise equipment although I didn't realize he sold anything right away. The site looks simple and clean even if a little hard to distinguish what it is for. I would have swore it was just a blog with some fitness post at first glance. I would find a way to make sure your viewers know that you sell these fitness products immediately coming to your site without being to in your face about it. Im sure you can also mention this at the end of your articles as well especially if a specific article relates to a specific product that your offer. Ill go over all three sites again and try to offer more insight. Good job on taking action.

It actually is a fitness blog but fitness blogs can be immensely successful if done right. Blog is only one piece of the puzzle though. Blog is just a way to drive traffic and collect leads, and so is YouTube and other social media.

Right now, we want to make the blog the best resource there is for bodyweight skills, so when people search the terms, they find our site. Almost no one can do what my friend can do, so we have a niche that requires a high level of expertise, which means there is less competition among other "internet marketers".

Our focus is on growth, collecting leads and building reputation. We aren't planning to make any or much money in the first 1-6 months(and we have prepared for this). Many successful YouTube channels took 1-3 years to become popular, and websites usually take a minimum of 6 to 12 months.

We will have a real product(it's in progress) once we get significant traffic and after we have built more trust in the bodyweight community.

Some profit will come from the affiliate links (like the training equipment section and we also have affiliate links in most posts), but we aren't directly asking anyone to buy anything. Visitors will buy what they need and we will merely give them the tools to do so, I believe this is the way to market these days.

Thanks for the great feedback - I try to make the website as clear as possible. In a way, the websites are only going through the first phase of real experimenting.
 
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Carnage

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
152%
Sep 4, 2015
173
263
33
Your youtube channel has some impressive stuff.

I think you should have a promo/intro video that showcases a bunch of stuff you can do to hook people in.
 

Blue1214

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
368%
Jun 26, 2014
71
261
Hey everyone,

It's time to bite the bullet and aim to do everything I can with all that I have.

I just begun a fitness business http://www.VahvaFitness.com
Lifestyle website http://www.VahvaLifestyle.com

and my personal website http://www.SamuliTapio.com where I talk about the challenges I face and everything that interests me(reality).

It has been 3 days, and we launched pretty successfully. Lots of views and subscribes, but we aren't planning to make any money for the next 1-3 months.

One thing. The uncertainty is both awesome and horrifying because I seriously know nothing.

If you have any tips regarding my sites, I would appreciate it 110%.

I am already working 24/7 and eight days a week, and doing everything that I can.

I wish you all the best,

Samuli Tapio


With the blog you're going to want to start building that list as much as you can. The opt-in box isn't very appealing (looks nice, but not convincing). Instead of "receive the new updates" be more specific.

"Members of our mailing list receive exclusive vahva recipes, excercise routines, and more. (Join now button)"

Trust me this makes a huge difference. I built an email list based on a different niche and these small changes help.

Also, make sure you're using some kind of tool like longtail pro to determine which keywords will help you get the most traffic without too much competition.

Same thing goes for that "sign up to newsletter button" on the other site. People aren't going to be very interested if you're not offering anything.
 

Samuli

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
61%
Oct 29, 2012
18
11
Your youtube channel has some impressive stuff.

I think you should have a promo/intro video that showcases a bunch of stuff you can do to hook people in.

Good idea. We will do it once we have more video content. Right now, we try to produce as much as good quality content as possible. The videos can then act as a fast and great resource for our website's articles.

Many people run their businesses on YouTube alone, so this is a platform we try to focus 100%. But unlike most similar fitness businesses, we also take every advantage from the seo optimized website and mailing lists.

With the blog you're going to want to start building that list as much as you can. The opt-in box isn't very appealing (looks nice, but not convincing). Instead of "receive the new updates" be more specific.

"Members of our mailing list receive exclusive vahva recipes, excercise routines, and more. (Join now button)"

Trust me this makes a huge difference. I built an email list based on a different niche and these small changes help.

Also, make sure you're using some kind of tool like longtail pro to determine which keywords will help you get the most traffic without too much competition.

Same thing goes for that "sign up to newsletter button" on the other site. People aren't going to be very interested if you're not offering anything.

I'm only using google trends for keywords, but I look into Longtail pro, it does look interesting.

I am doing more keywords research for the lifestyle site. I am no longer a firm believer in niche sites but if you browse through the posts, half of them are somehow "matcha" related. Matcha is our niche, which we try to cover 100%. After that is done, we focus on something new.

Every post should act as a niche site.

Good tips on the opt-in forms. Only 3 days after the launch, I already changed some opt-in forms. This is real experimenting: testing what actually works.
 
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Samuli

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
61%
Oct 29, 2012
18
11
With the blog you're going to want to start building that list as much as you can. The opt-in box isn't very appealing (looks nice, but not convincing). Instead of "receive the new updates" be more specific.

"Members of our mailing list receive exclusive vahva recipes, excercise routines, and more. (Join now button)"

Trust me this makes a huge difference. I built an email list based on a different niche and these small changes help.

Also, make sure you're using some kind of tool like longtail pro to determine which keywords will help you get the most traffic without too much competition.

Same thing goes for that "sign up to newsletter button" on the other site. People aren't going to be very interested if you're not offering anything.


Improved tremendously the front page banner opt-in and now I think it looks 1000% better! We are also offering an extensive 30 page guide now.

http://www.vahvafitness.com/

This is the great thing about running an internet business: you can change things immediately.

We also just added a new movement video on YouTube. My friend is a beginner in video editing(he does it) but he is continuously getting better in every aspect he needs to (fitness, editing, promoting).

 

FastNAwesome

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
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117%
May 23, 2011
1,116
1,301
Went to check out your websites, ended up enjoying article after article.

I love the content, and dislike pop-ups.
 

tekcraze

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
86%
Apr 21, 2011
79
68
Canada
Hey everyone,

It's time to bite the bullet and aim to do everything I can with all that I have.

I just begun a fitness business http://www.VahvaFitness.com
Lifestyle website http://www.VahvaLifestyle.com

and my personal website http://www.SamuliTapio.com where I talk about the challenges I face and everything that interests me(reality).

It has been 3 days, and we launched pretty successfully. Lots of views and subscribes, but we aren't planning to make any money for the next 1-3 months.

One thing. The uncertainty is both awesome and horrifying because I seriously know nothing.

If you have any tips regarding my sites, I would appreciate it 110%.

I am already working 24/7 and eight days a week, and doing everything that I can.

I wish you all the best,

Samuli Tapio

Love the enthusiasm but starting a bunch of things at once never works as well as it seems. I've done similarly (having a bunch of stuff going at the same time) and it is hard to get enough momentum to get anything really going because your focus is split between a bunch of things.

For me, once I started focusing on one thing I really started to see success because at that point I was fully invested in making that one thing work. When I had a bunch of stuff going, the random activity across multiple areas made it seem like I was progressing when really all I was doing was burning out.

My two cents...not saying it's not possible but for years I read and was told the same advice I'm giving you and thought I was different and could do it...turned out I was wrong. Once you acheive sustainable growth in one area then you can expand and do more but I wouldn't advise coming out of the gate trying to hit 3 home runs at the same time.
 
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Samuli

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
61%
Oct 29, 2012
18
11
Went to check out your websites, ended up enjoying article after article.

I love the content, and dislike pop-ups.

Glad you liked it. Our plan is to provide high quality content and improve the quality as we improve as producers.

Love the enthusiasm but starting a bunch of things at once never works as well as it seems. I've done similarly (having a bunch of stuff going at the same time) and it is hard to get enough momentum to get anything really going because your focus is split between a bunch of things.

For me, once I started focusing on one thing I really started to see success because at that point I was fully invested in making that one thing work. When I had a bunch of stuff going, the random activity across multiple areas made it seem like I was progressing when really all I was doing was burning out.

My two cents...not saying it's not possible but for years I read and was told the same advice I'm giving you and thought I was different and could do it...turned out I was wrong. Once you acheive sustain
ble growth in one area then you can expand and do more but I wouldn't advise coming out of the gate trying to hit 3 home runs at the same time.

This is good advice and I too believe in simplicity. The thing is, I'm not doing this alone and our 1. priority is the fitness site, the rest come second. We will focus on the lifestyle site but it's a site we update when we have achieved the daily goals for the other sites. The sites are interconnected too so they support each other.

I will be ready to drop all the unnecessary sites, if I see no sustainable growth.

Samuli
 

Tom.V

Tom
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
237%
Feb 20, 2012
977
2,314
34
San Juan
Once you acheive sustainable growth in one area then you can expand and do more but I wouldn't advise coming out of the gate trying to hit 3 home runs at the same time.

This. Polygamy in business is the same as it would be with starting a new relationship. It's generally an early death sentence for a budding entrepreneur. Pick one thing and kill it.
 

Samuli

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
61%
Oct 29, 2012
18
11
It's been exactly one week since I launched the websites.

I think I have learned a lot in just one week, and now I know a few things for certain.

I know the sites look great, because I have received dozens of compliments.

We are also 100% sure we are good enough and professional enough for people to enjoy our content.

I have had average 750 views per day on http://www.SamuliTapio.com and around 500 views per day on http://www.VahvaFitness.com , and the bounce rate is about 1% and the average time spent reading those sites is around 5 minutes each(I believe the industry standard is 1.5 minutes).

Our "how to move like a monkey" also got viral on reddit, and people loved it.

Now it feels like that we just need to keep on producing more quality content, keep marketing ourselves and keep on working even if success takes from months to a year.
 
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