- Ruth Soukup
- Ruth Soukup on Instagram
- Living Well Spending Less®
- ruth@ruthsoukup.com
- The Living Well Planner®
- Elite Blog Academy®
- Do It Scared by Ruth Soukup
- The Do It Scared Fear Assessment™
- Small Business Roadmap
- How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul
- Making It Home
- Making It Home on Facebook
- Making It Home on Instagram
- Making It Home on Pinterest
- Making It Home on Twitter
- Making It Home on YouTube
- Monumetric
- Financial Peace University
- How to Survive as a Traditional Homemaker in the Age of Third Wave Feminism
- How to Be More Feminine And Why It’s a Good Thing
- Embracing Your Inner Badass Every Single Day with Jen Sincero
So today, EBA member Barb Hudson is Getting Ruthed. In fact, this is our first ever segment of Get Ruthed an online one-on-one coaching session with me and one of my students. Barb is the founder of Making it Home, and her fledgling business is focused on helping women embrace homemaking, homesteading, and a more traditional lifestyle. This is a topic that can sometimes even be controversial.
Barb’s business is in its early stages. She has written a few articles that have generated a lot of attention and a lot of criticism Which has sometimes been hard for her to deal with. I hope you like this episode where I dig into Barb’s business and try to find the real reasons that are holding her back. I’d love to know what you think of this episode, so send me an email or social message.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Elite Blog Academy, our online program that teaches you step-by-step how to build a successful, profitable, and sustainable online business. Whether you already have a business or you’re just thinking about starting one, EBA provides a comprehensive and proven approach to finding your message, growing your audience, and generating sustainable revenue. Join our free training just for podcast listeners.
Highlights
[06:45] Making It Home is about the struggles that Barb had being a homemaker. It felt like she had to be an educated woman or a full-time homemaker.
[07:25] She wanted a blog where women would feel safe choosing to nurture their home. She covers topics like homesteading, simple living, and healthy eating.
[07:47] Barb’s struggles include building her list. She wants 1000 subscribers. In EBA, you need 1000 subscribers before launching your first product.
[09:15] Barb wants to do online courses. She wants to help young homemakers who may not have been taught homemaking skills at home.
[10:09] She wants to create quick plan less meals and Home Ec 101 for a new generation.
[11:50] Barb creates a blog post a week. She took a month off to kick-off her YouTube channel. She has 610 blog subscribers. On YouTube, she makes one video a week and has 123 subscribers. She gets about 150-200 page views a day.
[13:57] She gets about 7000 unique visitors a month. With lower traffic, Barb should try to increase her conversion rate for subscribers.
[16:07] Lead gens that are in the sidebar or way down the post don’t show up in mobile.
[16:43] To grow her traffic, Barb needs more content. She is splitting her attention between the blog and YouTube.
[17:28] You need to get momentum in one thing to see the traffic. Focus matters.
[18:58] Being scared is a sign that you have to do something. Action is the cure.
[21:15] Barb has a traffic problem and an on-site conversion problem.
[23:38] Barb started the YouTube channel, because it was easier for her.
[24:19] Barb and her husband have been struggling. She wants to be debt free and get a homestead. She wants to earn a living, so that they don’t have to struggle anymore.
[26:12] Barb is also having issues with imposter syndrome.
[27:08] If she really wants it, she needs to find superhuman effort to do what she needs to do.
[29:11] Barb can build a business. She has even already had a post go viral. She has a lot of assets in her favor. She is what is holding her back.
[31:55] Sometimes, Barb feels that she doesn’t deserve happiness. She also has guilt for spending time on her blog.
[33:44] The past is done. We can only move forward. We get to start over.
[36:49] It’s time for Barb to stop making excuses and be there for her family.
[40:30] Barb is also struggling with her avatar. She needs to do brainstorming sessions and make up a story about her avatar that resonates.
[44:15] She has a goal of having her own homestead. Her readers will love following her journey. Being herself is what she needs to do.
[48:41] Barb struggles with having to be the Christian that her readers expect, instead of the Christian she is.
[51:04] Be honest and be the right person and the right fit for your people.
[53:24] Barb’s viral posts were controversial, and she got hate comments. One of them was titled How to Survive as a Traditional Homemaker in the Age of Third Wave Feminism. She got 500 views in one day.
[56:45] Controversial posts are the most authentic. Allow yourself to shine through. You’re not going to be for everyone.
[58:25] Her other viral post was How to Be More Feminine And Why It’s a Good Thing.
[01:01:39] Ruth recaps what Barb can do to get her traffic up, so that she can launch a course.
[01:03:30] Four Big Action Steps for Barb to Take: Lean in to her quirkiness. Make immediate changes to her avatar and who she is writing to. Barb needs to get her traffic up. She needs to resolve to herself to start working harder than anyone and stop self-sabotaging herself.
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Just wanted to say thank you for this episode! I loved hearing the story of someone who has not achieved a big level of success yet and was real about her life and story. I’m a new blogger and am really getting stuck in my own way on my blogging journey too. This episode really touched me and I’m just really thankful for it. As a current EBA student, it inspired me and I’m hoping to take some of the points to heart. I’d sure love to “get ruthed”! If Ruth is ever looking for someone else to pick apart on a future episode – sign me up! Either way, just thanks for the episode, and I really hope she does more like it – it was really needed and it really touched me (and I’ll have you know, I don’t take a lot of time out of my day to comment on stuff – i just don’t have the time – so this episode really did something to me!). Thanks again for all you do to help us live our dreams!
I loved listening to this episode. I wish it had aired before registering for your coaching program had closed because I would have definitely enrolled. I have put myself on the waitlist. I’m not a blogger – I do write blogs at least once a month – but I am a solopreneur and the advice you gave so resonated with me and what I needed to hear. Thank you so much for airing this.
Thank you, Barb, for your willingness to share and invite us along your journey. Your story is so relatable and I found myself nodding to your comments understanding where you are coming from. Thank you, Ruth, for your honest and caring assessment of where she is at (and I’m at!!) and the kick in the pants we both needed to hear. I have an action plan now too.
This was awesome! Please do more of these! Thank you Barb for your authenticity, you are amazing and I know you will do great things with your business. You were speaking for a lot of us with your honesty. Ruth’s advice was gold. Thank you!
This was such a good episode!!! I felt like I related to her on so many levels. I left feeling empowered and motivated to kick butt and get my blog off the ground and stop stalling. I’ve been doing EBA for 2 years and I’ve been self sabotaging the whole time. No more. Thanks, Barb for being authentic and thank you, Ruth, for being honest with her. It’s just what I needed to hear.
This was one of the best podcast I have heard,because I related! A real life person going thru the struggle… we often listen to stories of those who already made it, but this felt more real! I related on so many levels! Thank You Barb for keeping it real! For having the courage to share the real raw behind the scene feel. We all have the same issues! Knowing how to get through it is what I want to know! This really helped!
Excellent! Loved the truth and authenticity from Barb. Ruth is the Dr.Phil for bloggers! Think I see a new career for Ruth as “blog therapist “. So caring, truthful and what wisdom. Hope Barb takes the advice and continues her journey to the next level. A follow up podcast with Barb might be good. Think I will check out Barb’s blog. Ruth you are amazing!!
Wow! Great episode and so inspiring. I’m glad I listened to this. Mind over matter. Thank you so much for this podcast.
This was possibly the most powerful episode yet. I felt like you were speaking right to me, and I listened to it 3-4 times in a couple day span to stay encouraged. Thank you!!
I really enjoyed this episode…
I would like to be a blogger & YouTuber in the future…
Would love advice how to start…
I have procrastinator syndrome…
I have content to show…
My house & a big part of our shop is full of “stuff” that I need to get rid of!! Would be great content to show how I struggle, & to get rid of stuff!!
This was the best podcast that I have ever listened to . It felt as if you were talking to me . I actually listened to the very end .
Love the ‘Get Ruthed’ episode. I fall into many of the same pitfalls and appreciate the pep-talk.
This was so inspirational. Thank you Barb for being so open and honest.