25 Things You Can Learn From Lea Woodward

1. Create a street team.

Lea has created a street team to help create buzz for her blog.

2. Create Starter guides for new readers

Lea has a section dedicated to starter guides. These draw attention and links to the site, and also have viral potential.

3. Create a ‘As Seen In’ section

Lea has a section dedicated to prominent press mentions in her sidebar. I’ve seen this in many popular blogs and it adds a lot of credibility.

 4. Joint venture on products for the store

Lea has an option where you can write your own guide for the store, in return for a percentage of the income. This is a way to extend your range and promote other writers.

5. Create a section where your readers can network

Lea has introduced The Clubhouse where readers can connect and network. This is done via Ning and is really useful. I’ve seen people use this for the communities of their paid products.

6. Bring on a coach

Lea has introduced an ask the coach section for her blog. This is useful as it introduces a new voice and encourages the readers to return.

7. Create two editions of the same product

Leo offers two editions of her first ebook. I think this is a really useful technique. It gives the reader, and affiliate, the choice of what information they want. I can see this working for many online courses.

8. Offer a class on unclass

Lea has created a class for potential location independants on Unclasses.org. I haven’t explored this site much, but is a useful way of teaching and meeting more people.

9. Create a wiki

Lea has created a global costs of living wiki. This has helped her site get attention, but it also allows users to create their own content and contribute to the community. This is a really interesting addition to add to any site.

10. Create badges for other websites

Lea has a page where people can download badges to use on their website, as well as organic T-shirts with their logo on it. This allows other people to promote the location independent concept as well as their site.

11. Create a facebook fan page

Many people have their own fan pages. A trend I’ve seen lately is creating a page around a concept rather than a brand. This can allow the page to really go viral and reach a lot more people.

12. Create a custom hashtag

Lea created a custom hashtag – #LIP – for people talking about location independent concepts. This is a fascinating concept and I’ve seen it expand beyond the brand.

13. Have a crowdsourced ebook

14. Brand the site beyond the adventure

15. Change the sidebar according to reader interest

When researching this article, I noticed that the sidebar changed according to what section of the site you were on. I’m not sure how to do this but it is a fascinating idea!

16. Tell your readers of ways they can be featured

Lea has a link in the header telling people about the ways they can be featured. This is a really useful idea for those who are looking to generate a community around their blog.

17. Highlight the blogging team

Lea has a seperate category for the guest writers and talks about the regular writers often. Again, this builds a sense of familiarity around the site.

18. Have a category for personal updates

Lea has added a category in the sidebar for posts dedicated to her personal location independent journey. This helps to seperate the person from the brand.

19. Have a free podcast

A free podcast is a very useful way of promoting your site to different audiences – especially those search on podcast websites. I would recommend that you try to create a professional product, where possible.

20. Have a twitter question and answer day

This is something that can work for many websites and communities. It helps if you have people from all over the world, as it means most of your questions will get answered.

21. Include navigation in the footer

Lea has the same links in the footer that she does in the header. This encourages the users to stay on site and visit other sections.

22. Separate longer posts into two parts

This has many practical applications. I still prefer one longer post, but having seperate posts can be more user friendly.

23. Feature similar people in interviews

I do this. It ensures that all interviews are relevant to your readers and can increase conversions if you are recommending affiliate products.

24. Offer a bonus for select affiliates

I have seen many prominent businesses use this. It is either done manually, or the bonus is given to those who reach certain sales targets.

25. Offer answers to questions in twitter length

Lea did this in the post Twitter Length Answers To Common Location Independent Questions. While I think this is interesting, it may have no practical applications due to the character limits.