💻 [OBO DIGEST] What 99 Cents/Month Gets You

Instagram Subscriptions, How to Make More By Doing Less, Onboarding New Team Members, How to Take a Sabbatical Every Month, and More

Written by: Online Business Owner • January 24, 2022

Did you play Wordle yet today? Is your newsfeed filled with green and yellow square emojis and you’re wondering why?

The super popular word game — taking social media by storm — is highly irresistible and booming in popularity (90 people played in November…this month it has over 2 million players).

The best part? It’s simple. No ads. No app. Just rows of squares on a simple website. It’s like the early days of the internet (oh how I miss those).

If you’re looking for a business lesson from the success of Wordle, look no further — it just proves that the old acronym KISS (keep it simple, stupid) is true. Plus, having a highly shareable piece of content from your business or brand — that also has a little mystery to it (the square emojis got lots of people interested) — never hurts!

News + Happenings

Instagram Launches Fan Subscriptions (as a test)

Instagram is at it…again! Last week Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced Subscriptions — a new feature that allows creators to charge a subscription fee for exclusive content.

The feature is currently in test mode with a small group of creators. The app hopes to add more creators to the test in the coming months.

Subscriptions will allow creators to set their own monthly subscription fee — between 99 cents and $99.99 — and give their followers access to exclusive content like subscriber-only Stories, Lives, and Story Highlights.

Subscribers also get a super snazzy purple 👑 badge next to their name in comments and messages so creators know who to treat extra special.

While Instagram’s parent company Meta won’t take a cut of Subscriptions until 2023, Creators will get hit with Apple’s often-debated 30% app store commission fee (and a 15% commission for transactions on Android devices).

One last exciting piece of news from the update is something Mosseri shared during his video announcement of the new feature — that Instagram is exploring ways to allow creators to connect with their community off of Instagram. That’s the goal, after all — to move followers to a mailing list or website so you aren’t fully dependent on social media.

Why this matters for online business —

Here’s the deal…while this new Subscriptions feature is an exciting update (and Instagram is following through on their commitment to help creators get paid), it probably won’t be a key strategy for increasing income for online business owners. It could actually be more of a distraction than anything else.

Most online business owners utilize Instagram to market their programs, products, and services — they’re not using the ‘Gram as a creator who needs to find creative ways to monetize their content. Instead, they’re working to connect with their followers and get them to buy something like a course, membership, coaching program, or service.

Adding in a paid Subscription model won’t meet many of these business owners needs, plus it will require more content creation to keep up with the demand of free content for audience-building and paid content for subscribers. In short: don’t get distracted by Subscriptions!

Making MORE Work Doesn’t Make You MORE Money

Image Source: (www.unsplash.com/@etiennegirardet)

Like many digital entrepreneurs, you’ll probably hit a point in your business where you want (or need) to make more money. You may be there right now! So, what do you do when you need to increase your income (and how can you do it without increasing your output)?

Cartoonist, author, and creative mentor Jessica Abel has a more holistic take on the push to make more. And the dangers of doing more because you need to make more. Why? Because, as she writes, “…more doesn’t lead to increased income…it leads to plateauing and burnout.”

“[Each] new thing you create comes with costs: time and energy to make and deliver, sometimes hard cash. And your time and energy (and cash) are finite. When you max out on what you’re able to give, as you add in more offers, products, services to the list, each offer suffers.” writes Abel.

So how do you increase your income without pushing to make or create or launch more? You put your needs first and work back from there.

How? By determining what enough income is for you, clarifying your personal requirements (beyond an increase in income), and using “what you have at hand to design a way to work that will meet your personal needs and increase your income.”

You can read more on Abel’s blog where she shares deeper insights and real-life examples.

Are You Hiring? Don’t Forget To Plan Your Onboarding!

Image Source: www.unsplash.com/@louisemink

If you’re planning on growing your team this year, don’t forget about the importance of onboarding your new employees and contractors!

“A well thought-out onboarding experience can be the key to giving employees an enduring impression that their new job is about more than just a paycheck. It shows them that they have found a happy culture in which to thrive and advance—a place where their efforts have a higher purpose.” writes Rachita Sharma for Worth.

So how do you create a kickass onboarding process?

Start Before Day One — make sure all of the paperwork and HR-heavy tasks are done before the first day. This allows your new team member to focus on meeting others and getting to know the company.
Focus On The First Day — instead of making the first day all about rules and policies, focus on how you want your new hire to feel on their first day. Meals, intro meetings, and dedicated workplace buddies help make the first day even better!
Onboarding Isn’t The End — remember that retaining top talent for your business means creating an environment where team members are able to learn new skills and grow with the organization. Encourage your team members to develop new skills and allow them to work beyond their role, when appropriate.

Why this matters for online business —

Many online business owners struggle to retain talent for their companies and a thorough and engaging onboarding process can help with business owner and team member frustration. Instead of focusing on “firing fast” as you build your team, focus on nurturing and supporting employees at a deep and meaningful level during their first few weeks of work and beyond.

Social Media News + Updates

👥 Here is what’s working for Facebook organic marketing this year

Ⓜ️ Meta (FB and IG’s parent company) is working on an update that would allows users to display, create, mint, and sell NFTs on their platforms

⏰ TikTok is testing a TikTok Stories in a play to bring ephemeral content to the platform

🐦 Twitter is experimenting with a “Close Friends” style feature called “Flocks” that would allow users to curate a list of followers for exclusive content

🐦 Twitter has published a new trends report highlighting specific industries and trends that are seeing the most engagement on the platform

🔗 LinkedIn adds 3 new (free) courses to their education hub to help users improve their marketing

🔗 Want to reach Gen Z on LinkedIn? Here’s how!

In Other News

✏️ Curious about writing on Medium for your business in 2022? Here’s the ultimate guide (Nick Wolny)

💸 The list of highest-paid YouTubers in 2021 is here – Mr. Beast is first with $50+ million in earnings (Forbes)

📈 Inflation keeps climbing – here’s what’s causing it to reach 40+ year highs (Fast Company)

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