Ed Latimore is a writer who created the website edlatimore.com, which focuses on self-improvement and the practical application of stoicism. It has attained recurring income of $25,000 per month and is working passively towards $50,000 per month. Ed was raised in poverty and spent his 20s drinking too much and fighting. He quit drinking and focused on improving as a writer, warrior, and Physics major. He wrote about the lessons he had to learn the hard way in order to help others.
Ed created the website edlatimore.com, which focuses on self-improvement and the practical application of stoicism. Along with 100,000 visits per month from organic traffic, it has attained recurring income of $25,000 per month and is working passively toward $50,000 per month.
What are you currently working on and who are you?
I’m Ed Latimore, a writer who focuses on using stoicism and forgiveness in real-world contexts to heal from trauma, overcome addictions, and improve relationships with others and yourself.
Five components make up my website, edlatimore.com: mental mastery, physical mastery, emotional mastery, money management, and addiction and sobriety. I provide a number of books and courses in addition to the free material on my website to aid people in developing these skills.
What is your background, and how did you come up with this idea?
I was raised in public housing complexes in abject poverty, but I left when I was 18 and have never looked back. I mostly spent my 20s drinking too much and fighting. I almost failed at the latter because of the former, but on December 23, 2013, I finally quit. Addicts in recovery never forget their first day of abstinence.
My “keystone habit” was drinking. I was able to finish that one, and everything else just fit. I could now focus on improving as a writer, warrior, and Physics major. During this time, I had been posting articles on my website about every part of my life and experience.
I’ve always wanted to write and run a blog, but I’ve had trouble finding my “voice.” The diaries never really took off as a result, and I stopped reading them. This site has endured because I found my voice and wrote about the lessons I had to learn the hard way in order for others to do the same.
Because I had overcome so many challenges (such as growing up in poverty, battling and beating alcoholism, winning national titles as an amateur boxer, boxing professionally, and earning a physics degree, to name a few), I felt that my perspective was genuine and that I could help many people with it.
How did you turn a concept into a finished product?
I started out like any other ambitious writer or blogger. I built a WordPress-powered website and started writing. I chose to start writing books and developing programs based on the subjects I believed satisfied two important criteria: I had personal experience with the issue and I could stand by what I taught regardless of the stage of my life I was in. Once I felt that I had a sizable following, I made the decision to do so.
The first point is one that, in my opinion, ought to be commonplace in the content production sector, but tragically, many people “fake it until they make it.” The second element makes me think about how I want to conduct myself in the future as well as how I want my name and brand to be linked in the future.
I’ve been clean for over eight years, for instance. I greatly like my life as a result of my sobriety. I think I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with it, and I’ll always try to be a sober, self-controlled man. The second requirement acts as a thin line of defense against relapse. If people found out I was drinking, for instance, I would never be taken seriously again. I would suffer losses on a personal and professional level.
What marketing techniques did you use to grow your company?
I’ve used a number of tactics to build my website and brand. My social media activity is really busy. This has helped people find my work more easily and given me a sizable following with which to share it.
All facets of marketing have been made simpler by the growth of social media. I can enhance website traffic, execute transactions, and grow my distribution list thanks to social media.
Social networking is only somewhat helpful for the organic search traffic to my website. I have made significant investments to make my website as aesthetically pleasing and technically solid as I can to counteract this problem.
I’ve mastered the art of producing SEO content that users and search engines will find appealing in order to compliment the technical design of my website. This makes it easier for me to rank for terms that bring visitors to my website, increasing the number of potential fans and customers I can reach.
What are you doing right now? What are your long-term goals?
In terms of money and social media, things are now going quite well, although search engine traffic has had a slight setback. However, as Google is continually changing its algorithm, this is unavoidable if you only rely on organic traffic. Simply said, this means that we must change and provide even better material.
The site’s passive income should be increased to $50,000 per month, and organic traffic should increase to 100,000 per month. The best way, in my opinion, to accomplish these goals is to keep creating material that is both useful to my audience and optimized for search engines.
What have you learned the most since starting EdLatimore.com?
From the perspective of content development, I’ve discovered that if you’ve had experiences, you must share them. We are not so unusual that no one else has ever had the same problems. You may help someone by producing something that teaches what you have discovered.
This means you should write about it (or produce a video, podcast, or blog article). Even if you don’t think your tale is all that noteworthy or valuable, someone will learn something from it.
I’ve come to understand the importance of delegating in terms of operations and business. You cannot succeed on your own if you want to succeed in your activities. It is crucial that you pick reliable colleagues with whom to work on projects and assign tasks, as well as putting in place efficient mechanisms to make this happen.
I’ve gotten better at delegation over the years so I can concentrate on content development, which is the most important component of my brand. People handle my advertising and technology so I can concentrate on what I do best.
What were the toughest obstacles you overcame? What were your biggest mistakes?
I’m fortunate in that I work in content development, which makes it difficult to make mistakes. My need for additional time stems from my desire to aggressively advertise my items.
Because I did not participate in extensive advertising early on, my email list is probably only half as big as it might be. I’ve probably missed out on six figures in income because I haven’t been promoted.
I’ve discovered that marketing and advertising are crucial if you run your own business. One of the biggest adjustments I’ve lately made is that I now promote my stuff more than before. Sales, sign-ups, and website traffic have all grown as a result. All of these results are advantageous for my brand.
What equipment and sources would you recommend?
Ahrefs and Page Optimizer Pro are the tools I use most often to create SEO content. My content development strategy was mostly driven by these tools.
I track my social media growth and see patterns using Socialblade and Followerwonk.
I make use of Circle and Gumroad to host my products.
By heavily relying on urgency and scarcity, I utilize Hypefury to promote my email list on Twitter and perform sales of my items there.
For further information
The URL of my website is edlatimore.com.
The Twitter username of Ed Lattimore is @edlatimore.
On Facebook, go to edlatimore.
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