Lidiya Kesarovska always knew she was destined for big things. And once she started on her personal development journey, there was no looking back. She left behind her home country of Bulgaria and set out to design the type of lifestyle she wanted to live.
Over the years she developed a blog, created courses, launched a podcast, and became a business mentor. Lidiya is truly dedicated to helping and teaching others and is fully invested in her students' and followers' success.
Keep reading to find out:
- Why she left her hometown
- How she started making money online
- How she diversified her income streams
- More about her podcast
- What she teaches in her courses
- Why she decided to reduce her income
- Her top promotional strategies
- Her thoughts on SEO
- How she approaches keyword research
- Why her traffic dropped from 1 million pageviews
- The tools she uses to grow her business
- Her greatest accomplishment to date
- One of her biggest mistakes
- Great advice for other entrepreneurs
Meet Lidiya Kesarovska
I’m a blogger, course creator, and business mentor on a mission to help people create an abundant business so they can live a fearless life and provide epic value.
I’m also the founder of Let’s Reach Success, a website that started as a hobby blog but later turned into the foundation of my business and allowed me to become a full-time blogger and serve my purpose.
I’ve been named one of the top 10 course creators and experts to watch in 2021 by Yahoo! Finance, been featured in TIME magazine, Thrive Global, Disrupt Magazine, and more.
With the content on my blog and podcast and inside my business courses, I teach how to ditch your limiting beliefs, start a business on your own terms, grow it strategically, and use that income to live your biggest, boldest life!
I come from Bulgaria, a small country in Europe, and my personal development journey started over a decade ago. I knew for sure that I wanted to leave the country and design my ideal lifestyle. It took quite some time and inner work to figure out how, though.
How it all started
I combined my passion for self-improvement with writing, started a blog on the side, and began earning money as a freelance writer. Once I had enough savings and a regular monthly income (although not big), I was ready to make a move. I first went to Amsterdam over 5 years ago and haven’t looked back.
I love new beginnings and this was the ultimate new chapter for me. Everything was different and I could now do things on my own terms. Over the years, I grew the blog on the side and replaced the freelance income with the blog income.
Being a full-time blogger gave me so much satisfaction and I could finally make the most of my skills and time, instead of doing client work and craving more flexibility.
Three years ago, I made another big move in my business. I focused solely on online courses. That was already one of the 4 income streams coming from my blog and business, but I knew this was something I wanted to pursue further.
Why She Created Her Site, Courses, and Podcast
The real reason why I started Let’s Reach Success back in March 2013 is that I wanted to spread my message, I wanted to create content, to have my own online space. I wasn’t thinking about monetizing it and didn’t even know what was possible as a blogger.
The category I covered, in the beginning, was personal development. Then, I got more and more interested in the business aspect of it all. I was consuming all the relevant free content I could find. There’s so much of it and that’s one of my favorite things about the internet. Videos can show you the technical stuff, and articles can walk you through business strategies that you can try out yourself.
As I learned more about online business, I started sharing my journey and lessons and began teaching others how to build a blogging and digital product business. It all happened naturally and was always grounded in the goal of providing value.
The Podcast
The podcast is a result of my desire to create content in a different format and reach and help people who prefer listening over to reading. It also feels right and I’m having fun with it. I create a new episode weekly or bi-weekly and they don’t need to be long either.
These are all factors I take into consideration when making decisions in my business. Strategy and intuition together can work wonders.
Her Courses
As for the courses, it was the next logical step for me. I had taken many programs and gained a lot of value from them, so it made sense to be not only a student but also a course creator.
I believe so much in self-education that I want to give everyone the chance to learn the ins and outs of online business and create their dream life as a result of the income they earn. Courses allow me to package my knowledge into a product that gives people exactly that.
The online course industry is booming and I’m honored to be part of it. Thanks to my courses, I’ve also formed many valuable connections in the industry. I often participate in bundles with other course creators and this brings hundreds of new students to my programs. Below are just some of my courses.
Blog to Biz System
The first course I created is Blog to Biz System, and it’s the proven methodology I teach to go from not knowing anything about blogging or having a hobby blog, to turn this into an epic 5-figure business.
In it I provide answers to the most common questions about becoming a full-time blogger; provide behind-the-scenes content and real ways to make money and build blog traffic even if you have no experience; and many video tutorials, how-to guides, and screenshots.
$1K Blogger
As this is a bigger and more expensive program, I also created $1K Blogger sometime after that to give more people the chance to start a blogging business. This one is for the person who has a full-time job and is okay with it but simply wants to earn something on the side, preferably from a project they enjoy.
Inside, I show you how to do not only that (by starting and growing a blog in a niche you’re passionate about) but also set up systems so you can earn passive income from that website for the rest of your life.
Blog Audit
Another offer I have is the Blog Audit. This is a professional review of every element on your website. What you’ll get is a 60-page PDF file containing information about the most important areas of your blog as well as suggestions on how to improve and the next steps to take.
Blog Income Toolkit & Blog Income Boost
I also released a couple of smaller products, such as a Blog Income Toolkit, which contains an eBook and templates to help you grow your revenue goals (such as done-for-you email series, brand email pitches, lead magnets, media kit templates, and more); and a workshop called Blog Income Boost that shows you 7 revenue-boosting strategies you can try right away to get closer to that 5-figure income.
The Blog Sponsorship Boss
At the end of 2021, I also released The Blog Sponsorship Boss, a course on how to start making money with sponsored blog posts, find and pitch brands, and get paid every time. This course is a result of years of experience in the sponsored blogging niche and making tens of thousands of dollars from sponsorships with just 1 blog. If I can do it, you can do it too.
That was also the last big offer for bloggers I wanted to create. With that, I covered anything I wanted to teach inside my programs and my product suite was complete.
The Master Blogger Bundle
This allowed me to make another course creator’s dream come true: release my own course bundle. The Master Blogger Bundle combines all the products I mentioned above and allows you to grab them with a big discount.
This bundle is all you need to launch your blog, grow the traffic and income, create a remarkable content marketing strategy, build your sales funnel, turn your blog into a full-time business, have passive income streams, get your blog audited by me, and get a personalized growth action plan.
With this, I sort of closed a chapter in my business and can fully focus on my new direction: teaching service providers, bloggers, coaches (and anyone else interested in that business model) how to build a digital product business set up for unlimited freedom and income. This is what my upcoming digital membership experience will be all about. It’s called Bold Business School and the waitlist is open.
Lidiya Kesarovska's Current Revenue
At one point, I was earning $5k/month as a full-time blogger. As I switched directions, I stopped focusing on the blog that much, and that means my income decreased.
I believe that it’s not about how much we make but how we make our money, so I’m always after the business model that gives me the biggest opportunities for growth, fulfillment, a chance to serve, and what I’m currently passionate about. Now, that’s helping other course creators get their businesses off the ground and create irresistible offers.
One fun thing I’ve been doing over the years (but not anymore) is sharing my monthly income, with all the numbers and juicy details, screenshots, mistakes, lessons, etc. People from my audience were really looking forward to these every month, it showed them what’s possible and what happens behind the scenes of a blogging business, and encouraged them to keep going. It’s also something that allowed me to stay accountable.
You can check out my income reports here.
Now I publish only annual income reports and that’s where you can see exactly how much I earned and spent in my business, what I worked on, the offers I released, and much more.
How She Grows Her Business
I’m a big believer in content as the driving factor in online business. I teach people how to build a business, so my free content on the blog is what drives traffic to my website and gets people on my email list.
The Free and Fearless podcast is what engages my audience, my weekly newsletters are how I stay in touch with people and form relationships with them, and my updates on socials are also mostly educational and/or inspiring, so people hear from me often there and some find me through social media.
But the common thing between all channels is that I show up weekly with a new piece of content and provide value, without expecting anything in return. This helps me build authority in my niche, get attention online, get feedback and validate ideas, and content creation itself is one of my favorite things to do.
As for marketing it, there are a few ways I do it. But none of them would be possible without actually creating content regularly and making sure it’s on topics I know well and that my audience is interested in.
How She Promotes Her Products
1. I optimize blog posts for keyword phrases and they rank over time. First, I make sure I find the right keyword together with plenty of synonyms, and then I outline the article based on that list of keywords.
I include the main keyword in the title, subtitle, intro, and conclusion, and sprinkle it naturally throughout the post. I also use different forms of it whenever it makes sense (plural, for example).
The synonyms, which are also keywords people search for, help search engines understand even better what the article is about. Last but not least, the main image for the post needs to contain the keyword, too (in the alt text section).
2. I use Pinterest to share blog posts. That’s my second biggest traffic source after search engines.
3. Email marketing is a big part of what I do. Currently, there are over 5500 subscribers on my list. I get people on my email list through the opt-ins in blog posts, on the podcast, and on socials. And I nurture the leads by regularly providing value. One such freebie is my Epic Online Course Checklist, which helps you make your course so epic it practically sells itself.
4. I’m active on Instagram and I invite people to listen to the podcast, sign up to the email list, or enroll in courses every now and then. The podcast is on all major podcasting platforms and can be found by new listeners all the time. The freebies and courses are in the show notes of each episode.
Lidiya Kesarovska's Thoughts on SEO
SEO used to be one of my top priorities when I was blogging full-time. I managed to grow the blog to 100k monthly page views through organic traffic and Pinterest, both of which required me to create a lot of valuable long-form content on topics that were in demand, optimize it for keywords, interlink it well, and share it.
To find a keyword to target, I use the free Google Keyword Planner. I would type a word or phrase that I assume would be a good fit and then often find out it’s not actually a popular term. The tool would suggest similar phrases that people search for and I can pick one of them and optimize the article with that in mind.
I also often went back to old blog posts and updated them. Sometimes I added more content, optimized them better, and improved their chances of ranking higher.
Pinterest itself is a great place for bloggers. It’s a search engine on its own and that means you can use it for keyword research, to get new ideas for blog posts, and to get traffic quickly, even to a new blog.
Organic traffic takes much more time and is for established blogs. One thing is sure though, you can create great guides on the top categories in your niche, optimize them well and keep them updated, and these 10 to 20 long articles on your site can become your most visited pages over the years and bring you 80% of your traffic.
This is cornerstone content, and creating such guides is one of the main things I found to work out over the years that not many other website owners are utilizing.
Achieving Current Revenue Levels
I’ve been in business for 7 years now but only reached $50k for the year a few years ago. Since then, I’ve stayed at that revenue level as I’m comfortable with the lifestyle it provides. Later I decided to switch business models (go from blogger to course creator).
Now, my goal is to reach 6 figures and provide more value than ever through my programs.
Traffic and Student Numbers
When I was focused on the blogging business, Let’s Reach Success was getting 1 million pageviews per year and that was awesome. It increased the revenue from advertising as well as brought many sponsors that wanted to collaborate with me.
As I switched to creating and launching courses, the traffic dropped to 30-40k monthly pageviews.
My Teachable school currently has over 7600 students. Many of them enrolled in free courses I was once offering, or have joined my paid programs through bundles I’ve participated in. These are special deals where many course creators offer their program in a bundle at a discounted price to spread the word about each other’s products, earn affiliate commissions, and grow their audience).
Lidiya Kesarovska's Top 3 Tools
ConvertKit is my top tool as it is my email marketing platform. It allows me to manage my list, send weekly newsletters, segment subscribers, automate everything, and so much more.
Canva is also one of my favorite tools, as I’m using it almost daily. It’s where I create posts for social media, promo materials, presentations for courses, lead magnets, workbooks, and anything else. It allowed me to take my branding to the next level without any graphic design knowledge. I’m currently using the paid version.
Teachable is another tool I can’t run my business without, as it’s my online course platform.
Her Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge is to keep going when there’s no sign that things will ever work out. It’s to keep your vision alive when it looks like everyone else is growing their business and yet you see no results. When you’ve been showing up to your audience and providing value for a long time and you don’t hit your revenue goal.
That doesn’t go away, it continues for every goal you set and level you reach. It’s just a skill you get better at and you learn to trust the process and yourself over time.
Her Greatest accomplishment
All the content I’ve created over the years is my greatest accomplishment, as it will live as long as the internet exists.
I absolutely love it when people reach out to thank me for a podcast episode they just heard and which hit home, an article I wrote 3 years ago which was exactly what they needed at that moment, a lesson inside one of my courses that helped them change a limiting belief or implement a new business strategy and see results.
This is why I do what I do.
What She Wishes She Knew Back Then
I wish I knew that at any stage of my journey, I was exactly where I needed to be. That things were happening for me, not to me. That any challenge that presented itself was a stepping stone, and it gave me valuable information, let me grow, and taught me something that would, later on, make things easier for me. I was always on the right path; I just didn’t know how things would work out.
Lidiya Kesarovska's Main mistake
My biggest mistake was not investing in business courses and better tools because of their price. We’re never ready to stretch ourselves financially and that’s exactly why it’s so necessary to do it. The magic is in the transaction. One way or another, every investment in your business and self-education pays off tenfold.
Her Advice For Other Entrepreneurs
I would tell them not to worry too much about finding the ideal niche, the perfect strategy, and the only platform that will grow their audience. Nothing is final. You’re a work in progress.
Once you build a name for yourself in your niche, follow your inner guidance and make decisions from an empowered place.
Your business will keep growing, even if you change the format of your content, your marketing channels, your content strategy, your pricing model, and so on.
Just start. You can change every element later on when you have the knowledge and clarity. If you need help with that, join my free Abundant Biz Journal Challenge to tune into your potential and do business from a place of love and abundance.
The post How Lidiya Kesarovska Makes $45k+ Per Year Blogging and Creating Courses appeared first on Niche Pursuits.