Safeguarding our Work for an Uncertain Future 🌎
The platform I recommend for creating your digital home (quickly and efficiently!)
Things have been shifting for a while — and if you haven’t felt it yet, you certainly can’t ignore it now.
The future is uncertain. None of us know what to expect next week, let alone next month or next year, and although I know we keep hoping we’ll wake up and there’ll be signs that normalcy is returning — things are likely going to get worse before they get better.
But this isn’t about stoking fear, this is about taking action.
In a world of uncertainty, one of the most powerful things we can do is build our own corners of stability and connection. Prioritizing this is an act of hope — a declaration that our work matters.
I want to help how I can — and one of the ways I know I can make an impact is to introduce you to one of my favorite platforms and show you how to quickly and affordably establish an online home for yourself where you can build community, communicate directly with your people, and continue to get your work out into the world in efficient and impactful ways.
If you think this post isn’t “for you”, I promise it probably is.
Because we all need to be thinking about how to future-proof our work and how to showcase and promote our skills and expertise in a place anyone can find it — being able to connect with your people virtually if another pandemic, war, economic collapse, environmental disaster, censorship or social unrest force you to pivot is going to be a key part of navigating tumultuous times.
This doesn’t need to be time-consuming — with the right platform (keep reading!) you could spend just a handful of hours on setup, and then as little as 1-2 hours per YEAR to keep things running in the background.
And if the best case scenario happens and we avoid all those situations — you still have an online home that you can use as a portfolio or additional revenue stream.
Building Your Digital Home
Building an online base for our work used to require us to stitch together multiple services: one for our website, another for email marketing or newsletters, yet another for selling products or services, something for delivery of digital goods, perhaps a blogging platform squeezed in there, and a designated service if we wanted to host online courses or communities. This was not only expensive, it was overwhelming — creating tons of administrative overhead and stress.
This is why I’m so passionate about a platform called Podia.
I’ve worked with countless tools and systems over the past 15 years and I was one of those business owners paying for dozens of subscriptions each month — but three years ago I discovered Podia and I’ve been simplifying my business ever since. I cut my monthly subscription costs by nearly 70%, can release new ideas quickly with little administrative overhead, and am no longer relying solely on social media to promote my work.
Podia is an all-in-one platform that bundles everything you need to create your digital home:
💻 A beautiful, easy-to-customize website (here’s mine!).
📧 Email marketing tools to build and segment your list and create an impactful newsletter or sequence.
📱 Ability to quickly offer and deliver free downloads and opt-ins (see my resource page).
💵 Selling digital products (such as templates or eBooks) consulting services or subscriptions (see my services page).
👩🏻🏫 Building and hosting online courses, trainings, or webinars (here’s one of mine)
✍🏻A blog that can deliver content via email.
🫱🏼🫲🏼 A space to host your own private, subscription-based community where you can offer exclusive access to specific content.
🤯 Easy options for building an online portfolio, resume or “link in bio” page for your social accounts (here’s my links page, which I use on Instagram).
With Podia everything is organized in one place — reducing the time, energy, and money required to showcase your work. When you create a new product, service, or free download on Podia, the landing page, email automations, and sales channels are created for you — making it really easy to get your work out into the world with minimal stress. Most importantly, the platform is intuitive and easy to use so that you can quickly hit the ground running.
How I Can Help
If you've felt that nagging pull to create a more stable foundation for your work, this is your sign to dive in. I’m encouraging you to look into a platform like Podia — you can create a free 30-day trial and begin designing your site + delivering products in a matter of hours. If you decide you like it and want to continue using it beyond the trial, Podia offers simple, straight-forward pricing in two tiers — and for most of us the $33/mo. Mover plan will suffice:
If you need help, I am a Certified Podia Pro, which means I am one of a handful of experts worldwide specializing in their platform and recommended by their team.
I know that many of us are trying to operate on tight budgets — especially right now. One of the most affordable ways to work with me is to become a paying Substack Subscriber ($50 per year) and attend my Monthly Review Days on the first Monday of each month (next one is July 7!). These sessions feature a Q+A with me, and you are more than welcome to bring your Podia questions to those.
If you find yourself needing hands-on help, these are the Podia services I currently offer. All priced as equitably as possible with payment plan options:
Podia Full Site Design ($3,760)- I'll build and optimize your Podia website, create digital assets, and build backend workflows to get you fully up and running ASAP.
Podia Single Page Design ($1,200) - I'll design or refresh a page on your Podia website so it is optimized and effective and provide assets and guidelines you can implement across your site.
Podia Audit ($600) - I’ll complete a detailed review of your Podia website and provide suggestions to refine your branding, layout, functionality, workflows and user experience.
Digital Product Creation and Setup ($600) - I’ll design and build an impactful digital asset (download! eBook! spreadsheet!), set up the workflow, sales page, and automations.
Welcome Sequence Creation and Setup ($375) - Get my assistance writing, optimizing, and setting up your email welcome sequence to turn email subscribers into customers.
If you aren’t sure what you need help with or whether Podia is a good fit for you, you can schedule a free 20-minute discovery call with me right here.
Okay, but…what Should You Make?
You know what I’m saying and agree that you need to create a digital base for your work — but your head is spinning and you don’t know where to begin.
Deep breath. That’s why I’m here! There are four simple questions you can answer that will basically create a blueprint for your website + initial products. I’ve provided them below, along with examples of how I would answer. If you’d prefer this in a worksheet format you can download the PDF:
🔴 What are you an expert in? More specifically, what could you talk about for 5 minutes right now? Or what do people often come to you about for help or advice?
My answer: People often come to me for advice on how to improve their hydration and use it as way to support their energy, focus, and overall health. I could talk about it all day!
🟡 How could you you teach someone about that topic? Support people struggling with it, help them solve the issue, or empower them to avoid it?
My answer: Walk them through a simple, step-by-step process to slowly and gently increase their hydration and address some common obstacles (not liking the taste of water, not having time/flexibility, not thinking about it until they are dealing with dehydration).
🔵 What is a simple step they could take, or a specific part of the issue that you could help them solve?
My answer: They could start being more aware of their hydration and making it a priority by using a simple water or hydration tracker that they can keep in a visible location (like their fridge or desk).
🟣What is another topic this person would be interested in or a related issue they might face?
My answer: Since many of these people are women, they are often also interested in cycle syncing, menstrual health, and how to align their work with their cycle.
Once you have those answers, use the key below to understand what you should transform those answers into on your Podia site! I’ve provided examples using my own work:
🔴 This response should inspire the niche, topic, or industry that you’ll focus on (at least initially!).
What I did: I zeroed in on helping people with hydration as a way to be more focused and productive.
🟡 This response should inspire what you create for a paid offer. This could be packaged in the form of an eBook, an online course, a group program, 1-on-1 consulting, etc.
What I did: I created a $49 online workshop called Hydrating Habits that teaches the basics of hydration and introduces basic habit formation with short, easy-to-understand video lessons.
🔵 This response is the content of your first free offer or opt-in. Put this information into a free digital product like a download, eBook, or short video tutorial.
What I did: I created The Weekly Hydration Tracker, a single-page PDF download that people can print at home and start using to pay attention to their water consumption along with eating more plants and prioritizing movement.
🟣This should inform your second free offer or opt-in to expand your reach. Put this information into a free digital product like a download, eBook, or short video tutorial.
What I did: I created a cheat sheet called the Productivity Cycle Syncing Guide that shows what is happening during each week of the menstrual cycle and how it impacts our energy, mood, focus, and creativity so it’s easy to reference and make adjustments.
Establishing a secure digital home for your work isn’t just a strategic move; it’s a commitment to your community and our larger movements. It's about ensuring you have a place to share information, communicate directly, and create a lasting body of work that doesn’t just survive the changes ahead, but can also help shape what comes after. This is a vital act of resistance right now.
I am committed to helping more of us create this foundation. If you have questions or need help, you know where to find me.
This post includes my referral link for Podia, which will provide me with a small commission if you upgrade to a paid subscription after joining with a free trial.
Always the right thing at the right time from you, Dani 😄 I've just been wrestling with SqSp/Flodesk/Stanstore and feeling STUCK. And then you showed up with this genius solution. Thank you! And especially thank you for the time and care you always take in making sure the info you provide is so readily accessible/actionable. So impressive x