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How GreenSmoothieGirl.com is doing


Robyn Openshaw - May 27, 2011 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


An internet marketing maven friend of mine wrote a report in Feb. called “[a very prominent raw-foods guru] versus GreenSmoothieGirl.” He wrote me this:

“You have higher traffic ranking than any of [Prominent Guru’s] web sites with a fraction of the name recognition. More traffic with fewer sites linking in, and you spend no money on advertising. You’re slowly and steadily nailing it.”

[Prominent Guru] has been out there for 15 years or more. I first ventured onto the internet a bit over 3 years ago with zero products to sell (I had early readers screaming about that, demanding recipes and help). I plan to keep steadily providing information in response to reader requests. I have never once accepted advertising dollars despite many offers of people who want to park their ads on my site or blog.

Google tells me lots of interesting things about my site. If you’re curious….

From Dec. 15 to Jan. 15, GSG had 70,000 visitors from 147 countries/territories. Highest traffic comes from U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Germany, and New Zealand.

Search engines were sources of 52% of the traffic, other sites referred 15%, and 33% of you come here directly. The average time spent on the site is 5.23 minutes, with 3.37 pages visited. The 12 Steps program page is most visited, with almost 20,000 views. 8,141 people signed up for the newsletter in that time period. (Higher than usual. I think being in an article with Dr. Oz helped.) Three times as many people (over 7,000) searched for “green smoothie girl” than searched for “green smoothie.”

Three years ago I was a college professor/mom and knew nothing about the internet. Today I know just slightly more than nothing about the internet.

The site’s success has floored me, so when I am interviewed about it, I struggle to name the reasons. I think what it is, is that I just choose to support and nurture people, which is unusual in the nutrition space. The usual M.O. out there seems to be guilt and fear.

Someone at one of my Portland classes said that a prominent author in my space ends each chapter of one of their books with, “COOKED FOODS ARE POISON” or something. I really dislike hyperbole, hype, gimmicks, and especially negativity.

It’s easy to fall into that negative space. We could go on and on about how sugar or hot dogs or soda are killing us. I’ll touch on that occasionally, and I’m not Polyanna dancing on the Good Ship Lollipop: I’ll occasionally counteract voices out there I think are preaching false doctrine or skewing logic or common sense. I do believe in standing up for truth.

But as soon as I can, I’ll get back to the positive place. I dislike fear as a motive for anything–in parenting, in religion, in relationships, in school or career. So I like to keep it about hope and light here. New ideas. Encouragement. Sharing successes. Remembering children and families. (Not a place to beat you up about food. You’ve been doing that to YOURSELF for years. It’s not productive and I don’t want to add to it.)

I’ve always wanted GSG.com to be the place where we REPLACE the bad stuff with exciting ideas and delicious recipes and thrilling health benefits my readers report. I love unique or exciting, fresh ways to look at traditional practices of nutrition.

So this would be a great time to ask you this: what support do you need that you aren’t getting? What should be next for the GreenSmoothieGirl mission to bring back a whole-foods diet and kick the Standard American Diet to the curb?

Posted in: Lifestyle, Mind/Body Connection

19 thoughts on “How GreenSmoothieGirl.com is doing”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I just want to say thank you, you do a great job!

    I was at your class last night and I was able to get My MIL to come, it was really helpful for her and she bought your course. Thanks for helping to get her excited about this.

    My only suggestion on things that might help is a forum for people to trade ideas, recipes and support.

    Thanks again!

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Hi Anon, thanks for coming last night! There’s a 12 Steps blog here on GreenSmoothieGirl.com, to ask questions and get feedback from others following this path. And of course I’m here on this blog (sometimes it gets away from me but I try to answer unless the questions are uber-complicated, in which case I point to wherever I’ve written about that before in my books or blog). Thanks for the tip, Leslee, love you, girl–and Jill, on my To-Do List is to modify 12 Steps to have a Gluten Free version. (Very few recipes have gluten anyway.) Thanks for the comments!!

      Robyn

  2. Anonymous says:

    Robyn, you are successful with a huge following because you are real and live the life that you are trying to teach us. You don’t make crazy doctrines & you are a great role model. I have left all those other raw food gurus because they are not sincere & don’t always live up to what they are preaching and all they want to do is sell, sell & sell all their products and books. I have stopped trusting them because of things I have found out about them. You don’t tell us raw or die, you gently teach us how to go about a more healthy life whether it’s with cooked foods or raw or a combination. Your way is a way that everyone can sustain. It is very difficult for a normal person to sustain a 100% raw diet. I love your teachings and recipes. You are the only one that I will now follow because you are authentic and real & completely trustworthy & honest. May you have many more years of success & move us all into a much more healthier lifestyle. Thank you so much for caring about other peoples health. Your doing a phenomenal job! Keep up the great work you do for others and you will be blessed with much more success in every area of your life!

  3. Anonymous says:

    How about some gluten free recipes for all of us that are gluten intolerant! or maybe ideas on gluten free substitutions for recipes that you have already created. When my kids were diagnosed with Celiac Disease 1 1/2 years ago we relied on a lot of packaged food because we didn’t know what else to do. Slowly we have gotten away from the high starch gf products out there and are eating more whole foods but still need raw recipes! Thanks so much! My families health has improved so much from drinking green smoothies:)

  4. Anonymous says:

    I’m jumping into the gluten free deep-end, as well, as of yesterday, so a gluten-free 12 step sounds great. I keep hearing and reading from others that once they kicked the gluten, the migraines went. That is my last area of real struggle – the headaches just keep kicking me around. Every time I think I’ve found ‘the source’ I improve for a short time and then they are back just like before. So I’m giving gluten-free a try to see if that helps. What I’ve found so far is that a lot of gluten free items are full of soy. Bummer.

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      mgm, full of soy, and/or processed ingredients. SO often headaches are linked to gluten–let us know if that eliminates them!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Robyn,

    I agree with Leslee. You are real and apply your knowledge to the real world. Even though my children are grown, I have liked that you will focus on children’s health, liking what they eat and keeping the basics simple for busy moms. Our children are influenced by their friends, television, etc. and you show us ways to give our children tools for discernment.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I sat on the front row of your American Fork presentation several months ago and was so impressed with how inspirational and healthy looking you are. Your physical appearance (especially in person) is testimony to what you teach. My wife and I have become staunch followers and drink our Hot Pink Smoothies and Green Smoothies every single day. Thanks for all you do!

  7. Anonymous says:

    Robyn, I’d just like to say how much I enjoy your website and blog. You are amazing, real, supportive and positive.

    It’s great the way you don’t try to manipulate people with fear. We all know that doesn’t work anyway.

    To me you are the “Raw” equivalent of self-help writer Louise L Hay, author of the worldwide classic best-seller “You Can Heal Your Life.”

    Your teaching/advice just reminds me so much of Louise’s teachings. Please take that as the compliment it’s meant to be.

    Thank you so much.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I like “Anonymous” suggestion of a forum for people to trade ideas, recipes and support. Some of the best ideas are from our peers out there.

  9. Anonymous says:

    I would love to have a place where recipes can be shared. I’m often looking for new ideas to keep motivated.

  10. Anonymous says:

    I very much appreciate your focus on a whole foods diet not 100% raw. I just completed a month of 100% raw, 80% green smoothies. While some health issues disapeared there were others that surfaced during the process. I was advised by my health practitioner that a more moderate approach including cooked whole foods would better serve my body’s needs.

    I like the idea of a forum where people can share their experience & support.

    Have you considered presenting your story in ‘Time Out for Women”? I put your name down on their suggestion card for next year.

  11. I would really love to see you put the Green Smoothie Girl book on audio cd. My exercise of choice is walking – miles and miles – and rather than listen to music, I like to listen to books on cd. Keeps me always learning, motivated and focused. I watch your dvd seminar while I do housework and the time flies by.

    Oh, and I’m blogging my gluten free experience at imjustheretohelp.blogspot.com (It’s not primarily for that, but it’s what I’m blogging the most about right now) Come visit, if you want : )

  12. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn,

    I’d like to thank you for your web and blog!

  13. Anonymous says:

    Sandi,

    The new health issues that have surfaced since going raw could just be detox symptoms. If so, that’s a good thing in the long run. You know what’s right for your body. Trust your instincts.

    DeAndra

  14. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn! Couple weeks ago attended a small seminar about Raw Foods and they skyped Dr. Craig Sommers who was great to meet and learn from. I’m anxiously awaiting his book Raw Foods Bible. Boy, I can’t wait to get a Green Smoothie Girl convention here. Lol. I met a lady who I couldn’t resist explaining the Hot Pink B-fast smoothie and little did I know 4 others were listening and attempting to jot down the ingredients and kept saying now what else goes in?? Lol so funny but it’s something we drink almost daily here so I love to share the GSG ways! Thanks for being such an inspiration. I’m about ready to advertise you on my vehicle that’s how excited I’ve become about nutrition and your website. 🙂

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Hi Autumn! Tell Craig hi from me if you meet him–good guy! If you put GreenSmoothieGirl.com on the back of your car, drive carefully. There are a few others out there who have the site in their window, and I’ve twice gotten angry emails through the site from someone who observed them doing crazy things in traffic….and I got blamed for it! Heh.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Affordability.

    Making things affordable for the average working class citizen would go a long way. We do our best to make ends meet, at our house,but still fall in the low income bracket, as well as many others that I know and love. Your free classes are fantastic!!! Your free blog and wonderful wisdom shared is inspirational!!! Thank you for sharing!

    I did save up and buy your 12 steps program, but it was a real struggle for me to be able to do that. I have been gradually making the switch to a whole foods diet, (and feel so much better) but I find that many items are so expensive and wish that living more healthily could be less expensive.

    I have so many others in my life that really struggle with health and weight issues. I wish they could purchase your products, but the initial cost of your whole 12 step program is just too high for them to afford. I know your prices are better than what many others charge in this health food area. (I’m not meaning to criticize)… And I know it takes money to provide the services that you provide. But maybe there could be times when your program could have a lowered price that would allow low income people like me to be able to better afford your wonderful recipes and knowledge. (Sorry, this probably sounds silly… think of it…. “Yay! A sale on the 12 Steps program…. especially for low income people! Send in your W-2 forms for an approved drastically reduced rate!!!! Hurry, call now, while supplies last!”)

    I also so wish that the prices at the health food stores weren’t so high… but I don’t suppose there is much you could do to fix that. (Wouldn’t it be nice to wave your magic wand and have that happen?)

    Thanks for all you do. I’m glad you’re out there and spreading the word about how to help us help our families, friends, and neighbors live a more healthy life.

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Hi “annonymous,” we have the PDF download of the 12 Steps manual most inexpensively so that those with lowest incomes can participate. 🙂 Much luck to you. I have found that things we sacrifice for, we put a lot of effort into. Make sure you grow a garden, and own an inexpensive used freezer, and participate in buying co-ops—those will really make your whole-foods transition less expensive!

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