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Your Marketing Mix: Stop Focusing Only on Traffic

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date September 10, 2015

There’s a million and one things you could do to “market” your business, but what’s the right thing? Which one will get you the results you’re after?

Damn good question.

It’s a question without a clear cut answer. And anyone who claims to be able to tell you exactly what to do may very well be a liar, especially if it’s along the lines of “now, just follow these three easy steps.”

Figuring out your marketing isn’t about replicating someone else’s results but nailing down the approach that works for you. And that’s exactly why I’m not a fan of any marketing strategy or advice being taught by someone who’s done it exactly for one person – themselves.

Unfortunately, that’s all too common online. Yes, lessons learned and first hand experience are great, but they’re not the bedrock marketing you need to build your marketing on.

Which is why you need to have a handle on what’s called the marketing cycle. It’s an easy way to understand how each piece of the marketing puzzle feeds into the next one and how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

The Marketing Cycle Explained

There’s no shortage of marketing advice out there, but when it comes to online marketing the concept of the marketing cycle is well played out.

Originated by Perry Marshall in the book 80/20 Sales and Marketing, it’s a succinct way to make sure you’re addressing the key touch points of your marketing.

Essentially, there are three parts to the marketing cycle – Traffic, Conversions and Economics.

I don’t know about you, but you likely spend most of your time on traffic. And with good reason, this is where you’re engaging new people as they discover your business. This may be on social media, at events or publicity activities. The goal is to get people to connect with you and to want to learn more.

But here’s where shit falls apart. When it’s time to convert people from a casual connection into action such as subscribing or purchasing from you, you need your landing page, website or wherever else you’re sending them to deliver the goods.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Traffic doesn’t matter if your website totally sucks. #truthbomb New blog post” quote=”Traffic doesn’t matter if your website totally sucks. #truthbomb New blog post”]

Conversions for the (Small) Win

Enter conversions. Or as I like to think of it, as the land of small wins. When you have a website, you know exactly how many moving pieces there are involved. Copy, design, tech integrations and much more.

If you’re taking the time to send traffic to the site, you owe it to yourself to continuously be improving on what you have so you convert that traffic into action.

Think of this in the context of one of your sales pages. Every element of your page from the photo of you to the text on your purchase button to the social proof you’re using, impacts the end result. So tweaking that page, testing it and then optimizing it over time can give you a series of small wins. Those small wins bring better results in your business.

Closing the Loop: Economics

Finally, what happens once someone is your customer or client? These are the economics of running your biz. It’s not enough to convert someone, you then need to execute on what you’ve promised.

While you may not think of this part of things as marketing, it sure as hell is. Because if you do this part right, you’re going to need WAY less marketing in the long run. It’s how people build thriving businesses without an online presence.

It all comes down to the experience you deliver your customer or client from the time they first engage with you to when you’re done working with them. Never underestimate how incredibly powerful this is, or drop the ball here in favor of working harder on the front end of the cycle to get new people in the door. Happy customers are repeat customers and they will refer you to everyone they know.

If you want to dive more into this, check out the Surprise and Delight Guide with advice from 35+ smart business owners:
Get your free copy of the Surprise & Delight guide now.

Your Marketing Not-So Secret Weapon

With a firm grasp on the marketing cycle, how do you actually apply it? It’s all about finding the balance between all three pieces so that you’re essentially creating a flow where people discover you, engage and then continue to do business with you.

It’s easier said than done. So here’s a few ways to approach it:

Traffic: Choose a handful of tactics and focus on doing it really well so that they’re actually effective, instead of trying to be everywhere and running around following expert advice. You need to see what works for you, where your audience is and go from there.
Conversions: You know that moment when you launch your website and you’re so excited because you’re done. You’re never going to be done, which is why I’m a huge proponent of not over-investing in design when you’re starting out. You don’t know what you don’t know yet, so start where you are with your site and evolve over time.
Economics: Set aside marketing time to work on your “surprise and delight”. Keep your customers happy and close the loop so they’re dying to give you a testimonial.

The goal of your marketing is to support your business goals and get results. Not to fluff up follower counts or make you look like you’re awesome when you’ve just got an expensive hobby. Results come from getting clear, and action is what breeds clarity. Work all parts of your marketing cycle and over time you’ll watch your results grow.

Results. Clarity. A plan that actually works for you and doesn’t mean you’re focusing on marketing 24/7.

This is exactly what the No B.S. Marketing School is all about. And this isn’t like anything else out there, it’s based on 15+ years of planning and executing marketing programs from huge brands to startups to solopreneurs. We’ll keep the cookie cutters in your kitchen and break the marketing mold to get you where you want to go.

The No B.S. Marketing School is only open for registration through September 15th, and class starts Monday September 21st. Will you join us for the founding class?

Get the Scoop on the No B.S. Marketing School

The Marketing Moxie Show

Episode #103: Racheal Cook- Pro Launching Secrets

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date September 8, 2015

Today we’ve got Racheal Cook from Rachealcook.com and the creator of Conscious Business Design joining us to talk launches. I invited Racheal as she’s launched her signature program more than 10 times and has a lot of pro launching secrets. During this interview she shares what a launch really looks like, why you’re not likely going to have a 7-figure (or even a 6-figure) launch right away and shares the scoop on how to make a program like this happen.

Items Discussed in this Episode:

Racheal talks about how many times she has launched her signature program and what launching looked like the first few times versus now
Ignorance is bliss! If Racheal had known how intense her program would be, she probably wouldn’t have done it
It takes a lot more for a launch then just putting it up and hoping people will find you, it takes a lot of hustle on the front end to promote it
It’s really easy to hear about the 7 figure launches, but you need to look at the money they put into it to get those kind of numbers
Racheal shares her advice for keeping your launches super simple, especially if you’re just starting
Racheal shares the follow up process to her launch: getting feedback is the most important thing to keep using the same program over again
Once you know something is successful, you can upgrade your launch little by little
Racheal shares when and how she started to ‘go pro’ with her launches
Racheal cautions us not to do everything too far ahead of schedule, you need to be responsive to your launch and respond as people are going through it
It’s important to realize that you need to listen to feedback even if it’s hard, and you need to ask for the feedback even if you don’t want to hear it
We need to be constantly re-evaluating our programs and launches, our business will grow and change over time along with our audience and we may need to let things go or revamp them
Racheal gives her advice on how to deal with launch stress and work through it
Just because you’re putting out something new doesn’t mean you need to re invent the wheel, use your normal social media, blogging, etc. strategies to support your launch
You can only handle what you can handle, it’s okay to admit you bit off more than you can chew
Be brutally honest with yourself about where you actually are; it may be your first ‘big launch’ but only you know how much behind the scene work you’ve done before hand
You can’t rely on outsourcing everything to make something happen, it all comes back to you
Racheal shares that even though she has a team of 10 people, she could personally jump in and do any of the jobs so she feels in control of her launch
During a launch, each day could be different; you have to be flexible and respond to changes
Not everyone is an ‘early adopter’, they may be waiting to see the results of your launch before they jump in and join
Consistency is key: people don’t want to just hear from you when you’re ready to ask for money

[clickToTweet tweet=”Keep your launch simple and save your sanity. Pro launching secrets with @Rachealcook” quote=”Keep your launch simple and save your sanity. Pro launching secrets with @Rachealcook”]

Top 3 Takeaways for this Episode:

Keep your launch simple, especially when you’re just starting out.
Don’t expect someone else to “do” your launch for you. You can get the best help around, but you need to know what’s what. No one can care more than you do.
Launch stress is real. Plan for it, prepare for it and you’ll save yourself in the process.

Links for this Episode:

Racheal’s website

Join the Fired Up and Focused Challenge

Fired Up and Focused Book

No B.S. Marketing School – Now Open for Registration!

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group

Grow Your Business Online Uncategorized

Why YOU May Be the Biggest Problem in Your Marketing (And How to Fix It)

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date September 3, 2015

I’ve been reading the book the 12 Week Year, and it’s got me thinking in a big way about how we’re our own worst enemies when it comes to being able to succeed.

The premise of the book is that only by getting committed and focused, and then breaking down your years into 12 week chunks, can you truly be great.

When you’re running a small business, if you’re going to achieve greatness, whether that be making an impact or building a profitable empire (or even better, doing both), your marketing matters. Because your marketing is the front-end of how people discover you and learn to know, like and trust your brand.

But what if you’re out there marketing your heart out, and things are feeling less than stellar and your numbers indicate the same thing?

Start by looking at your marketing approach to see where you may be your own worst enemy:

#1 Does Your Marketing Feel Like You?

Before you think I’ve taken a sharp turn into the metaphysical realm, hear me out. When it comes to online marketing, it’s hard to find the right balance for how to approach things, especially when a lot of what’s being taught is distinctly masculine in energy.

For example, even the names of some common tactics are aggressive (tripwires, anyone?) and can seem out of alignment with who we are. I know for me, I strive for a happy medium in my marketing of the masculine and the feminine because I’m as likely to reference Danielle LaPorte as Ryan Deiss, and as a person, I have a definite edge to me.
But let’s say you’re more feminine in how you work and approach what you do, then masculine energy and tactics are going to be majorly misaligned for both you and your audience.

Then, there’s the tricky business of how you like to best communicate. Do you speak the language of innovation or passion? Details or excellence? Understanding how the world best sees you can make a critical difference to how that message is received, how you choose to market and how you feel when you’re doing it.

That’s exactly why I’ve included a training on your marketing personality using the Fascination Advantage System from Sally Hogshead in the upcoming No B.S. Marketing School. (And good news, I’m a Certified Fascination Advisor, so I’ve got special insights into what that report really means!)

[clickToTweet tweet=”Dudetastic marketing tactics make you feel the ick? Here’s why.” quote=”Dudetastic marketing tactics make you feel the ick? Here’s why.”]

#2. You’re Doing ALL the Things

Marketing is sort of like a buffet. There’s 100s of choices and you want to eat what you like and not combine things in a way that are going to make you seriously queasy later on.

You may have shiny object syndrome and be jumping on every bandwagon with the latest tactic or tool as soon as it is released, or suffer from just doing a lot of things and not doing any of them well.

We’re all guilty of this at times (myself included) as we want to play around, see what works and not miss out on opportunities. But this divided focus ultimately sinks us as we don’t optimize every single strategy and tactic we have.

Perfect example is blogging. Most people blog, but they let a lot of the pieces around it fall apart because they’re focused on crossing ‘write and publish post’ off their weekly to-do list. They don’t always blog with a plan in mind for their content, they ignore SEO, they don’t really promote the post and so it rarely sees the light of day after a couple days.

But how much better would that post be if there was a plan and promotion around it?

Pick a handful of tactics and do them really, really well for the best results. Skip the rest or put it in the “parking lot” for later.

#3. You Don’t Stick Anything Out Long Enough

Every single day we’re inundated with success stories, which can mess with our heads in a big way. It can make us think that things should be happening in a matter of mere days, instead of months or multiple years.

Have you ever said:

“Yeah, I tried that, it didn’t work?”

Stop and ask yourself if it really didn’t work, or if you didn’t stick it out long enough. This happens a lot (and I mean a lot) with podcasting. People do 10 episodes and they fade away.

Having just reached the 100 episode milestone for the Marketing Moxie show, I can tell you this much, 10 episodes isn’t enough to base an informed opinion on regarding if your show is working or not.

Consistency is the hallmark of successful marketing. If you constantly start and stop things you’re never going to have enough details or data to base a decision about if something is working or not.

On the flip side…

#4. You Keep Doing Things That Simply Aren’t Working

While it’s important that you give things time to see if they’re producing results and supporting your business goals, there’s a time to move on.

It could be that you’re holding on to a website that desperately needs to be rebranded so you can serve your clients. Or you’re insisting that Google + is still the #1 social platform around.

No program, no tactic has an indefinite shelf life, which is why you need to build in checkpoints monthly or quarterly to assess how things are going.

At the point you’ve been podcasting for six months or a year, and your downloads are mediocre at best, you get little listener feedback and it’s not helping you accomplish your goals, then you can say maybe it’s time to retire the show. Give it your all, and then be brave enough to admit when something isn’t working.

The same goes for your messaging, copy, site design, any social platform, product/service, emails, and so on.

Also, keep in mind that as your business evolves you’ll outgrow things, and you need to watch for the warning signs that it’s time to freshen things up or let them go.

Once you’ve got a handle on these fundamentals of how you approach your marketing, then it’s time to look at your “marketing” cycle, which I’ll break down for you in more detail next week.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Get out of your own damn way with your marketing. New blog post.” quote=”Get out of your own damn way with your marketing. New blog post.”]

Which of these four areas do you need to address in your business? What can you do to improve your overall approach to marketing to help things serve you and your audience better?

If you want to learn more about your marketing approach and how to make results happen in your biz, check out the No B.S. Marketing School. It’s now open for enrollment and is $150 off through next Wednesday, September 9th.

When you’re running a business, marketing can quickly become a full-time job. Which is great if you’re making a living as a marketing expert.

But if your title is actually CEO, coach, consultant or creative [fill-in-the-blank], this can quickly become a big old problem.

Because newsflash, marketing isn’t your job. Running your business is.

Which is why it’s time to put marketing in it’s rightful place. And what if, instead of trying out another expert’s advice based on exactly how they did it, you dialed in to exactly what works for your personality and your customers — actually gets YOU results?

This is exactly what the No B.S. Marketing School is all about. By focusing on the part of your marketing you can control and absolutely nailing it, you can dramatically alter the course of your business.

Get the Scoop on the No B.S. Marketing School

The Marketing Moxie Show

Episode #102: Sonaya Williams – Pro Systems to Fuel Serious Growth

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date September 1, 2015

Systems are one of those things that feel so constricting, but when you have the right systems in place, you can grow your biz and flourish says my guest Sonaya Williams. If you don’t know Sonaya, you need to, she’s the brains behind the people, systems and tools in many big name businesses, and she’s one of the most strategic systems thinkers I know.

Items Discussed in this Episode:

Some of us love systems, and some of us feel they are constraining; but they are necessary for our business
Sonaya shares what she thinks the most important system is for growing our business
Getting started on systems can be overwhelming; Sonaya gives us advice on how to get started
Every business no matter where you are needs systems, but you need to upgrade them based on the upgraded experience you’re giving your client
Being able to step out of the systems and hand them off to someone else will allow you to build your business more
Hiring is scary! Sonaya gives us her number one tip to find the right person and get them working within the systems that we’ve created
It may seem faster at first to just do it yourself, but if you can hand it off you won’t get in the way of progress
Sonaya gives us advice on how to figure out what tools to use in your systems based on where you are in your business
Choosing a system should be personalized to you and your business: how much support you need, how user friendly it is, how cost effective it will be for how you use it, etc.
As a CEO, you shouldn’t be the one learning the ins and outs of the tool, it should be someone on your team when you grow to the level of hiring
Sonaya picks one thing that separates really good, solid businesses from the rest
Take an unplugged vacation or at least a day! If you have the right systems in place, your business will not fall apart

[clickToTweet tweet=”Power up your biz with super pro systems from @Sonayawilliams” quote=”Power up your biz with super pro systems from @Sonayawilliams”]

Top 3 Takeaways for this Episode:

The follow up matters! It takes 8 to 12 follow ups to gain a new client. Create a system to follow up regularly and check in with these potential clients.
Start with the simplest system. Getting them on paper and put into effect will start to create momentum in your business.
You may outgrow your systems over time. We need to be constantly looking at and upgrading our systems as our business grows.

Links for this Episode:

Sonaya Williams Group

No B.S. Marketing School – Now Open for Registration!

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group

Feisty Friday The Marketing Moxie Show

Episode #101 – Why Selling Makes You Feel Icky (and How to Fix It)

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date August 28, 2015

Few people come with the salesperson gene and it feels super awkward to ask for money or sell. This episode is a short one that breaks down how to get your head aligned so you can actually sell your thing.

Items Discussed in this Episode:

There’s so much ‘sleaze’ out there, and it’s difficult to do business in an environment where you don’t want to contribute to that
So instead of selling, we wait for things to magically manifest in our business
There are ways to sell without being sleazy!
Time and time again I see people holding back from sharing their gifts because they don’t want to be just another sleazy salesman, but if you are conscious of this, you don’t have it in you to be sleazy!
You can sell and come from a place of real, genuine service, and I explain how
Start thinking about what making more money in your business really means: how it can help you serve more people and give you the freedom to serve the way you want to
If you’ve been honing your craft, why shouldn’t you be fairly paid for your gifts?
We can sell with soul and serve, you just have to make the choice and activate change

[clickToTweet tweet=”Selling doesn’t have to be icky if you frame it up the right way.” quote=”Selling doesn’t have to be icky if you frame it up the right way.”]

Links for this Episode:

No B.S. Marketing School VIP Offer

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group

email marketing marketing strategy PR for small business

7 Email Marketing Secrets for Your Small Business

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date August 27, 2015

Email is one of those things on our marketing to-do list that can make you wonder if you really should be doing it.

When we’re so focused on streamlining our email, getting to inbox zero, and moving our collaboration to tools like Basecamp or Slack, is there still a place for email?

Yes.

Email isn’t going anywhere. Email is currently used by over half the world’s population, and according to McKinsey & Company, email conversion rates are three times higher than social media.

While you may personally be SO over email, not everyone else is. And if you’re going to spend time marketing at all, your email marketing absolutely needs to be in the mix. Sure, you can focus on social networks, but you’re building on someone else’s network, you don’t own the data and most of all, social networks come and go. (Remember MySpace?)

But if you’re going to “do” email marketing, you need to do it in a way that’s actually going to help you get results. The inbox is a competitive place, so if you’re going to show up there, you need to bring your A game.

Here are 7 pro email marketing secrets to help you create the kind of email marketing that sets you apart in the inbox:

#1. Your Opt-In Gift Solves a Real Problem

Quizzes, guides and checklists, oh my! There’s no shortage of freebies for people to sign up for on the Internet as they go about their day. But if you want your offer to be the one that seduces someone into handing over their precious email address, you need to offer something that solves a real problem they’re having.

When you go to create your opt-in gift, take the time to dive into what your audience really and truly needs, not just what’s easy for you to create. Spending time upfront to create something of value will help you connect with the right audience and help you build your list that much faster.

#2. You Don’t Love Em’ and Leave Em’

Truthfully, my biggest pet peeve is when I sign up for someone’s email list and then don’t hear from them until they have something to sell me. At the point that someone has raised their hand and signed up for your email list, you want to ensure that you’re going to continue to give them some time and attention.

This is where creating an email autoresponder – or as I like to call it, an orientation sequence – comes in. After you deliver your opt-in gift, you need a series of emails to help your new subscribers turn into part of your community by building the know, like and trust factor.

#3. You Show Up On Time Every Single Week

Email marketing thrives on consistency. Even if the idea of a schedule feels completely stifling to you, when it comes to your email it’s a must. Start by picking a set date and time each week that you’ll send out your emails.

We are all creatures of habit, and with email over time your readers will come to expect you in their inbox on a certain day. And that consistent delivery of quality content helps to breed brand recognition, familiarity with your content and, most of all, trust in what your business has to offer. You may need to miss a week here or there, but setting a schedule and sticking to it is a must.

#4. Have a Good Opening Line

When your inbox is jammed full of messages, what do you do? You skim it, reading the senders and the subject lines. So to get your email opened, spend some time crafting your subject line.

Think of your subject line as the headline for your email: you need something that’s going to elicit interest and make someone pause as they skim their inbox.

Not sure where to start? First of all, keep is short. 50 characters or less is ideal. From there, play with personalization, urgency, asking questions, sharing benefits and more.

#5. Email is a Conversation

Hey you, boring email marketer. Cut it out or I’m going to delete you. And here we go, time to unsubscribe!

That’s exactly how things roll in my inbox. If I invite you into my inbox (aka my digital house), you owe it to me to not bore the crap out of me.

Email is a conversation. Show personality, speak to your reader on a one-to-one basis, and avoid the kiss of death – corporate speak!

[clickToTweet tweet=”Do this so your emails don’t get deleted. #emailmarketing” quote=”Do this so your emails don’t get deleted. #emailmarketing”]

#6. Exercise the 80/20 Rule

You may have heard the saying “the money is in the list,” but as I’ve explained in this post, it’s only in the list if you’re a good list host. And part of that deal is not abusing your list with an endless stream of promotional emails.

A good rule of thumb is to focus on delivering value-added, no strings attached content 80% of the time, and then only promoting 20% of the time. Let’s say you send an email every week of the year. That’s a total of 52 emails. With that in mind, you’d only be promoting to that same group in 10 of those emails. (I’m not counting launch specific emails here – that’s a whole different beast!)

#7. Learn What Your Readers Want

Unlike some other parts of our marketing that we can’t easily measure (podcast subscriber numbers, I’m looking at you), email marketing gives us a gold mine of data to work with. By keeping an eye on and analyzing this data, we can learn what our readers want more of from us.

Start by looking at your open rates. Is your open rate in line with what’s typical in your industry? (Check out this handy chart from MailChimp here.) Then look at your last 5 or 10 emails. What’s your open rate on each one? Which ones did better than others?

Then, if you want to take it up a notch, look at your click-through rate (CTR). What links are people clicking on in your emails? Are they going on to read your blog post, or check out your new service? Watch for trends over time with your CTR so you can continuously tweak your email content.

[clickToTweet tweet=”7 email marketing secrets to take the suck out of your emails – new blog post” quote=”7 email marketing secrets to take the suck out of your emails – new blog post”]

Use these 7 secrets to help make the most of your email marketing so you can deliver content that connects and converts into results for your business.

The Marketing Moxie Show

Episode #100: Brittany Becher – Creating a Pro Approach to Email Marketing

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date August 25, 2015
1 Comment on Episode #100: Brittany Becher – Creating a Pro Approach to Email Marketing

We did it! Today we hit the 100 episode milestone with a very special episode of the Marketing Moxie show! We continue the pro secrets series looking at email secrets with Brittany Becher. And because Brittany’s on my team, we give you a little behind the scenes scoop at the end of the episode.

Items Discussed in this Episode:

Brittany shares where she thinks email marketing can break down for us.
Doing a lot of things for your email marketing, but not doing any of it well is not doing your business justice.
Brittany explains how to not distract your audience with ‘shiny objects’ by having too many opt ins.
It’s okay to have more than one opt in, but offer it in a different forum ie. blog post, FB ads, etc.
Once you have the volume to have a lot of opt ins, go for it. Before then, you won’t see the results from a lot of marketing tactics.
It’s important to understand for your type of business what you actually need for traffic and email marketing.
Brittany shares the most powerful thing you can do with your email to go pro.
Consistency can mean a lot of different things for your business, we talk about what consistency should look like for you.
When is it time to upgrade your email marketing system?
When what you have isn’t working, it’s holding you back from what you want to do, or it’s creating a bottleneck, it may be time to upgrade.
Don’t upgrade your marketing just to feel like you’ve arrived, do it when it’s necessary.

Business Lessons Learned from the Last 100 Episodes:

The “idea hiatus” was Brittany’s idea, and was one of the best things I’ve done for my business.
Sometimes ‘breathing room’ is the best thing you can create for yourself.
The lessons I’ve learned have made my upcoming launch the best one yet, it feels really thought out and put together and includes all of the pieces I want because I took my time getting ready.
My biggest win for 2015 and for the podcast in general has been consistency.
Just because someone seems super successful doesn’t mean they didn’t have months or years of trial and error before you discovered them.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Celebrating 100 episodes with a very special episode of the #marketingmoxie show” quote=”Celebrating 100 episodes with a very special episode of the #marketingmoxie show”]

Top 3 Takeaways for this Episode:

Figure out your one signature opt in. Having too many offers in one place can get confusing, so get clear on what your one main opt in will be to start out.
Understand that the advanced email marketing tactics is all about a numbers game. If you don’t have a lot of traffic yet, using all of these tactics may not make sense. It’s not one size fits all!
Make sure all of your content and voice are all flowing together. There needs to be a consistent thread across everything. Use a standard format for your newsletters, use the same voice for all communication, etc.

Links for this Episode:

Brittany’s Website – Foundation & Flow

No B.S. Marketing School – Get on the list now!

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group

Feisty Friday The Marketing Moxie Show

Episode #99 – Why Your Homepage Isn’t Doing You Any Favors

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date August 21, 2015

You’re working your tail off getting people to your website, but is your homepage getting the job done? The homepage needs to seal the deal and invite people into learning more, but if you fumble, you’re missing a big opportunity. This quick episode breaks down what you need to know.

Items Discussed in this Episode:

When it comes to your web page, your homepage is essentially your online welcome mat
I’ll share 1 big mistake to avoid with your homepage
When you try to please everyone on your homepage, it’s very hard to actually please anyone
The paradox of choice impacts our web site so heavily, I explain why
The last thing you want to do with your homepage is cause the visitor anxiety
The homepage is there to keep your audience around and show them where to go
Your homepage is worth the time and energy it takes to get it right

[clickToTweet tweet=”Does your homepage send the right message and get the job done?” quote=”Does your homepage send the right message and get the job done?”]

Links for this Episode:

Join Orientation Week – It Starts August 24th

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group

Orientation Weeks starts Monday, August 24th and we’ll be talking about conversion rates among other must-know things in your business.

This August, instead of deciding you’ve got 2015 handled, what if you tapped into that feeling and took your marketing back to school? And not to just any school, but the No B.S. School of Marketing, a place where you get to reinvent your marketing (and how you think about it).

Orientation Week is a week-long, 100% free event with a daily lesson. No fluff. You’ll get in and you’ll get out. Best of all, each day you’ll get something done in your business that sets you on the path to marketing success.

Get the details and join us by hitting the button below.

content marketing strategy conversion rate strategies marketing strategy

A Creative Entrepreneur’s Guide to Conversion Rates

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date August 20, 2015
1 Comment on A Creative Entrepreneur’s Guide to Conversion Rates

Do you identify yourself as a creative?

Yeah, me too. I’ve always been a creative. I was raised by a hippie photographer father, who valued creativity above all else. I grew up in a time of possibility and around people who didn’t have traditional careers, so I was fully encouraged to let my creative (freak) flag fly.

From a young age, I was a writer – that was how I expressed myself. Later, this gave way to my trying all kinds of other creative pursuits. So as you can imagine, something like math wasn’t my sweet spot. In fact, it has always been ewwwww….ugh….yuck for me.

I’m sure so many of you can relate. But as a creative business owner, I want to let you in on a secret: we can’t ignore math.

No matter how much we really want to.

Truth is…our fate rests on the numbers.

80% of businesses fail in the first year. That’s a staggering number.

We’ve all heard that tried and true stat time and time again, to the point we likely don’t even think about what that really means.

Desensitized as we may be, we need to pay attention.

With those numbers, the odds of you failing are greater than of you succeeding.

How do you do better and ensure your success? How do you not become a statistic?

You measure your results.

You have limited time to work “on” your business, so why not make it more efficient? Focusing on your creativity and uniqueness alongside your conversion rates can give you an incredible way to be truly different than everyone else out there AND get results.

You know, results. The things that mean you’re succeeding. The tangible proof that all your heart and hustle is paying off and getting you where you want to go.

As business owners and especially as women, we tend to want to focus on feelings and emotions, not the actual outcomes. So we talk about wanting to feel a certain way, instead of a hard metric like people served or money made.

We’re doing ourselves a major disservice if we don’t measure results.

We’re never ever going to feel the ease or flow we crave if we’re not paying attention. Our feelings aren’t going to be the ones we deeply desire but ones of fear and frustration but most of all, we’ll be so flippin’ tired that we’ll want to quit.

What Happens When We Ignore the Numbers

Sure, we can ignore the numbers. But, when we aren’t paying attention, here’s what happens.

We turn into the chick at the party that’s in the powder room all night long because she can’t handle herself. And we’ve all had this moment – whether you want to admit it or not. It’s my job to make sure you aren’t that girl anymore.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Are you THAT girl? Get yourself handled – conversion rates for creatives.” quote=”Are you THAT girl? Get yourself handled – conversion rates for creatives.”]

Results. Numbers. These are things we can control. It just comes down to truly understanding the art + science of our marketing.

For example, last Fall when I relaunched this website, my business changed.

As soon as I launched a new site with a clear, totally me story, my business grew quickly. The difference: more me, more story and a better focus on converting my visitors into action. I grew my list by 1000 people, I was booking out months ahead. These relatively minor changes had a big pay off rather quickly. My website paid for itself many, many times over.

That’s not to brag, but it’s to show you’ve got a choice.

You can keep working harder and doing more, or you can focus on what you can control. Your story. Your conversions. Not just more busywork to make you feel like you’re getting somewhere.

Ultimately, this is about being smarter and letting the other stuff go so you can focus on the stuff you want to do. Not hustling hard and dropping from exhaustion.

Stop Giving Conversion Rates a Bad Rap

Let’s take some time to actually talk about “conversions.” That’s the magical act where people sign up for your list or purchase from you.

In short, they take action on your site.

The idea of conversion doesn’t have to be scary, sleazy or all about the math.

Conversions is sort of like the weird creepy guy that a friend of a friend invited along to your party. You’re giving him the side eye all night, worrying he’s going to go through your underwear drawer when he heads to the bathroom, but once you get to know him, he’s actually kind of cool.

Conversion talk gets a bad rap with us creative types, which is why we’re going to get the bottom of conversion rates for creatives once and for all.

Why? For most of us, numbers and money are huge triggers. (Raising my hand – don’t worry, I’ve got this kind of baggage, too!)

Or maybe you see ranty dude bro marketers with flashing red buy now buttons that look like Web 1.0 threw up all over their sales page.

Or the fear that if you focus on conversion rates you’re going to have to turn into someone who uses hard core pressure tactics to close the sale.

No, No, and NO! Not for a second. That’s not at all what this is about.

Just because you’re working on these numbers doesn’t mean your business has to be soulless. It doesn’t mean you have to have a HUGE impersonal business. It’s just the opposite.

By focusing on this stuff you can be more efficient and spend MORE time focusing on your clients by serving them in the best way possible. Plus, you’ll actually be profitable so that you can grow exactly the way you want to. It can help you take the pressure off so you’re acting from a place of abundance and not fear.

It’s simple.

Conversions = people taking action on your site.

Action = you’ve got a viable, sustainable business and are making money.

And really, who doesn’t like that?

By understanding and tracking your conversion rates, you can figure out what’s working and what’s not so you can succeed.

For example, conversion rates typically run around 2-3% for most websites. But with the right changes and focus, you can increase those to 5% or even higher.

Imagine you have 1000 people coming to your landing page where you’re selling a product or service.

A 2% conversion would mean that 20 people purchased.

But with a 5%, that could be 50 people, or with 10% ,100 people.

That’s more people impacted, more people served and you’re being paid fairly for your work. Win-win for everyone.

This is what’s at the heart of conversion optimization. You can haul ass to have more and more traffic, or you can tweak and tuck your site so that the people who show up get what they need.

Remember the creepy conversions dude? When you really break it down, this conversion guy isn’t so bad after all. At your party, he’s the one who stays until 3 a.m. helping you clean up the aftermath. And in your marketing arsenal, conversion rate optimization is reliable and trustworthy – the perfect balance to your creative whims and innovative ideas.

The Right Numbers Ensure Your Freedom

Start measuring so you are in control of your business outcomes and, most of all, your future. No more ignoring the “math stuff” and what’s really happening on your website.

Because if you do that, your business is going to be fine. In fact, it will be better than fine because you’ll know what’s what.

As creatives, we love our freedom. But the numbers are what are going to give us creative control. (And they don’t have to be scary!)

For me, they give me control over the growth of my business and now they’re my BFF. When those not-so-great days happen and I totally melt down, the numbers are my safety blanket that help snap me back to reality.

You, my friend, are in control of your business. Your business doesn’t happen to you or around you. You’re the host or hostess of this party, so it’s time for you to step up. Make friends with conversions and you may just be surprised where your business goes.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Making friends with conversion rates – the inside scoop. New blog post.” quote=”Making friends with conversion rates – the inside scoop. New blog post.”]

Orientation Weeks starts Monday, August 24th and we’ll be talking about conversion rates among other must-know things in your business.

Get the details and join us by hitting the button below.

The Marketing Moxie Show

Episode #98: Amanda Genther – Pro Sales Page Tips

Post author By Maggie Patterson
Post date August 18, 2015

episode 98

You’ve got something to sell, but you know you need to make it look and sound good if anyone is actually going to buy it. But sometimes, you can’t afford to have a pro team do it all for you. Which is exactly what digital stylist Amanda Genther talks about in today’s show – how to DIY with her sales page tips and still look like a pro!

Items Discussed in this Episode:

Amanda shares the top 2 mistakes we make when trying to do our sales pages ourselves
To simplify your page and make it really consistent, use no more than 3 fonts
Create your color palette before you start your sales page and only use a max of 5 colors; they will keep the page from getting too busy
If you don’t break up the text on your sales page it looks very clumped together. Amanda gives us her 2 rules for text placement on your sales page
Amanda shares some common trends happening in sales pages, and the mistake we make by going with a trend instead of sticking to their brand
Amanda explains the importance of putting the emphasis on your purchase button
It is possible to create a unique, pro looking sales page on your own, Amanda explains how
There is software you can use to make creating a sales page easier and a lot less stressful; there’s no reason to start from scratch
When you do your own sales page, keep it simple, the fancier you try to get, the more of a mess it can end up looking like
Amanda shares the top 2 things she wishes people knew about their sales page
Amanda shares her best design secret for selling more on your sales page
For those of us still needing to DIY our sales pages, Amanda is sharing more about her irresistible sales pages program

[clickToTweet tweet=”Take your sales page from blah to brilliant with @Amandagenther’s pro tips.” quote=”Take your sales page from blah to brilliant with @Amandagenther’s pro tips.”]

Top 3 Takeaways for this Episode:

Don’t make your sales page too busy. We have a temptation to put everything in it the client needs to know, and it can get full very quickly.
If you’re going to do your own sales page, use a template from optimizepress. You can customize it to make it your own, but it will still have structure.
Make your sales page tangible. You need something on the page to anchor it to give people a sneak peek of what they’re getting, this can help remove doubt.

Links for this Episode:

Irresistible Sales Pages

Link to Free Marketing Moxie Facebook Group