by Suellen | Email Marketing, Online Success, Success
Crafting the right Email funnels is an important marketing strategy to understand if you want to better communicate with your audience and to increase your profits. While it may be hard to believe, email marketing still out-performs social media by nearly forty percent. Not only does email marketing generate more revenue, but it is also more productive as it is three times faster.
Here are four easy steps to creating a high-converting email marketing funnel:
Step One: Find more customers and sign them up for email.
The first crucial step to creating a high-converting email funnel is to create brand awareness and find more customers. (This is often called Lead Generation). Focus on creating a process that draws in your target audience. Usually this is an offer with an opt-in form. Your offer of a free product is an incentive to get their information and start them down the email funnel. Once they opt-in, they’ll become a new subscriber and receive your hearty welcome email.
Step Two: Continue to send value-filled emails.
You will further build their interest with great content. Your emails will provide information and teach them about your products or services without focusing on promotions. This step is about building a stronger relationship with your customers to keep them around long-term. It allows you to form a deeper connection with your audience. Engaging content leads to more action.
Step Three: Content Persuasion
Once strong relationships are built with your readers, you want to persuade them further to make a certain decision. This is where the promotional content begins to flow into your sequences and your readers start to make purchases and become loyal customers.
In this step, be sure you always include an easy and obvious call-to-action, so your audience knows what to do. Your click-through rate depends on it.
Step Four: Engage and Follow Up
Nurturing your leads never stops. The step keeps going as is required to keep their interest and see more conversions. Even after your readers purchase, you want to follow up with them and keep them engaged.
Send thank you emails and invite them to other groups or platforms that teach them how to use your products or services even better. The more places and ways you can keep your audience engaged, the better and fewer chances for them to unsubscribe or become disinterested.
So there you have it.: your email funnel formula. Four steps to follow again and again. Sign up email customers, nurture them with a series of emails containing valuable information, offer them something to purchase, and continue to engage them for the follow up.
Following these steps ensures you have everything you need to create high-converting email funnels. A great marketing strategy for the highest return on your investment.
This costs little to nothing to get started, but can reap great rewards when you continue.
Forever Upward!
Suellen
P.S. If you want to know about a terrific email provider, you will want to check out Get Response. You can find them Here.
by Suellen | Join the Mission, Meeting the Challenges, Vision and Goals
There are people out there right now that need your skills and your advice. They want to learn from you and they’d be happy to join your community, if only it existed. Don’t let your fears keep you from creating a community.
When I first came online, I was overwhelmed by all of the “experts” I saw. Perhaps it was because the first summit I attended was an extensive weeks-long training from the leading experts in Social Media.
It was as if I had been thrown into an advanced calculus class before I had learned how to multiply!
So much new jargon! I didn’t know the difference between SEO and a CTA. These elite professionals would throw out jargon which the moderators understood perfectly. I had no idea what they were talking about.
Surprisingly, I learned a lot during that training.
Yet unsurprisingly, I established myself in my own mind as an outsider in this complicated world. From then on, when I went to conferences or engaged in online chats, I always felt that everyone knew so much more than I did. And that they were more successful.
I have been blogging – and learning – for several years now, and I have a clearer understanding of what was happening.
Slowly my eyes were opened to the fact that many of those people didn’t know as much as I did. And I began to realize that i could do this. I could be successful online.
So if you are one of those who feels like an outsider looking in, I have some great news for you.
You have unique gifts which will benefit others. You also have a personal mission which may be similar, but it won’t be just like anyone else’s. Have faith in who you are – and know that there are many others who need what you have to offer.
They also need your encouragement.
That’s why we need community.
Your community may be those who listen to your podcast, or read your blog, or those who read your emails. Or you could want to start a membership community. Or a Facebook Group.
With any of these communities, you will have more impact if you consider a few things.
Decide on the goal of your community.
The first thing you want to do when building your community is deciding what the goal will be. It’s a good idea to look at the end result your ideal client wants. For example, if your ideal client wants to start a blog, then creating great blogs can be the goal for your community. Other communities could focus on speaking or podcasting. Some could focus on all of these things.
Interestingly, within your community, there will be smaller topics of interest. Best tools for the job. Best practices. Creativity. Mindset.
You can see that the list could be endless.
Who are your people?
Every community has its own culture that’s shaped by the creator and members. When you’re thinking about culture, you might want to consider your personal values. For example, if you’re building a Christian community then you may stress the importance of Biblical principles while on the job. Obviously in this case, good character would be important to implement in your group.
Walk alongside your members.
The most effective teaching is walking alongside your members or friends.
What do I mean by that? Let people learn from your mistakes as well as their own. When people see you as authentic, they can relate – and they can learn better. Let them see your journey, and let them see where you are at the moment.
When their guard is down, people learn a lot more from a peer than they do from a school marm. So be real and be honest.
Your community will be delighted to find someone who understands their struggles.
Find a partner
If you’re nervous about building a community, look for a partner. This is someone that runs a business or brand that complements your skills. For example, if you’re an excellent writer, team up with someone who is a great internet marketer.
This set up benefits you by cutting your responsibilities in half and it benefits your group by allowing them to receive support from two people, instead of one. Keep in mind that you’ll want to build your community with a partner that you already know and like. You should also have a plan in place for what happens if one of you becomes too busy to participate or if one of you wants out of the community.
The bottom line is this. We need each other, and if you can answer that need in your business or blog, your effectiveness will increase many times over.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Success, Vision and Goals
Many people start their home based businesses with tremendous excitement and delight. Yet after some time on the job, they may start experiencing second thoughts and discouragement.
They find themselves tired of the business and burned out.
Being burned out is no fun. It’s especially no fun if you are a self-employed solopreneur! You need to stay on-the-ball in order to run your business successfully.
The best way to overcome this energy and productivity sapper, is to take steps to overcome it before it happens. So let’s look at some ways to do that.
Okay, let’s be honest. You love your work. You know that your mission is important, and you are thrilled to be helping people as you move ahead. (And, of course, you celebrate as the money begins to flow in).
Yet anything which we do day in and day out – with no breaks – will get tiresome from time to time. That’s why we need to focus on avoiding this before it happens.
So here are a few things to avoid.
- Taking on Too Much Work –
When you are just starting out, you are so happy to get any work at all that you can’t imagine too much ever coming your way.
Yet after you’ve been in business for awhile, this can happen. And it’s a trap for countless solopreneurs. Often this is driven by the fear that at some point, they won’t have orders coming in. So they take on a huge amount of work whenever it’s available
The irony is that this tends to result in poor quality work, which actually means they’re more likely to lose clients!
2. Oversleeping –
What’s that? Sleeping too much can cause burnout?
It might sound surprising, but if you start work late then you will quickly enter into a vicious cycle. You will start late – and end late – thus having your work go into the night and onto your days off.
This is a hazard especially if you are single and don’t have the family time table to help you stay on a more regular routine.
Be strict with yourself, ask others to help, and make sure you get an early night.
Find ways to help yourself maintain regular hours. A cup of Camomile Tea to help you get to sleep. And leaving the curtains open lightly when you go to sleep. Thus when you wake up in the morning. the natural sunlight will prompt you to get up and not go back to sleep.
Even little habits can make a routine more doable – and life lots easier.
3. Others’ Disrespect for Your Work
It’s interesting that if you work in an office, others don’t think that you are available at all times. They respect your office commitment. However, if you are working from home, many think that you are available at all times.
This is a common problem solopreneurs have to address.
People don’t mean this in a condescending way. Yet many people will think that being your own boss means you can be at their beck and call at any time of day.
Let’s go shopping. Let’s go to lunch. Let me tell you the latest gossip.
Or if you have children at home, it’s even more difficult.
It takes willpower to have a schedule which works – and one which avoids this random free time mentality.
Having a schedule of certain times for concentrated work and other times for taking calls helps you stay on track.
Eventually others will recognize your routine and will be more likely to honor it.
4. Not switching off
This is a huge risk you face as a solopreneur.
When you work from home, your work can become your life to the point where you can’t seem to switch it off. It’s always there. Always in your mind. Always demanding concentration.
It’s quite common for anyone to finish work and then realize that there was something they forgot to do, But for most people, they will plan to do it first thing the next morning. The difference for you is that you can go and rectify that mistake right away.
That can be a hazard. You need time off. You need to forget about your work and enjoy other aspects of your life.
It takes discipline to put your work aside – and enjoy your leisure time. But your spiritual time, your family time, and your leisure time are significant to a healthy life.
It might make it easier when you realize that playing is a responsibility!
So there you have a few things which can cause burnout. They basically come down to scheduling times for work and times for play. They also involve knowing your limitations and not overloading yourself with too much work.
Through prayer and planning, you can find a plan and a schedule which works for you and allows you to maximize your impact while enjoying your work.
Avoiding burnout can lead to many years of enjoyable productivity.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Success
Many of us have lofty goals of becoming solopreneurs. We might dream of starting a side-hustle and growing it into a business. Or maybe we’re already working solo, but dreaming of going bigger. Of scaling our business to heights that allow us to earn a fully passive income. So that we make money while we sleep!
Sounds terrific, doesn’t it?
Often though, these aspirations fall through and we don’t achieve quite the goals we set for ourselves. We start with good intentions, but eventually end up getting over tired or frustrated to the point of wanting to quit.
So what do we do?
The problem is often very simple. When challenges come, we often just try to work harder. Or purchase one more bit of software. As a result, we might be adding hours of work to our already busy schedule when other factors need to be considered.
If we are trying to build this productive business while we are generally unhappy, overworked, or not eating correctly, we are wasting our time. If we really want to improve our productivity we need to be healthy, energetic and well organized – it’s all connected.
So let’s take a look at our lives as a whole. Every part of our daily routine influences other parts. Only a holistic approach to our lives and our work can bring the results we are looking for.
You know what I am going to say is first, don’t you?
Start your day with prayer and Bible study.
Even a few minutes of focused time with God can set you on the right path. There have been times when I have done this, and times when I haven’t. Believe me. I have learned how significant this is. Often while praying, new ideas will pop up. New contacts will emerge. And every time you follow this bit of advice, your confidence will increase.
If God is for you, who can be against you?
Early Morning is also a good time to exercise.
When you increase your circulation through your choice of activity, you increase your energy and your clarity. Whatever your goals, you need energy to accomplish them.
De-clutter. Clear the Space Around You.
All of those scraps of paper with insignificant notes need to be thrown away. Certainly yesterday’s coffee cup needs to be taken to the kitchen. Throw anything out that you don’t use regularly and that isn’t sentimental.
Likewise generally minimize your clutter by putting things in organized boxes and creating good systems to help you stay tidy. You’ll find you end up with a lot more mental space, a lot more time on your hands, and a lot more physical space for your productivity.
While de-cluttering, take a look at your computer. Your email account, your download files, and more. if you can manage to set up a plan for de-cluttering your computer, you will find more time and focus for your work.
Regulate Your Sleep/Wake Cycles
If you are currently all over the place in terms of your body clock then you should change that so that you have a stricter schedule on week days. Wake up early so you have time to work and come round in the morning and go to sleep with enough time to get a full eight hours so you’re refreshed tomorrow.
I realize that some people are more “hard-wired” in their sleep habits. If that’s you, try avoiding caffeine late in the day and drink some “sleepy tea” instead. Also, gear your end-of-day routine toward peaceful, calming endeavors.
As you take these steps, you can increase your chances of a good night’s sleep and an earlier bedtime.
Have Some ‘You’ Time: Schedule yourself in some time that is going to be ‘your’ time. This is important because otherwise you will end up distracted and wanting to do other things.
Develop Healthy Eating Habits
Healthy eating will give you more energy and help you stay fresher during the day.
Even a few changes , like removing the sugar from your tea and coffee, cutting down on salt in your cooking, drinking fewer fizzy drinks, and taking the butter off your toast.
Easy right? Now make sure you drink five pints of water a day, and eat lots of fiber.
Have Some ‘You’ Time:
Schedule yourself in some time that is going to be ‘your’ time. This is important because otherwise you will end up distracted and wanting to do other things.
One of the ‘You’ Time items could be to adopt an awards system for yourself. Any activity that isn’t work is a ‘reward’ and you’re only allowed one at the time. So after a particularly difficult task, reward yourself. You’ll look forward to the intermittent moments – and be motivated to do the hard tasks.
Small Changes can make a Big difference
These are all small changes to make but they address elements of your life across the board. You’ll find very soon that this starts to give you more energy and focus in every area of your life and that you start seeing returns which snowball over time.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Success
Being a solopreneur means running a business that is entirely yours. You are the person providing the value, but also the marketer, the web designer, and the accountant.
Most likely, you manage all this from the comfort of a home office somewhere.
While this style of work creates many opportunities, it also presents a number of obstacles, as we have discussed earlier. In particular, it can weigh heavily on your mind.
EVERYTHING is your responsibility. And it’s always right there.
This is why it’s so important that you create strict rules for your work/life balance and that you think of the lifestyle you want to achieve before you even begin pursuing your dream career as a digital entrepreneur.
In other words: you need to think about how much work you’re willing to put in and what kind of work you’re willing to do. You need to build your work in a way that is sustainable and enjoyable, so that it will be able to hold together even as it reaches critical mass.
Some things to consider:
Create your ideal working environment. (As far as possible)
This might mean that you work from a well-crafted home office and keep that for work only.
Likewise, it might mean that you seek out coffee shops to work in in your local area. This can help to prevent cabin fever, ensure you get social interaction and remove the temptation to procrastinate by watching TV or repeatedly making yourself sandwiches (a common problem).
Go to networking events, work in shared offices and attend conferences and seminars.
More and more people work online and just like any other industry, a lot of success as a digital marketer comes from who you know. Rubbing shoulders with other successful people will make you feel more accomplished and it will open up doors. Moreover, it will help you to get some time out of the home office!
Create set work hours and be strict about working inside those.
Rest is just as important as work if you are going to be as productive and efficient as possible and there’s no point earning money if you never have a chance to enjoy it!
Know the lifestyle you want to lead.
Know what you want to accomplish and then work to achieve that – no less and no more. This is what ‘lifestyle design’ is.
Don’t let others dictate your goals. Your family time, your church involvement, and your recreation are to be included when you are designing your life.
Balance is the key.
Outsource the work that you don’t enjoy or that is too much for you.
When you are first starting, money may be too scarce for hiring others. However, eventually you may want to hire staff or freelancers.
You can also outsource to VAS (virtual assistant services) or to service providers procured on freelancer sites.
Remember: This is Your Business.
Design and work your business in a way that will bring value to you and your family. You are the boss, so you can set the parameters and live by them.
Work and live the life you want!
