by Eugénie | Dec 10, 2017 | Branding & Marketing, Career & Business, Funnel Power, Money & Finance
Successful businesses take time to build, but with the right tools in place, that time can be immensely shortened. As a matter of fact, if these key tools are not put in place, a business may not see success at all. And these vital tools are technology related – digital technology. Gone are the days when you could go about business as usual without keeping abreast of what’s going on in your industry, and still have a flourishing business. Technology has changed the way we do business, and the way people do business with us. There is a new way to be noticed and your business can suffer hugely if it is not on board. I know, as women entrepreneurs, we often buy into the idea that technology is a “man’s world”. But man’s world or not, technology is something that we will need to embrace if we are going to experience growth and prosperity in our business. So, why is your business not successful? Here are five (5) missing links to your business success.
1. Sales Funnel
A Sales Funnel is the blueprint for your customer’s journey from being a curious spectator to a paid customer, and subsequently transitioning to a raving fan and possibly your brand ambassador. You see just because you helped them with a particular goods or service does not mean that you will always be ahead of them or have a bigger network. I have helped many women who had no community but had the potential to command a huge community, go from zero people in their community to thousands in their community, by helping them become visible in this digital age so prospects – their ideal customers, can find them. And, I can assure you, if you give them what you promised in their first interaction with you, you can expect them to: a) do business with you again and again, b) talk about your goods and services with their family and friends, and c) share stories and @mention you to their audiences on their social media platforms. So the Sales Funnel is the first of five missing links that you must implement in your business in order to succeed in this digital age. Learn more about Sales Funnels and what Beyoncé was able to do with her Formation Sequel.
2. Social Media and Community Building
Building a tribe – a selective, relevant group of people who are interested in what you do, as well as social influencers in similar areas of expertise, is a crucial component for your business success. And thanks to our technological advancement – social media is here to help us concoct this very essential task – seamlessly. How do you get social media to work for you? By setting up separate pages and groups for your business, fashioning your public persona across the social media sphere to tie in to your business model, using your business pages as well as your personal pages as your lead magnet source and tripwire, and channeling them all to your business website’s relevant pages known as your landing pages. Here is my WERK Your Money Making Genie landing page which is a great example of a landing page. Using the Social Success Cycle – a term I was introduced to by Ryan Diess and Russ Henneberry from Digital Marketer in their Social and Community Manager certification program, you are able to maximize your social media efforts, and also get maximum results from minimum time. It includes:
1. Social Listening – what is your target audience talking about? What is their biggest concerns?
2. Social Influencing – Are you sharing content that answers their concerns?
3. Social Networking – Are you connecting with influencers on social media?
4. Social Selling – Are you sharing and making your offers on social media?
So, social listening is first, and social selling is last in the Social Success Cycle. Don’t mess up on this! A lot of people do! You cannot start out trying to sell without listening, influencing or networking and expect to accomplish your sales goal. Like you would in a romantic relationship, date your audience first, then you can ask them to enter into a financial relationship with you. So, this is the second of five missing links that you must implement in your business in order to succeed in this digital age.
3. Email Marketing
Email marketing is not dead! It is very much alive. Having followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope is wonderful but you must get those people on your list. Why? Because a) you get to nail down who those people are that you are resonating with, b) you get to send them direct messages and see how they relate and interact with it, c) you get to fashion your offers to cater to their needs and d) if those third-party platforms close your accounts, you would lose all your followers which means zero contact with them. I know it is highly unlikely to have all your social media accounts close out all at once but many of your contacts are not all the same on all platforms, and again the benefits of having an email list, trumps the time and effort it will take to build that list. This is the third of five missing links that you must implement in your business in order for your business to succeed and thrive in this digital age.
4. Content
We are living in an information age, and although it can be overwhelming and is for many people, you need to get in on the fun if your business is going to be found and noticed. What you have to share is important and can change people’s lives, right? You wouldn’t be doing this business if you didn’t believe in it and thought it could help others. So you will fashion your content to showcase yourself and your business, how you as a brand will help make their lives better, and position your content so they can access them – effortlessly. Stephen Curry, my fave basketball player who is the point guard on my fave team – the Golden State Warriors, did a piece about the noise – in salute of veterans and those whose voices are not being heard – called “The Noise”. And it’s his version of what’s going on in this information age and how you can make your noise (which is substantive and needs to be heard) louder than the “common ineffective noise” (which is just “empty” noise). So, how do you separate yourself from the noise in this noisy information age? Getting your content out there is the only way for your ideal tribe – the people who resonates with you to access what you are about and get on board in whatever ways they need. But it has to be developed and targeted to your ideal customer. You cannot, will not, and should not aim to write for everyone. Instead you will write specifically for your unique ideal customer and thus be more effective in reaching them and having a bigger possibility of converting them from fans to paying customers. So this is the fourth of the five missing links that you must implement as part of your sales strategy in order to succeed in this digital age.
5. Paid Traffic
Regardless of how optimized your website is, it is going to be extremely difficult to get organic traffic to your website, and you need traffic in order to sustain your business. So, if you are just starting out in the social media sphere and you do not yet have a following, you will need to invest in paid advertising to kickstart those traffic rolling in. The good news is that all the popular social media platforms offer the opportunity to advertise on their platform at minimal cost. This is amazing news! Especially since they allow you to set your advertising cost and target specific demographics. So, figure out where your audience hangs out and start advertising there. You can start with a small budget and work your way up, as you sell more products and services. This is your fifth of the five missing links that you must utilize in your business in order for your business to succeed and thrive in this digital age.
So there you have it! Five Missing Links To Your Business Success In This Digital Age
Regardless of the type of business you run, if you are not already an established BIG name business such as Apple, Toyota, Virgin, or Tesla, you need to implement these five (5) missing components in order to be successful.
What other tools are you using in your business that are helping to make it a success? Do tell!
Xo,
by Eugénie | May 23, 2017 | Branding & Marketing
Here’s a question I get asked a lot by entrepreneurs who are trying to make sense of personal vs business pages, “If I cannot place ads on my personal profile page what’s the point of having it then?” Facebook has a lot of rules and one of them is, you cannot advertise directly on your personal Facebook page. They have established business page capabilities, and they want you to use that for all your business needs. They know you will need to market your business page in order to get people to see it, and they also want to capitalize on that by providing paid advertising services for those pages. Think about it, this is a great business strategy for Facebook! Nevertheless, there are ways in which you can use the personal page to add value to your business page. Yes, it most certainly can be done! .
Another common question I get asked is, “how can I separate my real friends from my business associates on my person profile?” Basically, that is a big problem for a lot of people; they have their family on their page and of course, they want to give value to them. What I recommend and do with that is, I try to mix it up a bit. Meaning, I post things that are of value to both my family as well as my associates. I will post a few interesting pictures from family events, and I’ll do the same for business events. My business is my life and my life is my business; they are intertwined into my brand – me, and so my family understands that. Anyone who does not get me, or understand why I do what I do, they probably have already unfriend me, and that’s ok too. But if you really do not want them seeing your business stuff, you can create lists on Facebook. It’s a bit more work to setup and keep going, but it’s an available option to use.
Once you’ve built that relationship with people even from your past, they will not have a problem being a part of what you do – actually most of them will be happy to support you. They are like your tribe; they will come with you on whatever journey you are taking. Overall, just make your Facebook wall really valuable to anyone who goes on it. Avoid salesy pitches after pitches; no one likes them. People are tired of being sold to! I know I am. (until I see that banging Gucci handbag on sale – Lol☺ )
Social Media Marketing Mentoring and Me
I thought I knew Facebook, until I sat down with my SMM mentor; what I’ve learned is priceless. I’ve got books upon books of notes on various aspects of leveraging my Facebook personal page that I have started implementing, and I want to share a few of those with you.
1) The first thing you do is to make sure that your personal Facebook page is designed bearing your business in mind. It doesn’t matter what niche you are in, you want to ensure that your personal profile is working for you, because that is the point of contact where most people see you first. Let’s be honest, when you see someone’s business page and it interests you, don’t you go to see if you can peak into their personal page? I do! (only for business pages that peaks my interest, but nonetheless – I do!) Personal profile pages say a lot about us, and if someone wants to know if they can do business with you, or refer a friend to you, or if you are truly an authority in your niche they will come looking at your personal pages across social media platforms – especially Facebook. First impression lasts, so It’s really, really imperative that you get your profile right in order to convey your ideal message. To accomplish this:
Make sure you have a great header picture. You can place a family portrait of happy moments, or a group of important business people you’ve met and fell in love with. Just really make sure it’s professional looking, enriching and communicates the narrative you want it to communicate. You’re human!
For your profile, a suitable picture of you should be used; not some random image or your business logo. You want it to have a personal feel and not business-like. After all it is your personal profile page. You also want to make sure you are visible – people can actually see you, and your photo is current or at the very least still looks like you do – not a photo of you when you were twelve. Yeah, those are cute, really, just not on a page you want to kinda show to represent your business – your brand – you. Another thing is, you want to look happy, pleasant, appealing, not all miserable and unhappy. I’ve seen some personal profile pic that are just sullen and can be a huge turn off. I’ve included some examples of good profile pics and not so good ones in that ebook at the top of this page; feel free to download. These two tips are central to the success of your personal page assisting your business page, cause no matter where you do business, it will all lead back to your personal Facebook page.
2) The next thing you do is to make sure the follow button feature on your personal Facebook page is turned on. You do this so that If you have maxed out your personal profile friend number, and people are still requesting to be added as friends, they will follow you instead. The follow is automatic but if it is not turned on, they won’t be able to follow you. I also try to follow a number of people per day as well; it’s definitely a way to get your name out there – your brand. Just imagine if you are following say fifty (50) people per day, a lot of those people will actually come and check you out. They will! I do it myself at times when people follow me (again, if they spark my interest), and so I know this works. And this is where it all comes into play; why your personal profile page need to look awesome. Based on what they see when they visit your page, they will decide whether to follow you back, send you a friend request, or just totally ignore you. Here’s the key, while you cannot send a hundred Facebook friend request per day, you can receive 100 Facebook friend request per day. Huge plus!
NOTE: In order for your follow button to work, your profile must be set to public. And one very good thing that you can do, is keep your friend list private while your followers remain public. That way no one will be able to access your friend list and cherry pick at your friends. I’ve had it done to me before I made it private. Not a good look at all!
3) Create a short but informative intro for your profile to let people know how you would be of benefit to them. You have only 101 characters to sum this up, so be sure to use them wisely. There are a few examples and tips in the FREE ebook above, so do download.
4) Make sure your links are clickable, and will end up exactly where you want them to. For example, the Facebook links such as the “Works at” needs to be linked to your business page. That’s where you have your authority to sell, and are hopefully selling, so that link could get you a lot of leads and possibly closing. Too many people have this very important link pointing to blank or irrelevant pages.
Facebook Personal Page A Real Networking Genie
5) Send out as many friend requests as you can, and accept the ones who request your friendship. Add people who are in your niche, and possibly in your area, everyday on Facebook. Send them friend request or follow them – after you’ve checked their page out, of course. Likewise, accept those friend requests you get, after quickly perusing their personal pages. Facebook views traffic as value, especially local and niched traffic. Every day I send out at least 10 friend requests. I do 10 because Facebook does not really like too many friend requests, and I want to remain in good standing with them, and you will soon see why. In addition, Facebook restricts the number of friends you can have, I believe it’s five thousand (5,000) maximum, and when you’re building a business, that is really restrictive. We all want more than 5,000 people to be hearing our message, especially since they will not all convert.
One of the things that is super important to me and I try to do every day, is to network with people. I go out, I talk with people, I get into groups, I link them on their pages. I do it all. But I try to network with people who are in my niche, people who I know I can learn from, and people who I think can learn from me; people with whom I may be able to do a joint venture, or collaborate to improve our businesses. It is very important to build relationships; it’s actually a huge part of working on your business, instead of only in it. I choose to make it a part of my daily method of operations, because I know the benefits. Relationship building exercises are the keys to our business success, and our personal Facebook profile pages are the magnet. It’s the first place people head after they first meet you to get a more real sense of who you truly are, and what you are about.
6) Create teasers or lead magnets with great visual representation of what you’re offering FREE, and post it on your personal Facebook page, with no links. This is key! In the status bar with your graphic, ask your friends and followers to let you know in the comment section if they need the link to access it. Great way to start a conversation, send people to your tripwire, and possibly close some deals. Nothing may happen in a week or even a month, but eventually someone will get things started and you know that’s all it takes to get the ball rolling at times – just that one to start. Also, be sure to do your part and engage them well. You can also choose to use the messenger to private message those that peaked your interest, those you feel might be receptive to your other similar offers.
Whatever you do:
- Never, never, ever post links on your personal Facebook page. Why? Facebook dislikes when you send people off somewhere else – outside of Facebook. If you do this, and especially make a habit of this, your personal page will not get any publicity from Facebook plus – and more importantly, Facebook will shut you down. So, this is not very good if you are using your personal Facebook page to enhance your business’ reach. What you do instead is to post snapshots of whatever you need to have them view, and then let them know if they want the link to it, they can let you know in the comment section. This is a really great strategy; not only will you have them requesting the link, but you can also chat with them privately outside of the comment section with messaging – building relationships.
- Do not be woefully salesy on your personal Facebook page. Huge turn off! Mix it up with happenings in your personal and business life. Interesting things and moments. There is selling everywhere, so allow your personal Facebook page to be a welcoming place – like a breath of fresh air – so people can breathe easily.
In addition to asking my inner circle about their use or non-use of their personal page to extend their business reach, I’ve also been asking business owners I meet if they are using their personal Facebook profile page to help their businesses, and it’s actually quite surprising to me that most people aren’t. They had their varying reasons, and that’s absolutely fine because there is no right or wrong to this. There really isn’t! Some people use it, and some people don’t. Whatever works for you, works for you, but as I’ve outlined above, that’s how I use it to help my business.
Allow your personal page to be your lead magnet, that will take them to your business page with your tripwire, then that tripwire will send them to your website or blog’s landing page where they will see your premium offer. Social Media is not for selling, you should use it to generate buzz, and send people off to your website or blog. That’s where the sale happens! I use it to introduce people on my personal page to offers on my business page, as well as to send them to my landing page, all without selling directly on my personal page. Yes, I do! I use it on a grand scale to bring sales into my business, and since people will decide within a few seconds of landing on your personal page if they want to be associated with you in any way, let alone do business with you, you must ensure your page is setup to facilitate what you need it to.
So, should you use your personal Facebook profile to market and grow your business? I say, absolutely! Your business can use all the help it can get to take it to the next levels up.
Go ahead and download that e-book above, and come back here and let me know in the comment section if It has provided value to you in any way. Until then!
Xo,
by Eugénie | May 6, 2017 | Branding & Marketing
Beyoncé Multi-Million Dollar Formation Sales Funnel
Beyoncé is who she is. She is a superstar. She is a diva. She is a real boss lady, but most of all, Beyoncé is a genius. Beyoncé has proven time and time again that she is a force to be reckoned with. Over the years, she has shown us that she is not just a beautiful, talented singer and performer, but also a smart, savvy, strategic woman who knows how to handle her business.
Beyoncé had us in a multi-million dollar sales funnel back in 2016, and while most of us were excited and ecstatic about what she was doing, many of us didn’t even realize we were in a whirlwind sales funnel. It all started on February 6, 2016 and ended on April 27, 2016 at the beginning of her Formation World Tour. Beyoncé’s funnel was built around her new single “Formation.” (Yessss honey, you better ‘get in formation’! singing ☺)
With her strategic alignment of Formation and her end goal in mind, Beyoncé probably made close to a half of a billion dollars. The first thing she did was to go ahead and release her Formation video to her very loyal fanbase, (are you ready for this?) one (1) day before she was scheduled to perform that same Formation single at the Super Bowl halftime. Talk about buzz! Whether you love the video or hate the video, the attention it was given (negative or positive) was enough to cause a media frenzy and put that “Formation” right where Beyoncé wanted it – front and center. Like, BOOM, I’m here! Pay attention! I looooved it. It had a kinda loyal feel to it, a black loyal feel that says, “I am happy to be a black woman; I recognize the struggle and challenges, and I’m up for it.” She so epitomized the black culture and the barriers that have been broken and the ones that are still up and needs to be broken.
Timeline: How Beyoncé Leveraged Her “Formation” Sales Funnel
So, as far as her “Formation” sales funnel, let’s call her release of the video on the eve of her scheduled half-time Super Bowl performance – February 6, 2016, her lead magnet. That’s her freebie to tell the world about her message, and get people in a “Oh my gosh!” situation where you have their attention you know, and they’re trying to figure out “What is she up to now?” If you are a Beyoncé fan, you know she is not shallow, and she always has a depth to her and what she is doing.
Now, as you can tell, this was a direct setup for the Super Bowl. Millions of people were already going to watch the Super Bowl as they do every year regardless of who is performing; however, with this mysterious and sudden release on the eve of such a huge event, many more curious people would be watching the Super Bowl to satisfy their curiosity and this would be a huge plus not only for Beyoncé but also her sponsor – Pepsi.
At that Super Bowl, Beyoncé made fifty million dollars, as she was the brand ambassador for Pepsi. Now the second thing she did, being the headliner at the Super Bowl with Bruno Mars is, as soon as she performed at the halftime (her tripwire right here!), Beyoncé announced that she was going on a world tour with “Formation” and you can imagine what followed! Beyoncé sold over 100 million dollars in tickets and completely sold out at the drop of a hat. People found money to purchase Beyoncé’s “Formation” tickets in a jiffy, and I want to point out that that is one of the reasons why I always say to people who complain about finding money to invest in themselves and their businesses, that if you really want this you will find the money, if you don’t, then you’ll find an excuse. So, this is the premium offer. This is what everything is all about! You build people up with a sample – creating buzz, then you close the deal and ensure you follow through with expected delivery.
So what is all this saying?
Beyoncé’s “Formation” video release was the lead magnet, her Super Bowl performance of “Formation” was the tripwire, and the “Formation” world tour announcement and ticket was the premium offer.
On top of that, Beyoncé had “Formation” themed t-shirts to go with her “Formation” funnel. So now, this is her passive Income. It’s not the biggest part of her money-generating machine, but even Beyoncé who does not need to do this realizes the need to capitalize on every aspect of improving her “money In” channels. It adds up, and if you can, why not?
Following that, a couple weeks later – on April 23, 2016, Beyoncé signed up or aligned with HBO to do an exclusive movie for which you had to have a subscription. What did she do? She took over HBO for a night and launched her album “Lemonade.” I call this keeping the momentum going. This lasted only a couple days – until April 26, 2016. We all went nuts!
Beyoncé not only relied on her network but she leveraged the network of her partners in order to truly get the impact she desired. I know that many of you signed up for that HBO subscription in order to see Beyoncé in action, and I know some of you did not cancel right away – even though you only signed up for that one shot deal. People were talking about these whirlwind of Beyoncé events for months! Why? Beyoncé mastered the craft of getting the world to spread her message for her.
The next thing Beyoncé did was release the video to Amazon and iTunes on April 25, 2016, which of course maximizes her sales effort with more album sales and also she got a per listen rate based on her contract she had with them. Beyoncé then aligned her “Formation” with Tidal streaming company that she and her hubby co-own. How she did it? In order for you to watch “Lemonade”, you had to have a subscription to Tidal. She took a part of her brand and made it exclusive on Tidal. And after leveraging that scarcity effect, she then released it in stores so we could get physical copies.
Within about another two weeks or so, Beyoncé released a second set of tickets for her “Formation” world tour and sold another hundred million dollars in sales. She had us in a Multi-Million dollar funnel every step of the way, and no one complained. Why? Because she has a powerhouse brand!
Beyoncé sold out the first round of tickets off of one video. I know yes, it’s Beyoncé!
I know Beyoncé is who she is, but I can tell you that it is possible to get your sales apparatus set up so you too can have a huge, impactful result based on one focused product or service. You do not need to have a series of things to offer in order to be successful. As a matter of fact, it is super important that you focus on one thing at a time when it comes to branding and channeling that energy into one theme.
So, how did Beyoncé accomplished all this?
Beyoncé’s 5 Step Funnel Strategy
Beyoncé generated a buzz and created hype
Beyoncé leveraged her fanbase network as well as her partners
Beyoncé aligned her other business model with the current buzz
Beyoncé kept the momentum going
Beyoncé delivered and reaped the rewards
You Can Take Beyoncé Sales Funnel Strategy and Use it In Your Business
Create a Simple Sales Funnel that includes:
A landing page
A “Thank you” page
A lead magnet
An email sequence
An Offer
If you really want to take this up a notch, include:
A booking page
A Scheduler
This will definitely increase booking and scheduling as it’s automatic and you do not have to manually take these orders, your scheduler does it for you which is convenient not only for you but your prospects as well. Your automated booking funnel should look something like this:
@MyBloomingBiz
This is definitely something every business owner should have especially if you are a coach, author, speaker or consultant. Once people get to your landing page and they sign up for your lead magnet, you could have a tripwire that’s an invitation to get on the phone with you or go straight to scheduling. That invitation page should include a video, a small “about” section letting them know who you are, some testimonials, and then direct them to your scheduler where you’re going to have the intention as to what type of discovery call it is. You can have an application if you want to, and give them the opportunity to get on your calendar, which will increase your booking sessions.
One of the things I get asked a lot is, how can I get traffic to my landing page? And my answer is, there are two ways to get traffic to your landing page:
1) You could use paid services like Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Twitter ads, or
2) You can use content marketing – Blogging, Podcast, Videos, (which is free of charge but time consuming)
You could also use both which of course would increase your chances of getting more traffic to your landing page. With the content marketing you would ensure you get that video, podcast, or blog post on all your social media sites, and repost them at regular intervals. What this will do is to lead people back to your landing page where they will have one “call to action” which could be an invitation to schedule a clarity call for example or to access free products you are offering, which will then direct them to your premium offer. Whether you’re an established entrepreneur or just starting out, you should have an automated booking schedule funnel.
Listen, I don’t know about you, but I did not start a business to work thirty, forty, fifty hours a week. Of course, I did in the beginning like any new business startup has to, but this should only be for a short period of time. The main reason for leaving the 9 – 5, in addition to become more financially independent, was to free up my time and not be bound with that constant at it hard work that eats away valuable time I could be spending with family and friends or improving myself. So yes, a few months to a year of investing well needed time and strategy into my business was necessary, but it should not be ongoing, at that rate. The goal is to build a social following/social proof, build credibility, setup a money-generating system and spend a few hours to keep that system updated and relevant.
It’s important to me that I live my life by my design and create success on my own term. It’s super important to control not only my finances but also the way I live my life on a daily basis – doing what I want, when I want, and however I choose. I know many of you feel this way, and that’s the reason you have embarked on your entrepreneurial journey. There are tools available to help us automate what we can, and using them can only improve and enhance our business and bottom line. Sales funnels are one such tool, and making the scheduler a part of it, will definitely improve the odds of a more successful business.
So, take this and implement it in your business and watch your business go from gloom to full bloom.
Xo,
W.E.R.K YOUR MONEY MAKING GENIE PROGRAM
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