Online Marketing Success Magazine - Nov/Dec 2014

onlinemarketing SUCCESSMagazine VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5 NOV/DEC 2014

How to Measure the Success of Your Content Marketing

INTERVIEW WITH

KRISTIN

‘ROCK YOUR TALK’

THOMPSON Using Speaking to Explode Your Biz

By Pam Ivey

THE TRUTH ABOUT INTEGRITY

By Lisa Manyon

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

WHY PODCASTING IS THE EASIEST WAY TO

BUILD VISIBILITY FOR YOUR CLIENTS

IN 2015

By Meredith Eisenberg

9 WAYS TO VIEW SOCIAL MEDIA IN A NEW LIGHT

By Leigh Fowler

onlinemarketing SUCCESSMagazine VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5 ISBN: 978-0-9812585-1-5

CONTENTS

Volume 2, Issue 5 November/December 2014

4 Digital Addiction

So Many I Wants, Too Few Fingers!

Gadgets To Make You Drool

5 Do You Have A Client Avatar?

By Pam Ivey

6 9 Ways To View Social Media In A New Light

PUBLISHING EDITOR Pam Ivey pamivey@omsmagazine.com

By Leigh Fowler

8 The Truth About Integrity

By Lisa Manyon

11 3 Critical Elements Of A Success Story EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Kate Smith kate@omsmagazine.com

ART DIRECTOR Mary Greenlees art@coloursomethingcreative.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Leigh Fowler, Meredith Eisenberg, Robin Hardy, Pam Ivey, Linda Lopeke, Lisa Manyon, Miriam Slozberg, Anastasia Valentine, Stephanie Watson

ADVERTISING SALES

13 Interview With Certified Online

Marketing Manager, Elayne Whitfield 15 How To Measure The Success Of Your Content Marketing

6 times per year in digital format by the International Association of Online Marketing Managers.

HOW TO REACH US Letters to the Online Marketing Success Magazine can be emailed to editor@omsmagazine.com, or mailed to Online Marketing Success Magazine, 24 Kelley Crescent, Wasaga Beach, ON L9Z 1J3 Canada

By Pam Ivey

16 The Launch Blueprint

By Pam Ivey

17 How To Plan Your Social Media Marketing Calendar

By Linda Lopeke

19 Creating Email Marketing Campaigns That Engage

By Pam Ivey

20 Industry Spotlight: Kristin ‘ROCK YOUR TALK’ Thompson: Using Speaking To Explode Your Biz

advertising@omsmagazine.com Online Marketing Success Magazine is published

By Anastasia Valentine

By Pam Ivey

25 How To Motivate Your Affiliates

By Pam Ivey

26 Why Podcasting Is The Easiest Way To

Build Visibility For Your Clients In 2015

By Meredith Eisenberg

28 Getting Found Online By The Right Audience

By Stephanie Watson

30 How Your Customers Actually Read Your Emails

By Pam Ivey

31 Delegation: The New Power Tool Follow OMS Magazine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/onlinemarketingmanagermagazine

In Business

By Robin Hardy

33 What Happens When You Don’t Have A System?

READERSHIP POLL:

By Pam Ivey

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE MAGAZINE!

34 Three Reasons You Want To #Hashtag Your Content

By Miriam Slozberg

36 Important E-Commerce Metrics You Should Be Concerned With

By Pam Ivey

This brief questionnaire should take you less than 10 minutes to fill in.

Your feedback is vital to our success because we want to keep bringing you want you want to know!

http://bit.ly/1shJshb

40 Upcoming Events

EDITOR’S NOTE

W

ell, I can’t believe my bucket-list baby is already one year old! As many of you know, it’s been a dream of mine to publish a magazine and deciding to create a digital one that is aimed at our dynamic, exciting and ever-changing online marketing industry is something I’m extremely proud of.

I continue to get rave reviews on the magazine for the amazing and relevant content our contributors provide, the fantastic look-inside industry leaders in the spotlight interviews and the incredible design and layout (thanks so much Mary Greenlees!). I also have a small army of editors who review each issue before publication that include some colleagues, close friends and even my mom! And I can’t finish without acknowledging Kate Smith (aka Kathy), my dedicated right-hand gal, who oversees all the moving parts in addition to providing excellent editing insights. Yay team!

In October, I attended Kristin Thompson’s The Rise Live Event. Wow - talk about a dynamite event filled with enthusiastic attendees! I watched this woman, whose momentum never waned for the entire three days, empower her audience and serve in a bigger and more profitable way.

I’m totally fired up and ready to rock my own talk and biz.

It’s one event I definitely won’t miss each year.

you can use to grow your own business. She’s edgy, feisty, and delivers excellent content.

Until next issue, make it successful!

As online business owners, we’re often tempted to hunker down in our offices and hide behind our computers.

Technology is all well and fine. In fact, we make our living with it, right? But if we’re not getting out and networking with our peers and hanging out where our potential clients congregate, we’re potentially missing out on a whole lot of business. Plus a lot can be said for simply getting out and talking with other business owners.

Cheers,

I had a blast interviewing Kristin for our Industry Spotlight, and I think you’ll find a number of golden nuggets in there

Founder, International Association of Online Marketing Managers

Pam Ivey, Cert SBM,CPREA,CRESS,CMP

TECH

DIGITAL ADDICTION GADGETS TO MAKE YOU DROOL

SO MANY I WANTS, TOO FEW FINGERS!

Wrist Charger ($24.99)

The Wrist Charger straps comfortably to your wrist and plugs in to just about any electronic device you like. It’ll power cell phones, mp3 players, gaming systems, or any device compatible with mini USB. Now you’ll have plenty of power to get through long days traveling. www.thinkgeek.com/product/ceca/

Drone Mania ($49.99) Xtreem, the new range of remote-controlled toys for kids of all ages, debuts the Mini Stealth RC Drone. Xtreem’s 6-inch Mini Stealth Drone™ has speed and superior maneuverability, even though its rotor diameters of just 3 inches and weighs less than 1 ounce. Fly to new levels as the Mini Stealth Drone uses the latest 2.4GHz frequency for a strong signal indoors or outdoors. http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&cat=&query_string=xtreem

Desktop Light Therapy Lamp ($99.95) This desktop light delivers 10,000 lux of daylight spectrum light to counteract the effects of work fatigue, jet lag, and seasonal change. Just 30 minutes of exposure to the light from this slim box can block the release of melatonin, a sleep hormone. With less melatonin, people find they have increased energy levels and alertness. The light’s small 5 1/4” x 3” footprint allows it to fit easily on work surfaces, unlike previous generations that take up significant desktop space. http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=86434&promo=Home-LivingLighting&catid=139

Under-Cabinet iPad Dock with FM Radio & Speakers ($36.99) Innovative Technology ITIU-760 iPad Under-Cabinet Dock is designed to allow you to use, charge and play your iPad conveniently under your cabinets. The dock connects to all iPods and iPhones and can be orientated in either a horizontal or vertical position with tilt and swivel adjustments. It features 2 stereo speakers, digital volume control and AM/FM radio viewing.

The digital clock, alarm and countdown timer make it the perfect helper in the kitchen, garage or shop. This cabinet dock comes with a bright LCD display and a full-function remote control. We welcome you to the world of Innovative Technology, where the future has arrived! http://www.amazon.com/Innovative-Technology-Under-Cabinet-Player/dp/B005KS2MV2/ref =sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1413914700&sr=8-3&keywords=under-cabinet+ipad+dock

Full-Size Qwerty Virtual Projection Bluetooth Keyboard ($65.99) Pocket sized design concept enables this unique gadget to be a solution for a portable keyboard that doesn’t take up much space. This laser projection Bluetooth keyboard will project a full sized keyboard on any flat surface and using laser tracking technology to follow the location of the operator. Then you can type up a storm anytime anywhere you want. In addition, the keystrokes will be detected up to 400 characters per minute, which letting you type your words smoothly as flowing water at ease. Inside advanced optics are hard at work tracking your fingers like magic.

Meanwhile, it is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows and Mac all kinds of operation systems that can be used with any phone, tablet, PC and laptop for a smooth and fast way of text input. http://www.amazon.com/Atongm-Ultra-Portable-Full-Size-Projection-Bluetooth/dp/B00NL7Z75M/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie =UTF8&qid=1413914909&sr=1-6&keywords=tablet+virtual+keyboard 4 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

STRATEGY

DO YOU HAVE A

CLIENT AVATAR?

O

BY PAM IVEY

ne of the best things you can do for your business is to identify your ideal client. Once you do that, you can then create products and services designed especially for them. Many people think that the product comes first, and then the client, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Even if you have already done some things backwards, like create a product first, you can go back and identify who your ideal client is “for that product” or you can start fresh and try to adjust the product to create your ideal client after you’ve identified them. The truth is, the better you become and narrowing down your ideal client, that person you’d almost pay to work with, the more profitable and happy you will be with your business. It can take a bit of research to truly understand who this client is.

One way to help identify that perfect, ultimate ideal client is to create a client avatar. You are likely familiar with avatars because you might use one for your Gravatar.com account, or you’ve created a cartoon version of yourself that goes on your banners, buttons, social media profiles and so forth, but you may not have ever seen a client avatar because this is something you are going to use for yourself.

To create a client avatar you’re going to create a fictitious person in avatar form that represents your ideal client for you. This is going to help you better direct all your marketing efforts. You’ll be able to easily look at your client avatar to keep yourself focused on your message and the products, programs and services that you create.

In order to create a client avatar you’ll need to be able to answer the following questions about your ideal clients.

Describe their demographics

in detail.

How does he/she learn about new information for his or her business?

What publications and blogs do they read?

What “gurus” or experts do they follow?

What are their BIGGEST challenges or problems?

What keeps them up at night?

Answering these questions will take you some time to research, but they are necessary for you to determine the information that will enable you to get a picture in your mind about your perfect client. Then you can use that information to create the avatar that you will use to look at whenever you are creating new products, programs or services for them.

To make it more fun there are several online tools you can use to create the avatar such as Doppelme.com, Bitstrips.com, or even online games like Second Life can help you create a realistic avatar for you to look at to remind you about all the characteristics your ideal client processes while creating products and marketing materials.

Having a client avatar is not only a useful way to learn about your ideal client, it’s fun too. All you have to do is post the picture of your avatar near your desk or whoever it is that you like to create, and write directly to them like they are a real person. After all, they are a real person that needs your help and you can only help them once you can identify them.

PAM IVEY

is a tireless champion of the online business industry and considered a Thought Leader in Online Marketing and Outsourcing. Known for her warm and engaging manner and wide-ranging, comprehensive skills and experience, she has inspired countless entrepreneurs and other professionals to achieve greater heights in their businesses. Always at the ready to help, she taps into the Think Big Mindset by offering training programs for ‘newbie’ to seasoned VAs, online marketing professionals, freelancers from all industries, as well as online solopreneurs and entrepreneurs. Her flagship program, Online Marketing Manager Certification has received rave reviews from both students and clients, and begins the next session January 12th, 2015. Learn more at www.OMMCertification.com.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 5

SOCIAL MEDIA

9 WAYS TO

VIEW SOCIAL MEDIA

IN A NEW LIGHT

MY PHILOSOPHY BEHIND SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

W

BY LEIGH FOWLER, ONLINE CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIST, PRESIDENT RISE MEDIA + DESIGN

hen I see business owners avoiding online marketing (or social media) because they don’t understand it or the technology keeps changing – it drives me nuts! It makes me crazy because social media marketing success is NOT about the technology or some new concept that people have to learn – it’s ABOUT the relationships, the connections you make and the community you bring together!

And, we all know about relationships right? You have to nurture them, support them and communicate in them if you want a successful relationship…the same goes with successful social media marketing – nurture, support, communicate and best of all, show up - consistently!

I’ve put together these 9 viewpoints as the most costeffective way to approach your use of social media marketing.

If you want to tap into this amazing tool to grow your business and represent your brand in an efficient manner in today’s time and age, this is how you should look at it:

Giving it the GOOD OLD-FASHIONED Approach: VIEWPOINT #1 It’s NOT about Technology – it’s ABOUT relationships!

It’s easy (and common!) to be intimidated by technology.

You’re not alone if you are. As a result, you may find yourself avoiding a new social media marketing platform or an app

that might save you time and energy when it comes to managing your campaigns – simply because of this “T” factor - ultimately costing yourself more money and possibly future income.

Right off the bat, it’s important to think of social media, not as a technical monster, but simply another way to nurture your relationships and reach out to your community of colleagues, peers, clients and vendors. You stay top of mind, you become part of their network and you’re naturally marketing your business by “showing up”.

You may ask “what do you mean by nurture your relationships?” and my response is let’s keep it simple. If we look at social media marketing and give it the good oldfashioned approach, we’ll then see and use it as a way to connect with our clients, keep in touch, say “hello”, share in common celebrations, goals, and barriers as well as attract new business.

The best social media actually works like a normal relationship – you communicate, you respond, you provide feedback, you interact, you ask questions, you provide solutions and so forth! You don’t just show up and ask for money – you build trust by being consistent, transparent, demonstrating your values and making it easy for people to purchase your product by making it easy and available.

VIEWPOINT

#2

You must have an end goal.

Before you even pick a platform, tweet out a thought or upload an Instagram pic – you must have an end goal.

LEIGH FOWLER is the President of Rise Media + Design and an online content

marketing strategist. She helps her clients (authors, coaches, and other entrepreneurs) get past the overwhelm, confusion and frustration of digital and social media marketing by empowering them with the tools, tips and strategy they need to save time and money in optimizing their efforts and getting results. She additionally helps authors repurpose their content into multiple revenue streams. http://www.risemediadesign.com/GetStarted @leeleefowler

6 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA Why are you spending your time doing this, what will it accomplish and how will it support your business goals?

Do YOU want to build awareness, increase your visibility, grow your list, sell more products, conduct research and/ or drive traffic to your website? Whatever it is, start there.

Figure out why you want to use social media and ultimately, how you will measure that success.

VIEWPOINT

#3

Fail to plan, plan to fail!

What’s the game plan now that you have a goal? How will you establish your map to marketing success? Perhaps you need to do research, talk with a consultant and check out what your competitors are doing. How will you accomplish your goals? Are there milestones along the way that will get you closer and what is the time frame? Is it realistic? Can you develop daily, weekly and monthly action steps that will get you there?

VIEWPOINT

#4

Put in the time.

Okay – now that you have the plan, you need to put in the time – whatever that is. It could be that you need to develop the content, upload the posts and/or create the infrastructure to support your goals. It’s important that you show your face and say hello to your network, let them know you’re still in business and yes, it’s going well!

Just like you would listen to your voicemail, it’s important to answer your virtual answering machine – review your email questions, platform comments and messages. Don’t disappear, or people might assume you’re no longer in business.

VIEWPOINT

#5

Be consistent!

In business, people like consistency. It’s about being dependable, reliable and there for your customers. It’s such a simple thing that I think sometimes people forget how valuable “consistency” can be. Enough said! Apply this to your use of social media and your ROI will go up instantly!

VIEWPOINT

#6

Be helpful.

Before we had phones and technology, salesmen went doorto-door, didn’t they? They had brochures and information to

review, samples to look at, testimonials to back up what they were selling. Think about how you can use social media to be more helpful to your customers so that they can come to you and ask questions, learn more about what you do, and connect.

It’s not always about the sale – it’s about the relationship first and foremost. It’s the age of information, if you’re not providing it people may think you’re hiding something!

VIEWPOINT

#7

Be approachable!

Once you’re on social media – are you approachable? Do you respond in a timely manner? Do you give people a reason to engage? Do you ask questions or provide product updates on your services? Think about how you would react to a phone call or an email, and make sure you’re making an effort to be approachable online. In other words, don’t launch a Facebook page and then disappear for a month. Think of each social media platform as a window into your business. It reflects who you are as a business and what you’re all about.

VIEWPOINT

#8

Make it EASY!

The easier you make it for people to do what you want them to do, the more they’re going to do it. Don’t make people search for the price or the BUY button, or your website address. Make sure you provide a link, give them information and resources to make an informed decision and/or display a phone number or EASY way to connect with you. We live in a time-sensitive era where everyone wants everything - yesterday. So how can you give them what they want, as quickly as possible?

VIEWPOINT

#9

It’s just like a marathon!

You can’t just wake up one day and run a marathon (unless you’ve been training for one of course!). It’s the same thing with social media marketing success. You can’t just show up and think it’s going to “happen” right away. You need a plan, you need to train and put in the work, and you need to be consistent. Otherwise, it just won’t happen…or you’ll become injured and experience setbacks. Certain training plans won’t work for everybody, so you have to check in and look at the numbers, review your plan and make adjustments along the way.

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ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 7

STRAGEGY

THE TRUTH ABOUT

INTEGRITY

Y

our word IS your honor.

This seems simple and yet it is rather complex.

Your words are the foundation of how you choose to show up in life. In fact, a thought becomes a bright idea and when put in writing, words turn ideas into action. That’s powerful. Your words are powerful.

Your thoughts and your words are developed in accordance to your worldview. Your family, friends, the government, media, school systems, your individual experiences, and your interaction with society shape your worldview.

Beyond that, your word revolves around your personal values.

Your personal values are determined by the meaningful elements of your collective worldview that matter most to you individually. Your values then shape your integrity and they drive all that you do personally and professionally.

In general, integrity means the quality of being honest and fair.

BY LISA MANYON “THE BUSINESS MARKETING ARCHITECT” As defined by Merriam-Webster, integrity means:

01 firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility

02 an unimpaired condition: soundness 03 the quality or state of being complete or undivided: completeness

Here’s where things get interesting. Everyone has integrity and integrity often means something different to each of us. Since integrity is based on values that are VERY personal, you cannot guarantee that your values hold the same meaning for others.

You also cannot guarantee that others have clearly identified their own values because this takes conscious awareness and actually rolling up our mental sleeves to do some deep work.

This is where transparency is KEY. When I teach, coach and speak about “How to Create Marketing Messages with Integrity”, I get some resistance. People want to be real but when faced

LISA MANYON

is “The Business Marketing Architect.” She’s the creator of the NEW marketing model for success also known as the “Challenge. Solution. Invitation.™” marketing and copywriting formula. Her philosophies are featured in Inc. Magazine and alongside visionaries Richard Branson, Jessica Jackley, Arianna Huffington and B Corporations like Ben and Jerry’s in the bestselling books Wonder Women: How Western Women Will Save The World and Engage: Your Step by Step Guide to Creating a Workplace that You, Your Co-workers and Your Customers Love!. An award-winning blogger and president of www.writeoncreative.com Lisa focuses on turning prospects into paying customers by creating marketing messages with integrity. Lisa has presented at the California Women’s Conference, The Oregon Women’s Conference, and created training for Small Business Development Centers. She is available for speaking engagements and offers a FREE Copywriting Action Plan on her award-winning blog here http://writeoncreative.com/woc-ezine/ 8 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

STRATEGY with looking at how their values influence their lives, personally and professionally, there’s often some pushback.

Here’s why.

First, some people assume I’m claiming that I have integrity and they may think that by claiming it I’m being disingenuous or egotistic. The truth is I’m not claiming to have integrity (although I do, we all do), I’m sharing a way for you and for others to tap into your own values and create integrity based businesses and lifestyles in accordance to what matters most to you. By addressing integrity, I give it energy. This calls out the absence of integrity or illuminates the clear presence of it.

This creates the space to reconsider how you’re showing up in the world and let’s face it, not everyone is prepared to do the deep work it takes to own their integrity.

Second, many people have not identified their core values (or have not revisited them for a very long time). This can be uncomfortable because this means the impact and messaging from media, family, friends, community, church, colleagues, government and more, have shaped worldview. This means you may not have fully embraced all that you can really be. If this realization is uncomfortable for you, it’s a good thing because you can pause to consider what really matters most and clearly

identify your values instead of allowing the collective worldview to shape you and your message as if you’re operating on autopilot. This also means that deep work is in order to reconnect with core values and critical thinking skills.

The good news is you can build upon your own values and integrity whenever you choose and often our values change.

So, even if you think you’re clear about your values, it’s a good idea to give yourself the time and space to revisit them regularly. As people we are ever evolving and as such, our values and integrity will evolve too.

This is crucial because business is personal and there must be an energetic alignment between personal values and business values to succeed.

With over two decades of experience in the marketing and advertising arena, I’ve discovered there are three KEY elements required when tapping into personal integrity (often one or more of these elements is missing, causing a huge disconnect and impacting results or lack thereof).

01 The first element is two-fold and starts with your VALUES. Your values directly influence

your integrity. You must know what you value in order

INFOGRAPHIC - CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Lisa Manyon

CLICK AD TO VIEW WEBSITE “The Business Marketing Architect” A Content & Copywriting Strategist for Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs

Discover the NEW marketing model for success and get your FREE Copywriting Action Plan

As Seen In

to help you improve all of your marketing messages (as seen in Inc. Magazine and Wonder Women: How Western Women Will Save the World). www.writeoncreative.com ~ Powerfully communicating your marketing message to get results! ~

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 9

STRATEGY to share your value and add value to the world. Once you are clear about your values you can use those values to create a personal mission statement and a professional mission statement. If your core values are not infused in your personal mission statement (how you show up in your everyday life) and your business mission statement (your big WHY for bringing value and being of service to the world) there will be an energetic disconnect that will impact your success in all areas of your life. Once you’ve clearly identified your core values, you’ll be able to clearly tell your story with integrity. Your story will attract your ideal clients, clients who have similar values, worldview, and integrity.

02 The second element is about service and ideal CLIENTS.

When you are clear about your values you’ll take action with integrity. By owning your story and being the REAL you, you will attract your ideal clients so you never have to chase not-so-ideal clients again. It’s that simple although it’s not always easy AND once you’re in alignment energetically, it will all come together. You’ll be able to clearly identify who you’re meant to serve instead of trying to force

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a fit based only on monetary gain. By attracting the right clients and being of true service you’ll also attract more abundance (and experience less headaches).

03 The third element is your WORD. Remember, your word is your honor. It’s true. Simply put you have to have the right formula to support your word, your worldview and your integrity. There are no cookie cutter solutions to guarantee riches or success. In fact, much of what we’ve been taught in the marketing, copywriting and advertising arena is antiquated and broken (often lacking integrity).

This includes the problem, agitate and solve approach often used to manipulate clients to take action. Instead, I suggest a new approach for all communications (marketing and otherwise). I suggest using my “Challenge. Solution. Invitation.™” formula.

This offers a friendly approach to all communications based on values, integrity and true service.

Here’s a simple way to apply “Challenge. Solution. Invitation.™” formula to your life and your business.

01 Acknowledge the challenge.

Be genuine and empathetic. Take the time to understand the challenges of your ideal client, friend or neighbor.

When you fully understand and acknowledge the challenge others may be facing, you can begin to build relationships based on trust and integrity.

02 Offer a solution.

Once you’ve identified the challenge you can clearly share your solution. This gives you an opportunity to honor your word by taking action to show HOW you can help. Hint: Sometimes your solution isn’t their solution. Don’t stop there.

Consider your network and who might be able to help.

Make connections to the right solution.

03 Extend an invitation. Be sure to let people know what to do next. By clearly letting people know about your solution with a friendly invitation, you empower them to choose the right solution (your solution or a connection to a solution in your collaborative network).

Here’s the truth about integrity. Your values influence the level of integrity you possess. It’s often said that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. I believe that integrity is doing the right thing by collaborating instead of competing. There is not another you. You cannot be duplicated but you can be the best YOU possible. After all, your word is your honor and often actions speak louder than words. What are you saying and doing? Is it all about integrity or something else?

10 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

SOCIAL PROOF

3 ELEMENTS CRITICAL

OF A SUCCESS STORY

C

BY ANASTASIA VALENTINE | IMAGE COURTESY OF SHEELAMOHAN / FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET

ase Studies, Success Stories, Customer Successes, White Papers, Testimonials, Quotable Quotes – Where do you start? Or maybe you have “been there done that.” and need a better, more efficient way?

People are busy. Time is our most valuable asset. When time is of the essence the best advice from a marketer to marketer is to Keep It Simple Sir/Sista. Yes the KISS principle. Stick to the facts. Eliminate the fluff. Make it an easy access, read and share.

3 Critical Elements of a Success Story

piece of content to post on your website, place in a pdf, use as a lead in for a more detailed case study, send to prospects and even train your staff.

THE CHALLENGE • What was the customer’s challenge, pain point, problem?

• Why were they looking for a better way to do things and what did they hope to achieve?

• Why did they choose you?

THE SOLUTION

There are 3 elements plus 3 tips to creating the most compelling success story to showcase your strengths, enhance credibility and demonstrate success.

The structure is easy. 1 paragraph for each section. Remember the KISS Principle and keep it an easy read. This is a valuable

• How did your company, product, service solve the problem?

• In what period of time?

• How were you or complexities?

able

to

overcome

some

barriers

• Why was your approach the best one?

ANASTASIA has been bringing ideas to market for global companies, startups and helping small businesses make their ideas reality for over 20 years. She is a passionate ideator, positive instigator, a results and facts driven business strategist and compassionate leader and visionary. Anastasia believes that all business ideas are valuable, but not all are profitable and works with all sizes of organizations to tap into their talent, invest in their culture and even look within themselves for the “next big thing.” As a sought after speaker, Anastasia delivers talks and workshops to organizations and at industry conferences worldwide designed to inspire, motivate and educate. She is the host of the popular weekly @AVV Biz Talk Radio show debunking business myths with a little sass, style, and special guests. Visit Anastasia at www.anastasia-valentine.com ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 11

SOCIAL PROOF THE RESULTS

find some reluctance from a customer to provide a

• Great statistics of performance before you came on the scene and after.

quote it may not be that they don’t want to support you, but that they don’t know where to start. Offer to

• How did your customer save money, save time, and/or improve efficiency with your solution?

write a quote for them, that they can edit and approve

• What did this mean to the client’s bottom line, morale or visibility?

02 Some clients don’t want to be named or have a policy

• Why does this matter. Why should prospects chose you?

• What should people do next? (Call to Action)

+ Bonus – Add a customer testimonial to increase credibility.

3 BONUS Tips!

01 Not all clients are wordsmiths and you can’t expect

them to write your marketing material or give you the type of quote you want without some coaching. If you

to give them a starting point.

that they do not endorse products, people, services, organizations publicly. Not to worry. While only about 80% as valuable, you can anonymize the success story. Think along the lines of: Large North American Manufacturer or Major European Mobile Carrier.

03 People

are

super

busy

remember?

Increase

readership by highlighting the sound bites to attract attention and give people memorable takeaways.

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INFOGRAPHIC - CLICK HERE TO VIEW

ADVERTISE

in

onlinemarketing SUCCESSMagazine Reach Your Target Audience

Affordably

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Q&A

OMMC HIGHLIGHT

INTERVIEW WITH

CERTIFIED ONLINE MARKETING MANAGER,

ELAYNE WHITFIELD

QUESTION:

What made you explore Online Marketing Management as an option for your business?

clients at a higher level…getting even deeper into their business’ and contributing as a partner in their success.

ANSWER: I had been working as a Virtual assistant for 13

QUESTION: What attracted you to the Online Marketing

years and I felt as though I was at a standstill and had, quite frankly, lost the passion that I once possessed. I wanted to explore a new avenue of work that would give me a chance to grow my business and increase revenue. Online marketing management presented a unique opportunity in that there was a large demand for it and I would be able to begin helping

ANSWER: If I was going to work seriously as an Online Marketing Manager I was first going to have to attain some respected qualifications. I wanted to learn from the best and that’s what attracted me to this program. I knew that higher level clients and larger, more demanding projects would require

Manager Certification™ program?

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ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 13

OMMC HIGHLIGHT the development of a unique expertise. The Online Marketing Manager Certification Program offered a great way to develop important skills and network with many established people in the industry. I knew I would not only gain essential knowledge and skills to get my new business off the ground, but I would also get connected with some of the most recognizable names in the industry to help line up my first clients.

QUESTION: How do you feel the curriculum prepared you for becoming a Certified Online Marketing Manager™?

ANSWER: The curriculum was very comprehensive and provided me with everything I could have possibly asked for when taking this huge step as an Online Marketing Manager.

It was very thorough and I felt fully prepared by the time I had completed it. The content and instruction could not have been better.

QUESTION:

What did you like the most about the OMMC program?

ANSWER:

Taking part in OMMC program gave me confidence moving forward as an Online Marketing Manager knowing that I had received top quality training from the best possible source. Starting something new is never easy but working with great people like Pam Ivey made everything more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined.

QUESTION: What was your least favourite?

ANSWER: It is not easy to point out a least favourite part of such a great experience, but if I had to choose something I would go with the fact that I was a bit unprepared for the

course’s intensive content. Going into it I was not expecting the content to be as comprehensive as it was and this caught me slightly off guard. Although I was eventually able to get my footing and complete the course successfully, managing my time so that I could also keep up with my business and occasionally see my family, was a bit of a challenge.

QUESTION: Have you taken on OMM clients as a result of the program?

ANSWER:

Yes. I was able to secure multiple high level clients as a direct result of my certification. I believe that more recognized credentials will attract more demanding, higher paying clients, and I experienced this first hand even before completing the program. My business and my life has changed for the better.

QUESTION: Would you recommend the Online Marketing Manager Certification™ program to those considering joining?

ANSWER:

Absolutely. If you are motivated to take on a new challenge this is the perfect opportunity to dive in and learn from the best. I would recommend however, that anyone looking to join first fully understand the commitment and effort needed to succeed before moving forward. This program is not something that can be completely halfheartedly; your full attention and dedication is a prerequisite for success. Last January I set a revenue goal for this year.

As a result of my transition to Online Marketing Management, I met that goal in August and I’m super excited to see what next year will bring.

ELAYNE WHITFIELD is a recognized Virtual Assistant Trainer, Speaker and

Coach as well as the co-author of How to Build a Successful Virtual Assistant Business which is used as the textbook in Virtual Assistant college courses such as the Virtual Assistant Certificate program at Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada.

Elayne Whitfield-Parr began Executive Assistance in 2000, transitioned her company to a successful multi-VA practice offering a full complement of business support services in 2002, and then incorporated Executive Assistance Business Solutions Inc. in 2006. In 2007, EA Design was formed to handle the website and graphic design component of the business. Learn more at www.elaynewhitfield.com

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14 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

CONTENT MARKETING

HOW TO MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR

MARKETING

C

BY PAM IVEY

ontent marketing is a vital way in which people market their businesses today. In fact, one could argue the most important way in which to market your business is content marketing. Without it your business likely will not survive. This is most especially true for solely online businesses but is becoming true for offline businesses as well.

But, like with any marketing it’s important to understand how to measure your success.

01

Test The Success of Your Message

The way to test your message is to keep the format the same and all other variables the same and gently change your message.

For instance, you can create different audience personas and create a separate message for each audience persona. Deliver it in the same way, in the same format with the same look and see which one does better.

02

Test The Success of Your Chosen Content Formats Likewise, you can keep the message the same, and the channels the same but try out different formats for the same message. Use video, vlogs, blog posts, slide shows, and more to get your message to your audience. Which one works best?

03

Test How Successful the Channels of You can distribute your content on Distribution Are many different channels such as your blog, a sales page, via social media and so forth. Which one works best for your type of message?

04 Works

traffic to send people to the sales page that you link to in the blog post? Trying different channels and keeping track of the results will help you know which channels work best.

The important take away is that continually testing every aspect of your content marketing plan from A to Z is a smart thing to do if you want to become and then stay successful. It’s a waste of time and effort to keep doing something that is not working.

And, you cannot know whether or not something you’re doing is working if you don’t test for it.

There are the normal measures such as how much traffic you’re getting due to your content, but there are other metrics to consider too such as how well your audience identifies with your message. This can only be measured by quality feedback from visitors, as well as knowing how long a visitor spends on the site which can determine whether they’re reading fully or not.

The other metric of course is conversion rates. Is your content converting to sales? After all, earning money is, if not the first reason you’re doing this, it’s a close second. Be honest, you can’t keep doing it if you don’t make money.

Therefore, spend the time to test if what you’re doing is working. Measuring the success of your content marketing can only help you get better.

Test Whether or Not the Promotion You Do

If you write a blog post that promotes a particular product, how do you promote the post to ensure it gets enough

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ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 15

LAUNCH

THE

LAUNCH BLUEPRINT T

here are four major areas the most successful launches cover:

Seeding

Is all about building anticipation and excitement for the product, program or service to come.

To properly seed your audience you will create content for your blog, website, social media accounts, and email marketing lists that mention the potential new product coming down the pike.

You’ll use your email list, information marketing, relationship building, and the words within each to trigger the excitement of your audience about the coming product.

During this part of your product launch you may even be working out what the contents of your program will contain and you can use your audience to help by sending out polls to identify their pain points so that you can develop products and services that answer them.

Pre-Launch

Is about defining the problem (pain points) for your audience and teaching them valuable information, techniques and strategies that involve your solution to whet their appetite for the next stage.

The idea now is to address the pain points individually that your audience has that you know your product will solve. Using email lists, social media, and other avenues that you have to disseminate the information you will focus on educating them through content in various formats about the problems they have while teasing them about the solution you provide.

Now that your product is complete you can let them know all the benefits that the product will offer once it’s launched and even offer early bird pre-order pricing, attract testimonials, and

BY PAM IVEY beef up your affiliate program with the right graphics and other information for launch.

Launch

It’s like grand opening day. You open your sales page, and shopping cart so that your audience can finally purchase the solutions you’re offering.

While you may have actually made some pre-sales during the pre-launch phase now you’re really open for business for affiliates to make sales and to start the timer on how long you’ll keep your product for sale at the current price.

Launch should almost be anti-climactic because you’ve done the work to inform, educate and engage your audience regarding the product, program or service that you are offering to them.

Post-Launch Often overlooked by marketers, postlaunch is very important and is all about following up with customers who made purchases as well as those who did not purchase but signed up for your email lists based off your promotions.

You want to bring those who purchased into your product funnel and start offering them the next item you have available as well as take the time to collect testimonials and referrals. Next, you want to market more aggressively to the people who did not make a purchase by listening to why they did not purchase so that you can work toward overcoming those objections by improving your sales pages and marketing message.

Using this launch blueprint as your guide to a successful project launch will help you think more clearly about the different phases of a product launch for yourself and every client in a more comprehensive way.

16 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA

HOW TO

YOUR

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CALENDAR

BY LINDA M. LOPEKE

A

dvance planning is critical to effective social media marketing.

03

Posting with consistency There is a fine balance between how often an audience wants to hear from you and how frequently you can reasonably create and post excellent and useful content. In content publishing, size and frequency matter less than consistency so choose a schedule you can commit to maintaining without fail.

04

Being open to ideas from multiple sources

It takes a lot of work to produce content for your web sites and blogs. To get the most from content marketing, it helps to build an annual editorial calendar to guide your writing and social media sharing.

Here’s what that involves:

01

02

Choosing topic areas to cover

These should be directly related to your business and, specifically, should cover topics relevant and of interest to your target audience. Your writing needs to create conversation, communicate your position or line of thinking and, over the long term, build trust with readers.

Using keywords strategically Identifying the right keywords and using them effectively are essential to optimizing search engine results. But don’t become emotionally attached to your choices.

Monitor results and make changes to improve organic search performance when necessary.

Ideas and story lines are everywhere. Collect as many as you can, including those from other sources, and build an idea bank to draw from as needed. You can be selective about which ideas you’ll develop further as you move through the publishing year.

05

Planning your master calendar

The most efficient way of doing this is to make a repeatable template that incorporates all the themes, events, holidays and noteworthy associations relevant to your industry, business and audience. This provides you with a month-to-month map to use to focus your communications and marketing campaigns in a way that creates both familiarity and anticipation.

LINDA M. LOPEKE

is an internationally recognized authority on business management and creator of the award-winning SMARTSTART programs. She teaches creative entrepreneurs how to take decisive action so they can get their greatest work out into the world. Click the link for more useful advice from www.smartstartcoach.com.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 17

SOCIAL MEDIA 06 Assigning

(or outsourcing) writing tasks

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Even if you create all your own content, get in the habit of tracking writing assignments. This helps you know what content is being produced when and, when you are managing multiple contributors, helps you manage assigned responsibilities more efficiently.

You can also use this approach to track proper attributions for quotes, images used, and editorial reviews published if needed.

Perhaps the hidden advantage of using an editorial calendar is the greater sense of control and accomplishment you will feel with respect to your content development and marketing strategy.

Editorial planning expands rather than limits your creative options. Once you’ve tried it, I’m quite certain you’ll be hooked for life by the many benefits this new strategic management habit brings to you and your business.

However, never be afraid to deviate from your master editorial calendar when warranted. There are times when better ideas or situations arise that demand a timely response. Bumping editorial content, recycling evergreen posts, or simply responding to a sudden inspiration are all part of your evolution as a writer/content manager and online marketer.

You can download our 2015 Social Media Marketing Planning Calendar to capture your editorial plans and marketing decisions for next year or create an annual workbook of your own for this purpose. The most important thing is to actually have a plan in place and be using and tracking your results with it!

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18 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

EMAIL MARKETING

CREATING EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

THAT ENGAGE

BY PAM IVEY

C

onsumers are better informed than ever before in history. Due to this fact, the onus is on business owners and online marketing managers to create better email marketing campaigns than ever before. The best way to do this is to understand your audience better than before. Know them, inside and out, test different campaigns and do more of what is working and stop doing things that do not work.

Tease Them to Whet Their Appetite

Every Message Needs a Reason

If each message you send is only about one thing, if they’re not interested in that one thing, they’ll click away. Always give them an alternative course of action to take such as sharing with others, purchasing a lower cost product, downloading a free report, or something that will keep them engaged with you longer.

If you’re sending messages without a clear call to action, then you have no reason to send that message. Every message should have a reason for being sent, whether it is a “buy now”, “answer this poll”, “share this”, or “read this” there should be a reason why you want your audience to see that message.

You can have more than one reason, but you must have at least one.

Create Interesting Subject Lines An interesting subject line will speak to your audience in a way that piques their interest to click through and read, but does not mislead them. You want to make them open it, but don’t trick them. People who get tricked to open an email often feel bitter about it. Most people are short of time today and don’t take kindly to their time being wasted when they are misled.

Be interesting but be honest too.

When you have a launch coming up, tease your audience about the event by getting them involved. Poll them about what subject your product should be about, poll them about what to call the product, ask them how much to charge for the product. Make them excited to see the product by getting them involved with the creation of the product.

Ask for Actions beyond the Message

Keep Your List Clean Every few months check for inactive list members and segment them into another group to which to market more aggressively.

If they don’t respond to that marketing, it’s time to remove them from your list. A cleaner list will enable you to have better results, more accurate metrics, and more engagement with your audience.

Creating email marketing campaigns that engage should always put the audience first. Your message should resonate with your audience, have at least one clear call to action, and give the reader options to work with that encourage engagement.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 19

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

KRISTIN “ROCK YOUR TALK” THOMPSON Using Speaking to Explode Your Biz

K

ristin Thompson is a straight-talkin’, super rockin’, wise-crackin’ speaker and coach, the Founder of www.speakSERVEgrow.com, and Creator of popular programs like Command Any Room, Event Profit Machine, and The Rise Live Event.

Using her own 5-step speak to sell strategy she went from unknown and broke baby-mama with a limping business, to being the “go-to girl” generating multiple six figures working 3 days a week.

Her simple, one-hour talks have generated $10K, $30K even $50K paydays, and her first live event generated multiple six

BY PAM IVEY figures. Kristin’s first program, Command Any Room, made waves in the market for its simple, easy to follow approach to showing entrepreneurs how to turn their message into a talk that generates visibility, leads, clients and cash.

Now Kristin shares her simple strategies with you so you can rock your personality, your talk, and your biz into multiple six figures too.

Get ready to RISE UP…. ladies and gentleman, get on your feet, and welcome Kristin Thompson to our stage – Online Marketing Success Magazine.

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20 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Pam:

How long have you been in business and what prompted you to start your own company?

Kristin: I went out on my own in 2009. Back then, it was Thompson Professionals. That was my first step out on my own.

And I did it because I had to. I was working for a professional development company, and I had learned how to speak and sell the group through that company. I would go all over Portland and travel anywhere within driving distance of where I lived. I gave one scripted - meaning word-for-word - scripted 45-minute presentation that sold people into their workshops.

I didn’t lead the workshops. I didn’t have anything else to do other than book speeches and then go give the talks and sell tickets to their workshop. Day-in and day-out, I learned how to walk into a room full of total strangers and convert the room.

Pam: What a gift that job was.

Kristin: It was divine in every possible sense. When you look back you think there must have been a path I was following.

At the time, I had no idea I was following it. I left Corporate America and worked for that personal development company and I learned a skill that I thought was the most amazing thing ever. And I tried to convince that company of that. I said, “These workshops that you teach on personal development are very interesting. But what I think we need to do is start an arm of the company where we teach what we do, because it’s what we do that is the most amazing thing.” Getting up and giving talks, selling tickets and booking rooms, to me was the most magical thing we were doing. They didn’t agree with me, which was fine.

Simultaneously to that, my family was going broke. Here in the U.S., we were in a financial downturn and I had a high-risk pregnancy and our family was saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. My husband was working for a small business that could not stay afloat when the economy turned, and he got laid off. I was at home, not earning any income. We had all this debt that we had racked up. I was still speaking and selling for this company and I thought I can’t afford to

hand them 80% of everything I sell every day. That’s why I say when I gave birth to my son, I gave birth to my business.

I never had a big enough why to fight for myself and my own needs until I had a kid and I thought this is no joke. I have to do this.

And so I went out on my own and sputtered for about two years where I was making enough. I was still making more than I would have if I’d had an hourly job. I was making about $30,000 or $40,000 working part-time. I wasn’t breaking any records. That didn’t happen until about two years later when I changed my business from Thompson Professionals to what it is now which is Speak, Serve, Grow.

Pam: Speaking of Speak, Serve, Grow, can you tell us a little about what you do and what problems you solve for your clients?

Kristin: Most of the time when people come to me, they already have a business. They already love their business and they’re great at what they do. But what they want is a higher level of visibility, more leads or higher-calibre leads, and they really want to learn how to convert those leads into clients. The common thread with all of my clients is that they really feel a sense of purpose behind what they do. So I show them how to take their mission and their message and turn it into a talk that they can deliver online and off and use that as a way to get visibility, leads, clients and cash.

Pam: That’s exactly what you’ve done for your business.

You’ve made platform speaking the basis for building your business, getting new clients and growing your business.

Can you give us one or two of your favourite online marketing strategies that you use to grow, to get the word out, to get that visibility?

Kristin: I am a really big proponent of combining online and offline strategies because I started my career speaking live in rooms big and small. And what I learned from that experience is that in a very short amount of time, meaning, sometimes as little as 45 minutes or less, you can turn a room full of strangers CLICK TO VIEW WEBSITE

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 21

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT into raving fans and paying clients. That live interaction creates loyalty and it creates a certain level of energy and momentum that I think is hard to match on any other platform.

That said, if that’s all you did, you’d be living out of a suitcase.

And there are people who do. That is not my lifestyle choice.

And most of my clients want a lifestyle choice like mine where we’re making a lot of money but we’re not living on the road. So what I love to do personally, and what I recommend my clients do, is go speak live at a big venue maybe once a quarter, depending on where you’re at in your business. Then fill in the gaps in between with online strategies. I love using webinars. I love using video. And I love using Facebook.

Pam: That’s really what I call the KLT Factor; Know, Like and Trust. Your online strategies are relationship marketing. It’s still interacting with people.

Kristin: Yes. And it’s really giving them exposure to your content and doing it in a way that shows your personality. I think that’s the one part that can be a little bit trickier online, doing it in a way that you can still hold people’s attention, which means you better be interesting.

Pam: We can’t be hiding behind our computers.

Kristin: You’ve got to find a way to express your personality, be interesting and be engaging while you’re delivering your message online. The great news is that there is a variety of technology out there to support you so that your webinars can be interesting, your video is the next best thing to being live in a room. I love using video. And with Facebook posts and Facebook ads, these give us lots of ways to connect in between those live speaking gigs so you can maintain the relationship and draw people in.

Pam: I know you’re a huge advocate of strategic branding, and you’ve recently done an overhaul of your own brand. How has that impacted your business and can you give us some background on your new brand?

Kristin: In the beginning when I was Thompson Professionals, I created, devoid of any and all personality. It was navy and white and corporate stock photos and everything was very professional and bland. And I dressed the part. You can find pictures of me in the pin-stripe suit with the whitecollared shirt. Maybe I was being super edgy by rolling up the sleeves. I was trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be in order to be successful. What I found was that was actually holding me back.

When my business took off is when I took that mask off and starting being who I really am, which is a little kooky, a little

edgy. I love to make people laugh and I love to deliver tons of great value and content. That’s really what I’m known for now: Straight talk. Real strategies. Real results. No BS. Once I took that mask off, changed the brand to Speak, Serve, Grow, that’s the first shift you’ll notice where colour came into my business.

Purples and gold. I started dressing like I do in real life. My teleclasses, my webinars, my copy all started to sound much more like how I actually talk, which is much more casual.

Pam: What’s so interesting is you really started to draw the people you wanted to work with.

Kristin: Oh yeah. I was able to fill out my private coaching program, Command Any Room, which was my first program that teaches people how to use speaking to grow their business.

I immediately started to get invitations for telesummits and to partner with people who were already doing 6 figures even though I was still trying to get to 6 figures in that first year of Speak, Serve, Grow.

And that’s when you ask the question what does branding do for you? It does all of those things. It makes you more attractive to the people who are really going to like working with you. It helps you stand out in the marketplace. And if it’s reflecting where you are, and a little bit where you’re going, what should happen is you’re also attracting the right level of opportunities.

I’ve always received opportunities or had people reach out to me who were ahead of me in business, I think, because my method is really clear. It stands out. And if you’re going to check me out online, you’ll say, “Wow, she’s really kicking ass.” That’s because we always keep an eye on how well my brand look of the business is matched up with where I am and where I’m going. We’ve been growing so quickly. You have to make sure your brand is keeping up with that.

Pam: I think there is a huge lesson to be learned there.

Keeping up or even a little ahead of where you are with your brand so you’re consistently up-leveling and your level of clients are consistently up-leveling. I absolutely love it. We’re right on the heels of The Rise Live Event, which I attended, and I can attest that your room was full of an enthusiastic, and even more importantly, ready-to-buy audience. Going back to online marketing, what did you do in the offline sphere to fill that room?

Kristin: We did more online than offline. Even though I’m well known for speaking live, I’m also not committed to travelling a ton. And in the midst of filling the event, my mom passed away, which meant there was a couple-week chunk there where everything in my life shifted to focus on my mom’s care and then she passed and then there was the aftermath, which threw our marketing schedule off.

I only went out of town three times from January to October.

That’s the offline marketing. I spoke at three events.

22 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Meanwhile, online, I was everywhere. I was doing tons of Facebook advertising. We drove people from Facebook to an online video series which was the prelude to event. We were doing the tracking. Some of the attendees who purchased came from that funnel. These were people I’d never met before who went through the Facebook ads and video series, landed on the sales page, showed up, and ended up buying the program we offered. We had promotional partners who were also using Facebook and using email to promote. We did an email campaign to our own list which resulted in a lot of people attending.

Pam: How many videos were in your series?

Kristin: There were four videos; three heavily

contentbased. People can still check them out if they want to at www.speakservegrow.com/school. It was called “The School of Rockin’ Your Talk”. You’ll see there is a lot of actionable content. I did not hold back. In fact, I probably gave too much, which is my tendency. The fourth one starts to position the event with a special offer that links you to the sales page (the event date has passed).

And I will say I also got some people from Twitter. I’m not a tweeter by nature. We looked at the dates the links were clicked and then looked at what I posted on that date, thinking maybe it was me, but I posted a picture of my dog, so we know it wasn’t from me. But we’re still tracking this down: somebody with influence tweeted out a link to The Rise Live Event sales page. Several people came and bought my program. So apparently I need to change my mind about Twitter. Who knew people would buy from that one tweet?

Pam: Going back to you saying, “I was everywhere,” you obviously can’t do that all yourself, so how integral is your team in all of this? What kind of pieces are your team doing for you?

Kristin: I’m always the one creating the concept and the content. Then I heavily rely on my team to take the ball and run. I keep my hands out of the cookie jar when it comes to technology. Marta Costa, who is my Online Business Manager, she does anything related to the website, like that opt-in page for The School of Rockin’ Your Talk. She puts that up. She put all the videos up, makes all the buttons work, does all the follow-up sequences. Chelsey Marie does my branding; anything that’s needed a nice, slick graphic for the Facebook ads that we had, logos we created.

I did have someone helping me for a while with the Facebook ads but I took them over and ran them myself. I like to know what’s going on in my business. And if I don’t love the results, then I either need to replace that person or do it myself. I personally find that Facebook ads need a fair amount of tinkering. It’s about getting the right audience, the right ad, and I haven’t personally found the right person who can do that and duplicate the feel I have with my audience, so it did take a little more time but the results worked, so I won’t argue with that.

Pam: Do you conduct strategies meetings with your team?

Kristin: Yes. Marta and I have a weekly meeting on Wednesdays, just the two of us, which is where we look at what opportunities are coming up in the next week, for instance, invitations to do telesummits, speak at events, interviews, etc.

Then we can quickly decide yes or no, look at the marketing calendar to help us make decisions, then move on. We look at our own calendar, make sure that we’re prepared for the opportunities that are coming up and then any other lose ends.

She also sends me critical stats on a daily basis, like where is our revenue at, what did we add, how many people have gone to the website, how many Facebook friends do I have, all those critical numbers you want to pay attention to come to me daily

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ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 23

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT COMPETITION at the end of the day. That really helps because I don’t have to dig around to find them and track them. Just seeing them on a daily basis really keeps my eye on what needs to grow and where do we need to turn up the heat.

Pam:

Are there one or two online technologies you can’t live without?

Kristin: Infusionsoft is a no-brainer because it is the heart of my business. It’s where we track our numbers, where our sales go through, where my contacts are, it’s how I’m able to communicate with all my clients. It’s also how we automate; sending out automated sequences and welcoming people into programs, so I cannot live without Infusionsoft. I’ll share that I bought Infusionsoft before I really needed it. They’re one of the few companies that actually makes it pretty easy for me to add people who I’ve met live in person. Quite often when I’m out speaking, I’ll opt people into a free gift to build my list.

They opt-in on paper and I have my assistant add them to Infusionsoft. Infusionsoft are one of the few companies that don’t make that an 18-step process. As long as they have the paper verification, they won’t give us a hard time. The level of tracking people is really helpful in your marketing.

The second is Go-To-Webinar. I’ve made a lot of money off that in my pyjamas. I do love speaking in person, I’m a huge proponent of it. But if you can do it live, then do it because you will find you can make higher level offers in person and you’ll get a deeper level of loyalty. In between you want to keep that revenue coming to you and webinars are one of the best ways to do it. With Go-To-Webinar, I can screen-share. I can turn my camera on and wave to you at home. We can chat back and forth. It’s so dynamic that to me, it’s the second-best thing to being live in a room with people. The show-up rate went down a little after we switched from Instant Teleseminar but my closing rate went up. It’s not uncommon to close a solid 10 or 15% right there on the webinar, which is a very high closing rate ratio for an online offer.

Our training calls for The Rise masterminds are Mondays at 10:00 A.M. What that has allowed me to do is not really wonder what I’m doing every day. My body and mind are trained to be in work mode during those hours. You’ll never find me at a Starbucks, staring out the window, wondering what I should be doing.

That’s how I built my business. I built it by blocking chunks of time very strategically on those days of the week, with very little exception, keeping Tuesday and Thursday clear.

Pam:

I have found that in general, people who have very successful businesses work them just like that. Structured and focused.

Kristin:

One of the other gifts I received through working for that personal development company, is they taught me to understand that I can train myself and that I should train myself to get as much done in as little time as possible. The more time you give yourself, the longer you will take to complete a task.

The blessing was that when my son was little, I had to figure it out. And now I’m used to that pattern. I’m focused. I work really hard on Monday, then Tuesday, I can chill it back; I’ll answer email questions, answer client questions in my Facebook group, but I’m not seeing clients or doing webinars on those days.

Pam: Where can we find you online and learn more?

Kristin: You can always find me at www.speakservegrow.com.

And there are always great free training opportunities that are a great place to start if we haven’t met before. You’ll see a link to the speaking webinar which we do about once or twice a month. It’s about an hour or hour and a half in-depth training webinar where you can learn what it would take for you to start using speaking to generate more leads and clients and cash. You can also access the free training directly at www.thespeakingwebinar.com.

Pam: [to readers] Kristin and I have been friends for a very long time. What’s really interesting is she reached half a million dollars in such a short period of time. The year 2011 was when she really took off. One of the key reasons is she works a threeday work-week. You’re very structured, aren’t you, Kristin?

Kristin: The ironic thing about my business is even though my public persona and my brand is very edgy, kind of rock and roll, which might lead you to imagine it’s crazy, eek, my schedule is very regimented and very consistent. So every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 A.M. in the morning, you will find me sitting down at the desk with a cup of coffee, with almost no exception. And I am working in a very focused fashion until about 2:30. On those days I am seeing clients, working on marketing, doing interviews and webinars. My webinars are always on Wednesday, usually in the middle of the day. It’s a pattern that repeats itself month in, month out.

24 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

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PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR AFFILIATES

Y

04

01

05

Encourage Affiliates to Buy Your Products

06

Offer

BY PAM IVEY

our affiliates are very important members of your sales team. In fact, one might argue the most important members. In some cases, they might even be the only sales team you have. Therefore, whatever your position it’s imperative that you motivate your affiliates to make more sales.

02

03

Pay a Fair Commission Rate

You’re going to attract better affiliates if you offer a high commission rate to start with. Starting at 50% is fair. After all, consider what the cost of customer acquisition is as well. Of course, you also need to ensure that you’re earning money too so this is easier to do if the product is digital over physical.

Incentivize Product Knowledge

You want to encourage your affiliates to try your products and buy from you. Some people require people to have bought their products to become affiliates. This worked for years for the Vitamix Company, very well.

It might work for you too. If you can identify a super affiliate that you want to promote a specific product offer them the product free to encourage them to promote it.

Run Regular Contests

You can run many different contests such as whoever makes x number of sales by a specific date will get a prize. Make the prize something really nice so that your affiliates want to win it. Have contests during launch for each new product or service; build the affiliates up to the contest so that they’re fully educated at launch time.

Offer Special Short Time Increased Commission Rate Periods Need to boost sales, just increase commission rates for a short period of time to encourage more promotion of a specific product.

You can also offer higher commission for high sellers than you do for those who don’t sell as much.

Provide coupons and other incentives to get your affiliates to also purchase your products. The more they purchase and use them on their own the more likely they are to promote them in a more realistic fashion.

Excellent

Marketing

Collateral

Give your affiliates great graphics, copywriting that they can make their own, special landing pages, and everything that you can give them so that they can market your products to their audience easily and proudly.

Finally, ensure that you always whether you’re running a contest or not, award top selling affiliates who go out of their way to promote your products. After all, without them, your sales would be a lot lower. If it was just you and no affiliates you would have to spend a lot more time and money acquiring new customers than if you encourage and motivate your affiliates.

Follow OMS Magazine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/onlinemarketingmanagermagazine

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 25

CONTENT MARKETING

WHY PODCASTING IS THE EASIEST WAY TO

BUILD VISIBILITY FOR YOUR CLIENTS

IN

P

odcasting, Isn’t that so 2007? Actually, podcasting is one of the easiest ways for experts to get visibility.

People are discovering podcasts as a way to have more control over what they listen to on the way to work, in the gym, on a jog. As the 50 million people who listen to podcasts know, there is a treasure trove of free (and entertaining) information waiting for you in your smartphone or car radio. Think about the cable television industry in the 1980’s. Suddenly, consumers had a choice of what to listen to - technology has now brought that choice to audio. And, you can be on that platform for less than $20.

Why wouldn’t you help your clients take advantage of the opportunity?

2015

BY MEREDITH EISENBERG

Right now, podcasting is the single best way to get your message heard by your ideal clients and audience.

Here are 4 Reasons to Start Podcasting Today:

01

You can be everywhere

02

Know, Like and Trust+

All it takes to listen to a podcast is a pair of headphones and a smartphone (and since car stereos are now including the ability to listen to internet radio - you don’t even need the smartphone anymore).

People do business with those they know, like and trust. Because your listeners hear your voice, they get to know, like and

MEREDITH EISENBERG

has been in the online marketing space for 8 years helping heart-centered entrepreneurs amplify their visibility and get in front of the people they are meant to serve. She is also co-host of Paycheck to Passion a top-rated podcast which empowers everyday entrepreneurs to create a business based on their passions so that they can make money and live their lives on their own terms. Find out more about Meredith at http://paychecktopassion.com

26 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

CONTENT MARKETING trust you much faster than just hearing from you via blogs and e-mail.

03 Print

04

Your Own Press Pass

out there, but not many are actively trying to rank in iTunes.

Paying attention to what iTunes seems to want (good artwork, reviews, downloads & consistency) makes a big difference.

Creating your podcast is an amazing way to grow your network.

Most experts are more than happy to be interviewed and to share their expertise with your audience because it exposes them to new people. We’ve been amazed at how much our network has grown through our podcast.

Why Online Marketing Professionals Should Be Paying Attention to Podcasting

You Get Promoted

demand for podcast producers is growing quickly and

Both Apple (iTunes) and Google (YouTube) are very interested in encouraging podcasts. iTunes actively promotes new podcasts through it’s New and Noteworthy pages (check out our webinar on how we got our show (and two clients’ shows) listed in New and Noteworthy.) Video from YouTube (and especially from Google Hangouts) is given preference in the Google search results.

Here is what happened for us when we started our Paycheck to Passion Podcast: We got our podcast on the Apple Store’s ‘New and Noteworthy’ page. We’ve been featured as a top podcast in our category page as well as top overall.

We grew our network by over 60 amazing entrepreneurs Our mailing list has grown by 30% (no, we didn’t have a BIG list to begin with - we’ve gone from 500 to nearly 800) We got two client podcasts into New and Noteworthy Not bad for two months of work. It would have taken a lot longer to build up that level of popularity for an Amazon book for blog. At the moment, there are a lot of podcasts

And, that is where you come in.

As podcasting grows in popularity, the opportunity to help clients with their podcasts is also growing. Currently, the because of that getting help is expensive. Fortunately, the skills needed to produce podcasts are skills online marketing professionals have already - or can be easily learned including: JV/Partnership skills for recruiting guests Communication and Automation Skills Basic WordPress Skills Basic Audio Editing Skills (this is what scares most potential podcast producers. The good news is that there are free programs - like Audacity - that make audio editing pretty straight forward.

Basic graphic design skills (for the album cover and episode header) Social Media skills for promoting shows.

The number of listeners on iTunes has doubled in the past year. We think this trend is going to continue - and that podcasting is going to be a “low hanging fruit” visibility strategy well into 2015.

CLICK AD TO VIEW WEBSITE

Get Your Business Promoted by Apple and Google!

How to get YOUR show on the front page of iTunes.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 27

STRATEGY

GETTING FOUND ONLINE

BY THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

Y

ou hear a lot about developing an online presence, getting visitors to your site, building an email list, and so forth. But, the thing you often don’t hear about is the importance of the quality of the leads you attract as being more important than the quantity that you attract.

One thousand hits a day on your website mean nothing if the hits aren’t members of your audience. Mailing lists of 10,000 subscribers mean nothing, if they’re not the people who need your solutions.

Get To Know Your Audience The first thing you must do is truly understand who your audience is. Without researching who your audience is, inside and out, their age, their sex, and who they are, what they

BY STEPHANIE WATSON want and need it will be difficult for you to create products and services that are in demand, much less market your products and services to them.

Get to Know Your Competition Once you know who your audience is, you can find out who else is marketing to your audience, what they’re marketing to your audience, and how they’re marketing to your audience.

This can help you figure out how to fill the gaps, do better with your own marketing, and outshine your competition with your marketing efforts.

Understand Your Products & Services The things you need to know about the products and services you promote are simple: How does it help your audience?

ABOUT STEPHANIE WATSON With more than 20 years experience working from home in a variety of roles such as HTML Website Designer, Internet Marketer, Template Bender, and Virtual Assistant, today Stephanie is an author and content strategist who organizes, plans, writes and implements content strategies for business owners through her business at Barry Publishing.

You can find her at Linkedin.com www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniewatsonbarry and contact her via her website www.barrypublishing.com.

28 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

STRATEGY What problems does your product solve? For example, if you offer a service to your audience the solution is not the product the solution is something else. For instance, do you give people more time to do what they love? A computer doesn’t provide computing services; it offers organization, time savings, and freedom. What intangibles do your products and services provide your audience?

Create a Consistent Online Presence Using the knowledge you’ve garnered from all your research it’s important to build a consistent online presence. The way you do that is whether it’s your website, or a social media account your company projects the same ideals to your audience. Your company’s voice and image should not change just because it’s on a different social media account.

There should be no doubt about who you are and what you stand for whether it’s a sales page or an email newsletter.

Realize the Importance of Content One of your most important tools you can use for online marketing is to create or have created an abundance of targeted content. You’ll need content for your website, social media accounts, magazine articles, guest articles, sales pages, ad copy, perhaps brochure copy and more.

Pretty much everything about marketing on the Internet has something to do with content. You want your content to be laser targeted toward your audience and to be all about them.

onlinemarketing SUCCESSMagazine is a rich resource to help online marketing consultants and other service providers step into their power with confidence and know-how.

Do you have a story that demonstrates a way forward and can be just the information or insight they need when they reach roadblocks or feel like giving up on their business dreams?

Connect with us at kate@omsmagazine.com with your story idea.

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Test Everything Whether it’s a web page, a sales page, or an email newsletter testing everything using A/B testing is an important component of marketing smarter and avoiding working harder than necessary. Learn what you can about A/B testing and start implementing it in all the marketing you do so that you can make the most of every marketing dollar that you have.

Understand Your Metrics As you know, every goal that you make needs to be measurable to be a real goal. Be very specific about your goals and know what numbers you’ll look at to determine the campaign’s effectiveness. If you don’t understand the metrics you’re looking at, and you can’t connect them to success or failure it will be hard to know if what you’re doing is working. You don’t want to waste time shooting in the dark. Have a clear target and shine a bright light on it so that you know you’re winning when you’re winning and why.

Finally, as you start understanding more about targeting the right audience and ensuring that the things you’re doing are working, you can do more of it. Repeat what works, stop doing what isn’t working and know the difference. That’s how you’ll get found by the right audience.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 29

EMAIL MARKETING

HOW YOUR CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY READ YOUR EMAILS

BY PAM IVEY

E

nsuring that you send emails that get read, and that speak directly to your audience is an important component in email marketing. If you send the wrong email at the wrong time, because you have no idea how your customers read your emails you’ll lose out on higher conversions.

fact is, they still respond better to it. Ensure that you include personalization in each email that goes out.

Using your audience’s name and your name at the end with a nice sign off will increase click through rates, and ultimately sales.

It’s been shown to work, and even if you think it’s silly, the PS or post script in your email messages to your clients actually work. Use them wisely, but do use them. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel, experts have spent untold amounts of money figuring out what works, you can use that information to your advantage.

Use Images Carefully

Poll Your Audience If you’re ever unsure of something about how your customer reads their email messages from you just ask them. Getting the information directly from your audience will be a lot more accurate than any other information or advise that you get elsewhere.

The way to understand how your customer reads your email is to consider all of the following:

Mobile vs. PC How does your audience look at your emails? Do they use a mobile device, or their PCs? Knowing this information is really important because it can help you create subject lines, email graphics and more that work better.

What Time They Open Them

Click Through Rate

When is your audience opening your emails? If you can determine what day and time they are more likely to open your email you can ensure that you send them at the right time.

How many who open your emails are clicking through to read the information you’re pointing them to? This is important because if no one is clicking through your message is off or your calls to action aren’t strong enough. This is an easy fix.

Subject Lines Are Important Never underestimate the power of a subject line to either excite your audience or tick them off. You don’t ever want to go for the misleading headline that gets a lot of clicks, but leads your audience astray by indicating subject matter that does not exist in the actual email message.

Make it Personal Even though most people are aware that personalization is done by technology, the

Include the PS

Whether or not to send HTML messages or text based messages is really dependent upon your audience. You can offer it in both types to make it easier that way your audience gets exactly what they want. You can create the message in both forms easily with your email marketing software.

Each of these points will give you various ideas and metrics to consider in all future email marketing that you complete.

It’s important that you are careful about how much you change, because you don’t want your audience to suffer from shock and not recognize your brand. Make changes slowly and carefully after completing your research.

30 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

OUTSOURCING

DELEGATION: THE NEW POWER TOOL IN BUSINESS

BY ROBIN HARDY

Y

es, the new power tool in business is...the Big “D”... no not Dallas, it’s Delegation!

One of the false beliefs surrounding delegation is:

“If I delegate then I am weak and have failed.”

That is so far from the truth around delegation. What you need to understand is that ALL 6-7 figure (and above) entrepreneurs delegate to someone or a team. Yes, I do mean all, even these super earners delegate: Donald Trump Oprah Winfrey Ali Brown Daymond John “Delegation is not a sign of weakness, it actually reflects how strong you are” ~Robin Hardy

If we spend all of our time working in our business we cannot grow the business. That means you are doing the stuff in your business and not marketing and selling which generates more revenue. So here is how you determine if it is time to delegate:

01 02 03 04

Is your revenue increasing or staying the same?

What time do you start your day?

What time do you end your day?

Are you feeling you do not have enough time in the day to get things done?

05 Do you spend 80-90% of your day on sales & marketing?

06 Are you feeling exhausted?

07 Are your clients not getting as much of your attention today as they used to?

ROBIN HARDY

has been revolutionizing how entrepreneurs do business for the past 12 years. She brings ease, flow and freedom to your business allowing you to double your revenue and decrease your stress levels. She is know in the industry as a Master Delegator teaching entrepreneurs how to determine what should be handed off to a “Dream Team”.

Robin has taken entrepreneurs from $100,000.00 businesses to $1.5 million dollar businesses in a short amount of time by her strategic and hands-on approach to streamline the interior operations of a business. She is known as the “double I”...Identifies what needs to be done AND Implements the systems to make it happen. You can learn more about Robin and her services by visiting: www.IntegrityVirtualServices.com.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 31

OUTSOURCING If your revenue is not going up, it is time to delegate!

If you spend more than 6-8 hours working each day, it is time to delegate! Especially if the stuff you are working on include things like: newsletter, social media, email sequences, etc.

If you are running out of time each day, it is time to delegate!

Do you find yourself frustrated at the end of the day because you feel like nothing was completed that needed to be to generate revenue?

If you are exhausted and not giving your clients 100%, it is time to delegate!

You see you cannot grow your business if you are busy on the back end, you only have 24 hours in a day and 7 days a week.

Sometimes you need to let go of the things you are not gifted in, bring on someone that can help you out and then go and double your revenue.

So here is my challenge to you today:

01 Make a list of EVERYTHING you do for the next (4) days 02 On day (5) take your lists and highlight the things that do not generate revenue for you. (No an email sequence or newsletter is NOT revenue generating).

03 How long did it take you each day to do the “stuff”?

04 What is your hourly rate (if you do packages break it down to hours)?

05 Multiply the # of hours by your hourly rate...how much are you throwing away?

You see many say they cannot afford to hire help, the truth is you can’t afford not to hire support! Most of you will find it costs you $500 to $3,000 per day by doing it yourself, that means that is money you have left on the table. So paying someone $500 a month can actually give you a ROI from $10,000 to $60,000 per month depending on your hourly rate, if you get out and market/sell for your business. (This is based on 20 days a month X your cost per day, do your own math it might shock you).

Now let’s talk about quality of life. It you are taking things off your plate and allowing more time to live the quality of life you wanted what value does that hold? What if you could have more time for family? These are more solid reasons to embrace delegation and stop doing it all alone!

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Are you ready to revolutionize the way you do business?

Then it is time for us to connect. Schedule your complimentary discovery session today to see how delegating the tasks in your business can double your revenue & reduce your stress.

Integrity Virtual Services http://integrityvirtualservices.com/contact CLICK AD TO VIEW WEBSITE

32 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

STRATEGY

WHAT HAPPENS

WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A SYSTEM?

M

BY PAM IVEY

any people start their online business without considering the fact that they will need to put systems in place for their business. When you think about any successful business, it needs structure, and that includes your business. Creating a standard operating procedure for your business will help you achieve the greatness you desire.

If you handle marketing for your clients, you’ll need to create some proven online marketing systems for your clients, but it is likely that you’ll need to create systems for the other categories too just to run your business more effectively. For each category there may be several systems you’ll need to develop to ensure that you produce the type of value for your clients that you want to and claim to.

The great thing about creating a system is that you avoid reinventing the wheel each time you take on a similar project.

In fact, your system will improve each time you conduct a campaign because you can adjust to do more of what works, and less of what doesn’t work. Having proven systems in place will less your stress and impress your clients by your efficiency.

Without systems you’ll waste time with each new client creating a brand new way to work with them on their project.

This can not only cause you to fail to produce the type of value that you want to for your clients, but it can cause confusion for you, your contractors, and everyone involved.

Having specific systems can help you avoid these problems.

Plus when you test the metrics of each campaign you can use the data to become even better.

Not having a system in place wastes time, creates stress and creates a lack of confidence in your ability to produce the results your clients need. You will need to create systems for various aspects of your business not just when it comes to clients. To run your business correctly you’ll need to write down all the different functions you have.

Accounting Customer Support Distribution Human Resources Inventory Marketing Research & Development And Many More

If you don’t create a system it’s likely you will forget certain components involved in each functional are of your business.

Part of your system will include checklists that help you avoid missing important components of the system. Businesses large and small use systems for everything even things that seem simple such as closing a cash register at the end of the day. There is usually a checklist involved. This cuts down on mistakes and even problems with fraud and theft.

Systems allow your business to work more efficiently and over time become faster and better at what you do.

Systems also allow you to multiply yourself because once you have a working system in place for any aspect of your business someone else can follow the system and experience success.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 33

SOCIAL MEDIA

THREE

REASONS YOU WANT TO

#HASHTAG

YOUR CONTENT

Y

ou probably have found that many of your followers and connections on various social media platforms add hashtags to their posts- they look like #keywordofchoice. There are 3 reasons that this is very likely helping them build an audience. You need to implement this too, and I will explain why in a moment.

Before I get to that, let me get into the overview of hashtags.

Hashtags have always been associated with Twitter as they were the first network to use them for the purpose of users expanding their reach. You type in the hashtag next to the keyword that strikes your fancy into the search bar, then you find all kinds of interesting tweets that are relevant to the keyword you had typed in.

For instance, if you are in the pet industry niche, you would likely have sent out relevant tweets and would insert hashtags like this #dog #cat #pets. You have may have been interested to see who else is chatting about anything pet related so you would have searched for those particular terms in the search

BY MIRIAM SLOZBERG bar. Lo and behold you had found many other conversations that you had wanted to jump into in relation to pets.

I bet you had expanded your network quite well due to this feature. You may have increased your business as well from this. Then Google Plus, and Instagram started using it for the same reason. Facebook started using hashtags in 2013. The funny thing is, a lot of people seemed to have rolled their eyes once this took place. However, I am glad Facebook did add this feature and now I will share as to why hashtagging your posts is important to do.

01 Jump into Great Conversations Another excellent way to grow your network is to click on a hashtag that you see on your feed from someone in your network that strikes your fancy- or that you happen to insert in one of your status/post updates- you will find other posts from people outside or in your network that have used the same hashtag. You will them jump right into those conversations by commenting on their posts and others will be doing the same to you. Therefore, hashtags are a great way to increase your online engagement.

MIRIAM SLOZBERG

is a Canadian mom, author, and SEO and social media manager - who is focusing most of her time on teaching and empowering entrepreneurs and job seekers on how to be influential in their niche by harnessing the power of social media. Find out more about Miriam www.miriamslozberg.com.

34 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA 02

You will Expand your Reach

Like I had mentioned above, that is the purpose of the hashtag. To help you expand your reach and grow your network. In my opinion there is no better place to do that other than Facebook. If you want to reach out to new Facebook connections that are interested in something that you have to offer, well, they will search for it by clicking on the hashtag and as long as you insert it, they will find your post. Again, for instance if you want to connect with others interested in the pet industryafter your post, insert those relevant hashtags and others interested in that niche will click on it and find you!

03 Great for Use of Multiple Campaigns Okay, it is firstly recommended to hook your Twitter to Facebook so anything that you put out on Facebook goes out to Twitter. You will want to bear in mind that important status updates that

ADVERTISE

in

you put out on Facebook that you want to add the hashtag to should be less than 140 characters. This way you will not only expand your reach on Facebook, but onto Twitter as well.

This is why it is very important to add searchable hashtags to your posts. Be sure that your hashtags are keywords that you know others are clicking on. In other words, do not create a hashtag that is a made up word, or a term that no one will search for. Also, be sure not to add more than 3 in Facebook and Twitter, and 10 in Instagram because too many hashtags appear spammy. With that in mind, just remember this.

Without them, no new followers will find you as easily as your content will not be found by others from other networks.

Next time you share something on social media, be sure to hashtag it.

onlinemarketing SUCCESSMagazine

Reach Your Target Audience

Affordably

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ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 35

ANALYTICS

IMPORTANT E-COMMERCE METRICS YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED WITH Y

BY PAM IVEY

ou’re trying to make your business better so you check metrics like return on investment without looking much further. But there are some important metrics you should be concerned with if you want to take your business to the next level.

01

Average Order Value

02

Cart Abandonment Rate

This is how much your customer orders on average each time they order.

How often people come to your store, put things in the cart, then do not finish the purchase.

03

Conversion Rate How many people who come to your store make a purchase, compared to how many that do not, this includes shopping cart abandons as well as other visitors.

04

Customer Acquisition Costs

How much it costs you to get a customer. This figure is derived by your marketing costs divided by all your customers over a set period of time.

05

Customer Churn Rate This is the rate in which customers only buy once and then do not return to buy INFOGRAPHIC - CLICK HERE TO VIEW

36 | ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

ANALYTICS again. For instance if only half of your customers are repeat buyers your churn rate is 50%, if this number goes lower, that’s better.

06

Customer Lifetime Value This is a number that is super important to determining how you will market, perform customer service and more. This is how much you can reasonably be expected to earn from each of your customers over their lifetime.

07

READERSHIP POLL:

TELL US

Number of Repeat Sales

This is how many times each customer buys during a specific period of time, such as monthly for subscription customers.

WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE

MAGAZINE!

Knowing these metrics can help you make smarter decisions in your business or, if you’re an online marketing manager, you can use these numbers to help your clients with making better choices to increase sales and improve all the numbers.

This brief questionnaire should take you less than

Each metric can give you something to work on towards improvement. For instance, by analyzing cart abandonment rate you can figure out why your website visitors are abandoning the cart by going through the process of purchasing yourself. You can figure out if something is tripping up people.

You can run a retargeting advertising campaign to only those who abandon their cart and so much more.

By studying repeat buying behavior you can determine what is working best to encourage repeat purchases such as email marketing, upselling and cross selling. There is so much you can do with each of these metrics to improve them that once you are watching these numbers you’re likely to be able to improve your business or your client’s business exponentially.

Don’t just focus on one number, focus on all these metrics together and how they affect each other. Changing one metric through your efforts can affect all the rest.

10 minutes to fill in.

Your feedback is vital to our success because we want to keep bringing you want you want to know!

http://bit.ly/1shJshb

MEET

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An easy-to-use platform that lets you quickly create beautiful membership sites, right in your web browser.

Nothing to download or install. No hosting necessary.

ONLINE MARKETING SUCCESS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 | 37

Become the Conduct ONLINE MARKETING MANAGER CERTIFICATION

“We’re just 3 modules in out of ten and I feel my investment has already been paid back in multiples” ~ Brenda Violette

“You are fantastic instructor! High quality content! ” ~ Brenda Rivas

“Surpassed my expectations!” ~ Joann Snell

www.OnlineMarketingM CLICK AD TO VIEW WEBSITE

tor

Next Program begins January 12th.

ManagerCertification.com

UPCOMING EVENTS Have an event you’d like included in our list? Drop us a line with all of the details to editor@omsmagazine.com

DATES

EVENT NAME

LOCATION

URL

November 11 - 12, 2014 SES Conference & Expo Bangkok

http://www.clickzlive.com/bangkok

November 11 - 13, 2014 InternetSummit

http://internetsummit.com

Raleigh, NC

ABOUT SES DIGITAL MARKETING

November 20 - 21, 2014 SMX Las Vegas Las Vegas http://searchmarketingexpo.com/socialmediamarketing

SEOSOCIAL MEDIA December 10 -13, 2014 Search Insider Summit Park City, UT http://www.mediapost.com/searchinsidersummit

SEARCH MARKETING December 2 - 3, 2014

SES Conference & Expo Singapore

http://www.clickzlive.com/singapore

SES

December 9 - 10, 2014 DigitalSummit Dallas http://www.dallasdigitalsummit.com DIGITAL MARKETING December 10, 2014

The Next Web

New York

http://thenextweb.com/conference/usa

TECH TRENDS

December 10, 2014 Digital Outlook 2015 Singapore https://econsultancy.com/events/digital-outlook-2015

DIGITAL MARKETING Jan. 25 - Feb. 1, 2015

Marketers Cruise Cruise http://bit.ly/1tWoUQ3

February 9 - 11, 2015

SES London

London http://sesconference.com/london

February 22 - 25, 2015 iMedia Brand Summit: Amelia Island, FL http://www.imediaconnection.com/summits

Man vs Machine

DIGITAL MARKETING SES BRAND & AUTOMATION

http://www.meclabs.com/training/marketing-summit/email-summit-2015 February 23 - 26, 2015 Marketing Sherpa Las Vegas

Email Summit EMAIL MARKETING March 3 - 5, 2015

SMX West

San Jose, CA

March 9 - 13, 2014

Adobe Summit

Salt Lake City, UT http://summit.adobe.com/na/

http://searchmarketingexpo.com/west

SEARCH MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING

March 11 - 12, 2015 Dx3 Toronto http://www.dx3canada.com/Content/2015-Information

DIGITAL MARKETING March 19 - 20, 2015 DigiMarcon West 2015 Vail, CO http://digimarcon.com/west/?utm_campaign=Listly&utm_ medium=list&utm_source=listly DIGITAL MARKETING March 28 - 29, 2015

Canadian Internet Marketing Conference

Squamish, BC

http://digitalbuzz.ca/

DIGITAL MARKETING

March 30 - April 2, 2015 ClickZ Live

New York

http://www.clickzlive.com/newyork/

DIGITAL MARKETING

March 31 - April 1, 2015 MarTech 2015

San Francisco, CA http://www.martechconf.com/

April 13 - 16, 2015

NMX The Media Revolution Las Vegas

April 19 - 21, 2015

World Social Sydney, AU http://wsmconference.com/sydney-2015 Marketing Conference

March 31 - April 2, 2015 InfusionCon

Phoenix http://attendicon.com/

April 26 - May 3, 2015 DigiMarcon Cruise 2015 Cruise May 13 - 14, 2015

DigiMarcon East 2015

http://nmxlive.com/2015-lv/

http://digimarcon.com/cruise/

Washington, DC http://digimarcon.com/east/

DIGITAL MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING SOCIAL MEDIA INBOUND MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING

May 27 - 28, 2015 DigiMarcon West 2015 Los Angeles, CA http://digimarcon.com/west/?utm_campaign=Listly&utm_ medium=list&utm_source=listly DIGITAL MARKETING June 12 - 14, 2015

Elite Camp 2015 Estonia http://digitalelitecamp.com/

DIGITAL MARKETING