success

Digital Marketing: Get Ready for 2018!

by Leave a Comment

Contributed by guest writer, Margaret Brown, SocializeLA

It’s my honor to give you some simple and strategic tips to get your digital marketing in gear for 2018. You’ll also find three ways to connect with me for more info (hint: 2 FREE options, and 1 Premium).

Let’s get started! Here’s what you should consider for your 2018 digital marketing:

What is successful digital marketing- and what ISN’T successful digital marketing?!

Successful Digital Marketing IS about building relationships. It ISN’T incessant selling. It IS a great place to funnel people into your Customer Journey. It ISN’T something that happens overnight. It IS a strategy of content, calls-to-action, and multiple layers.

What does successful digital marketing look like for your business?  

Successful digital marketing looks like your social media, email marketing, blogs, webinars, and/or ads are converting to new clients. Or, your social media, email marketing, blogs, etc. are growing in engagement (LIKES, Number of followers, Shares, sign-ups, etc.). It can also look like website traffic is increasing, consistent content (planned and published strategically), and multiple layers working together: website, landing pages, webinar registration, video, email marketing, blogs, and social media.

What is a Customer Journey, and how do you use it in your business?

A Customer Journey is how you lead your audience to learn more about you and ultimately become a client!  The journey is also known as a funnel. It can look something like this:

  • A social media post with a call-to-action
  • The call-to-action leads to a landing page
  • The landing page is a series of text, images, video, calling people to either sign up for a webinar, purchase a product, or some other option in addition to an instant sign-up or buy.  A call-to-action could be a value carrot of sorts to prompt the viewer to download the freebie and in turn signs up for your email marketing campaign.

The Customer Journey can be simple or intricate. You can start small and grow from there.

When is it time to review your digital marketing strategy, and how do you conduct a self-audit?

To determine when to review and how to self-audit, re-read the section on what success looks like.  Are you seeing this? Do you have a Customer Journey in place? You can also utilize this Free Self-Audit Download inside The Plan the Year Course (FREE) for more information!

What other questions should you consider for your digital marketing?  

Some other questions to consider are:

  • How much time should I spend on my social media?
  • Why isn’t my current plan working?
  • How can I make my current plan work more effectively?
  • Is this relevant to my business/industry?
  • Where should I turn for help?
  • How much should I spend in ads?

Now that you have an overview of how to kick off your 2018 digital marketing, please take advantage of these offers from myself and The SocializeLA.com Team! Join our Facebook Group for fun virtual co-working sessions, training, and more! You can also Sign up for a FREE call with Margaret, or Book a Discovery Session $97, with code MARYCRAVETS (Valued at $500). The Discovery Session includes:

  • 1.5 Training/Brainstorm Session with Margaret
  • Professional review of your current digital marketing efforts
  • SEO review and more!

I hope these tips sparked an idea and action for you to improve your digital marketing.  It’s essential to your business in 2018.  Be ready!

For the Days You Consider Working at Starbucks

by 1 Comment

“Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” – Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter

Wow. The co-founder of Twitter?

From him, those “ten years of trying,” sound almost romantic and heroic, don’t they?

He fought the good fight and came out a champion, even when everyone thought he was crazy.

But what about those ten crazy years? Can you imagine quotes from that time?

  • “I have just enough money in my checking account to cover the month, with no idea what to do next.”
  • “In one day, I got a new client and a deal fell through. It feels like I’m just spinning my wheels.”
  • “My spouse asked me for the third time this month why I’m crying over my business when I could just go get a job.”
  • “I work and work to make a positive impact in the lives of others and I just got called sleazy. On Facebook.”

I made these up. Because who would be crazy enough to write about the grueling days of entrepreneurship?

This girl.

All through my toughest years of entrepreneurship, I wrote: I laid bare every struggle, every strategy, every mindset shift I had to make in order to persevere long enough to become an “overnight success.” I put everything down on paper that helped me build a business, to stretch my comfort zone, and to laugh at the absurdity of entrepreneurship.

You’ve heard the quote, “Entrepreneurs are the only people who will work 80 hours a week for themselves to avoid working 40 hours a week for someone else.”

Absurd, right?

But also incomplete.

Entrepreneurs work those crazy hours and endure the struggle because we are committed to making a difference. We improve the lives of others. We educate. We inspire. We transform.

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and to succeed, being smart and strategic isn’t enough. To help you laugh, be inspired, and focus your efforts, I’m sharing a free chapter from my book, Smile When They Call You Sleazy! I hope it lets you know that you are not alone on the crazy journey.

And who knows? Maybe it could even help you shave a few years off of your journey to “overnight success.”

Sign up to receive your free chapter now: http://marycravets.com/bookchapter/

I believe in you!

How She Wrote 5 Books

by Leave a Comment

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of consulting with a wonderful woman named Lakota.  When we began our consultation, she had three primary activities that occupied her time. She wanted to determine how she could best utilize her time to make these successful and meaningful.

As we worked together, it became clear that one of her activities was not in alignment with her goals, and was also emotionally taxing, pulling energy from other areas of her life.  Together we determined she should phase out the most stressful activity, leaving more time to focus on other valuable things. With a newly aligned course of action, Lakota took steps in a direction more to her liking.

For the next four years, she devoted much of her newfound time to her passion for writing. I happen to know that throughout those years she still faced serious adversity— she wasn’t just holed up peacefully writing in a cabin in the woods! Despite the adversity, she continued writing, and today I’m happy to report that Lakota has created not one but FIVE novels! Her books are slated for publication over the next 18 months, beginning with her first mystery novel, Death in Copper Town.

In a recent email, she wrote me to express her profound thanks for offering clarity and helping her succeed at this accomplishment. I’m so proud of Lakota’s drive to pursue her goals, first by asking for some guidance to find the right path, and then by persevering with her passions! She’s achieved a great win over the last four years.  What win are you willing to spend years to achieve?

If you’d like to draw inspiration from Lakota’s win, check out Death in Copper Town, available now on Amazon!

When Your Business Choices are Challenged

by Leave a Comment

Recently, I forwarded a resource out to my email list, because it offered me some helpful insights, and I believed it would do the same for others. Within 24 hours of sending, I received two emails in response.

The first email said, “This is brilliant! I really found value in it.” Well, great! I thought. Mission accomplished- I’m glad I could help!

I opened the second email expecting a similar message. Instead, it said, “This is pretty offensive! Why would anyone want this?” Wait… what?! This is the exact opposite of the first response! How could two opinions differ so drastically about the same subject?

I had a moment of debate with myself: Had I missed the point? Was I actually unhelpful? Should I refrain from sending similar resources in the future?

After a quick assessment, the answer was clear: Nope! I have a clear vision about my business and my clients, and I know what path I’m on to see success in both. The resource I sent was important to me, and others had found it valuable—even if there had been a difference of opinion.

The problem with hearing conflicting opinions is that they can lead you down a wrong path if you aren’t clear about your path. Being uncertain when confronted with differing opinions can leave you terrified to try a new approach, doubtful of your strategy, or paralyzed in the pursuit of your goals.

In order to stay moving forward with purpose down the right path—the one you’ve mapped out for yourself and your business— it’s important to always be clear about your vision and your ideal clients. That way, when conflicting opinions cross your path, you can decide quickly whether you need to adjust or stay the course!

A Lesson From a Rock Wall

by 3 Comments

You probably don’t know this, but my sister loves rock climbing and I’ve gone to her climbing gym several times. I always enjoyed the experience, but didn’t actively look for more rocks to climb.

Then, I was invited to go rock climbing in Alaska.

I was tired. I didn’t want to hurt myself. And I could have very easily just gone and relaxed somewhere much more comfortable (and safe!).

But… I couldn’t go all that way without at least trying, right?

I decided to go for it, and gave myself permission to only go as far as I wanted to, and to stop when I felt like it. I didn’t have to make it all the way to the top that day, I just had to try it.

I started the climb. What happened completely defied my expectations. At the climbing gym, the climbs are color coded and pre-set to be accomplished.  There on a natural wall in Alaska I had to figure out how to get to the top on my own (with a little guidance from the climbing instructor).

The rock wall was like a puzzle, and all I could do to solve it was focus on my next move. Right hand first. Then left hand. Right foot, left foot. Moving upward became a challenge in advancing, assessing, and correcting.

Can I get a handhold here? Nope, try over here!

Left foot is slipping, try a better grip!

Advance, assess, correct.

Before I knew it, I was advancing up with careful moves — and with focus, focus, focus.  Instead of thinking about how tired I was or how I might not reach the top, my goal shifted to pure enjoyment of the process.

Sure enough, I made it to the top. But it was the experience of trying that was the real win.

Are you standing at the bottom of a new challenge? Focus on the experience.  Advance, assess, and correct. Hire an instructor or coach if needed. And above all, start the climb!

There are two rules for success

by Leave a Comment

On a recent visit to my family in San Diego, we went to a restaurant for breakfast together. In the bathroom, the sink was emblazoned with a quote that literally made me LOL: “There are two rules for success: 1. Never tell everything you know.”

This sentiment immediately brought to mind the business owners I work with to develop speaking as a strategy to generate new clients. There are a lot of areas we work on together, such as how to get speaking engagements, create titles that draw in your ideal clients, make a sales offer without freaking out, and more. But the one of the biggest obstacles we tackle right away is exactly what that quote referenced.

They want to tell audiences everything they know.

It’s vitally important to structure your talk so that you do not share everything you know.

To be clear, this is not about withholding value! This is not that tacky, bait-and-switch approach to speaking. You’ve probably experienced this unpleasant technique: a speaker gives you 2 great tips, but those tips are totally useless unless you buy their program. Yuck. That’s not what we’re talking about here.

It is critically important that you learn how to provide extreme value without burying an audience in content. When you do bury them, it can lead to a “false close,” which roughly means that someone who hears your talk thinks that they’ve gotten everything they need and that what they heard is all you have to offer.

They feel 100% satisfied. They think they don’t need to hire you.

The problem is, no matter how long the talk, there is always more information, coaching, or guidance that can be given on your topic. If you aren’t clear about that fact, it’s damaging on many levels. Namely, to your reputation.

Let’s say you just delivered a talk overstuffed with content to a receptive audience of your ideal clients. At the end of the talk, your audience applauds and a dozen people tell you how much they loved it and love you. They leave the talk, go out into the world and say, “Wow, Mary really knows her stuff. I’m going to start doing what she taught us.” They start implementing and quickly run into a road block, because remember, no matter how long you spoke for, there is always more they need to know. They get frustrated and say, “Mary’s an idiot,” and your reputation suffers.

How do you fully show up and deliver solid value, but not “tell them everything you know”?

  1. Decrease your content, increase audience interaction. Interactions allow people to discover their own answers, and when they find those answers, they think you are brilliant.
  2. Define the next problem. You must inform your audience about the challenges they may encounter after starting to implement what you teach. For instance, if you teach about how to speak up to your family, you must let people know that you’re likely going to get an unwelcome reception from your family when you change the rules.
  3. Reveal the whole picture. If you’re teaching step one of a five-step system, make sure they know there is more to be had for best results. They won’t know this unless you tell them.

The results of this approach are twofold.

First, it puts your content in context so your audience members are better equipped to utilize your content and understand the potential challenges ahead.

Second, it clearly and respectfully shows you have more to offer, which elegantly lays the groundwork for them to become your client.

Now a disclaimer… please understand that this is a sharp but narrow focus on just one aspect of creating a talk that consistently generates clients. There are many other elements to consider.

My hope is that this perspective will help significantly improve the issue of content so you can start concentrating on the other important aspects of your talk: the credibility elements, planting marketing seeds, and the sales offer.

If you are a speaker and are not getting clients from your speaking engagements, take a look at your content. Use the tips in this article.

And if you’re very serious about building your business without working nights and weekends, and speaking is a part of how you want to build it, get in touch and let’s work together to make it happen!