Brandmerry Blog Archives
Why Pinterest is a Must For Your Business Marketing Plan
WHY PINTEREST IS A MUST FOR YOUR BUSINESS MARKETING PLAN
I'm so excited to have my Pinterest Strategist, Jena Liat, on the blog today to talk about my new favorite platform - Pinterest. Now, I know Pinterest isn't NEW, I mean I've been pinning recipes, cute kids clothes and home decor for years, but in terms of using it to grow my coaching business it has been new territory. In just the past few months, I've seen my organic reach expand and as a result my community and list grow organically (hello saving money) through the power of Pinterest.
**PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links, but only because I use and love the product myself. If you click on the link I may receive a small commission.
Pinterest is the fastest-growing social media platform in member growth. There are now over 175 million active monthly users. Which means no matter who your ideal audience is, it's a safe bet they are on Pinterest.
Since Pinterest is a search engine that means that your ideal audience is searching for YOU. This is very different than other social media platforms, but it gets better!
Your post on Facebook gets buried under selfies and political posts in less than an hour.
Your Youtube video peaks within the first 24-48 hours of posting.
Your Tweet lasts about 20 minutes.
But your pin, it gets more visibility over time. In fact, it takes an average of 7 months for a pin to really take off! You will keep getting traffic from your pins for YEARS after you first add them to your account!
So how do you use this powerful marketing tool for your business?
create a business account
Start by creating or converting your current account to a business account. Then optimize your account by adding keywords to your board descriptions and pin descriptions. This allows those searching for what you have to offer to find YOU.
Branded images
Make sure your pin images SHOW and TELL viewers what they can expect to get when they click to your website. Stick to your brand colors and fonts, but make sure the text is easy to read since most users are on their mobile device when using Pinterest.
Utilize a SCHEDULER LIKE Tailwind
To gain even more visibility, participate in group boards and TailWind tribes.
Speaking of TailWind, this scheduler gives you advanced analytics and allows you to automate your Pinterest account while pinning at the times when your audience is most engaged. It is a must have!
These tips are a great place to start when using Pinterest to increase your visibility and drive traffic to your website - the home base of your business!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jena, a former educator turned Pinterest Strategist, helps female entrepreneurs gain confidence in using Pinterest to increase their visibility and drive traffic to their website. She and her husband raise their daughters on the beach and riverbanks of Georgia and love to travel.
Learn more at JenaLiat.com
Four Ways to sign coaching clients into your one-on-one program
FOUR WAYS TO SIGN COACHING CLIENTS INTO YOUR ONE-ON-ONE PROGRAM
In August 2016, I had already given my notice at work and had yet to sign a single client into my brand new coaching program (yes, I'm ambitious like that)! So I can totally relate to the feeling of uncertainty if you will ever sign that first, or second or maybe even third coaching clients.
If this is you, I want you to know that each of the strategies I'm sharing below have helped me grow my coaching business, and sell out my 1:1 program every time the program opens.
Today I'm sharing Four Ways to Sign Your First Coaching Clients, but if you want even more info on this topic, I have the complete training for you >> CLICK HERE TO GET ACCESS
FREE COACHING SESSION
Sure this might seem like a strategy you've learned before, but have you ever thought of a free session as a funnel?! I didn't think so. When you offer a free coaching session you are basically turning a cold lead into a hot lead and here's why. They are getting a real taste of what it is like to work with you and see results, and nothing screams "I have to hire this person!" like instant results.
Learn how I offered my free coaching sessions in the complete training >>
OFFER A SPECIALIZED ASSESSMENT
This is a very niched down approach to the free coaching session. Choose a topic you focus on in your business and offer a 20-minute assessment. I love to offer these in my own community, but also other platforms like Pinterest, FB Groups and Instagram. I recommend doing these on a time limit so their is a sense of urgency and have your scheduling set up so they can book instantly. Again, you are helping your prospective client solve a problem, leading them to gaining tons insight and seeing the value in your work.
Learn how I structure my assessments in the complete training >>
FUNNEL FROM FREEBIE TO 1:1 PROGRAM
Rather than always thinking you have to have a funnel to a small priced offer (aka passive income) you can funnel cold leads to your 1:1 program. You might be thinking, but how? And the key is storytelling! By expanding your funnel a bit, providing value like crazy and sharing more of your personal journey you are building the trust factor through your funnel. When you go to talk about your 1:1 program at the end, the focus is on their story, how you relate to it and how you can help them reach their desires. It's a powerful way to instantly sign clients, but also a way to plant the seed about your program so it's always in the back of their mind while you continue to nurture them.
GET FEATURED
Being a guest expert is an excellent way to expand your reach! Again, we are talking story and value and starting the relationship building process. What is so amazing about being a guest, is that you are getting in front of a new audience, and sharing your knowledge. I HIGHLY recommend, having a free offer (see above) to provide so you can get viewers on your list. This strategy has worked for me numerous times in signing 1:1 clients.
Learn my top ways to get featured in the complete training >>
Want even more juicy info?
In this free video I'm sharing:
✔️ An insider look at how I make my first $12k in my business and booked my first 3 1:1 clients!
✔️ Even more in-depth information on the four strategies above and how you can start implementing them TODAY to get your ideal client on the phone ready and eager to work with you.
✔️ The NUMBER ONE strategy, that seriously can't wait, if you want to start signing clients.
✔️ PLUS a bonus Q&A with women who are exactly where you are now!
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
What to Include In the About Me Section of Your Website
Besides the actual services you offer, the About Me or My Story section of your website is hands down the most important piece! Why? Because it's all about the trust factor when selling your services or products, and if people don't know a single thing about you, besides your title, they definitely aren't going to trust you.
The key to an About Me that resonates with your audience is sharing your story (are you surprised I said that? probably not!). While in the past, it might have been a place to copy and paste your professional bio, it is now an excellent platform to share your why, purpose, and the nitty-gritty about your story.
Sharing these details relies on 3 core pieces:
1) Identify the three major transitions or chapters of your life and how they relate to your audience. You can watch a full video walkthrough of How to Uncover Your Story go here >>
2) Identify the connector between your transitions (this is the theme or general message of your About Me). This is what strings it all together and makes it read as a full story as opposed to a few highlights.
3) Identify how you want your audience to feel when reading your About Me (this helps you determine where to add emphasis, reliability, and even what photos and visuals to choose).
The general setup of your About Me page should clearly explain to your audience where you were, where you are now, and how you got here.
It is designed to inspire your audience, relate to them on a very personal level, and show your vulnerability so you can begin to build trust.
I have a complete guide to walk you step-by-step through the process. Grab yours here >>
Length of Your About Me Page
Your About Page should be at minimum 2-3 paragraphs touching on the important points, but I have found a longer, more descriptive story really captivates your audience. If you want to check out an example, go here >> READ MY STORY
Aside from sharing your story, there are additional key pieces to include to make sure that your About Me turns into a high-converting page on your website:
About Me Page Tip #1:
A CAPTIVATING BANNER
This is the first opportunity to grab your audience with a beautiful tagline and photo that clearly represents your personal journey. This first exchange matters and can set the tone for your entire story. Share something that captivates your audience and show your face, please! This makes it more personal, and pictures of people are proven to convert higher than a stock photo.
About Me Page Tip #2:
SHOW YOUR STORY THROUGHOUT
Sharing more personal photos allows you to give a visual representation of your journey and to have your audience connect more deeply with what you’re sharing. The more personal, authentic photos allow your audience to step into your story fully. This is one spot on your website where the photos don't necessarily have to be professional because a more personal and raw photo does better in building a connection.
About Me Page Tip #3:
SHOWCASE THE IMPORTANT PARTS
As I mentioned earlier, it is important to highlight the parts of your story that are VERY important and you want your audience to remember. This is where bold, italicized, or different color fonts can help.
What could you share that would have them clicking for more? Always just assume your audience is spending 15 seconds on your webpage (cause that is the average) and many of them are skimming. You want to tell them a great preview and draw them in with highlighted pieces of your content.
About Me Page Tip #4
YOUR HOOK
An excellent place to add your hook, you know the thing you do, the “elevator pitch” for your business, is near the end of your About Me Page. If you follow the structure of storytelling and paint a picture of where you were, your transitions, and finally where you are now, you set yourself up for an amazing opportunity to share your business. I cover this entire framework inside my free download here >>
About Me Page Tip #5
CALL TO ACTION
Your About Me is an excellent resource to transition people directly to your services or products. Add a simple banner or button to the bottom of your story, giving them the next steps. If they have read this far, they are most likely an excellent candidate to purchase your service or product. Here is an example of mine
About Me Page Tip #6
YOUR FREE OFFER
Don't overlook the amazing opportunity to get people on your list. Remember, you've been sharing your truth, and if they are still reading at this point, they probably already trust you at some level or at the very least, want to learn more.
Not only will you be growing your list with highly targeted ideal customers, but it’s also someone who is already familiar with your story - major win!
Did you love the information in this blog post?
If so, I’ve got a free gift for you all about writing your About Me Page. Click to get your hands on 3 Simple Steps to a Client-Converting About Me Page.
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MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
The Three Key Pieces For a High-Converting Sales Funnel
THE THREE KEY PIECES TO A HIGH-CONVERTING SALES FUNNEL
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
So you feel like you have to have a passive income product to have a sales funnel?
Or maybe you don't even have a high-priced offer and feel like you shouldn't waste your time on a free offer and funnel?
So many entrepreneurs allow these two pieces to keep them from building a sales funnel. If this is you I encourage you to change your focus on using a sales funnel as a way to take your new prospect from cold to hot lead!
Use this opportunity now to build community and trust with your audience so when you DO have those offers you have someone to sell them too - see how that works?
If you’re not familiar with an email funnel or using the power of a free offer, be sure check out these blog posts here:
4 Steps to Create Your Next Free Offer
Ok, now on to the good stuff.
3 Key Pieces to Include in Every Email Funnel/ Automation or Sequence
Be sure to do these three things to keep open and click rates HIGH, while keeping unsubscribes LOW.
1: Include Your Story to build trust with your audience
Start thinking of everyone who enters your list as a cold lead.
What does that mean? They don't know anything about you, not even your face. So take this opportunity to introduce yourself, share some vulnerabilities and start to build the trust factor.
This is a golden opportunity for people to start REALLY paying attention to you and what you have to say and connecting with you on a deep level. When people trust you they will buy from you!
ACTIONABLE TIP ↠ I suggest the second email you deliver, after your free gift of course introduces you, your brand and tells a bit of a story. From there, include elements of story in the remaining emails while also giving your tips, tools and value to build trust.
A big part of the storytelling process comes from understanding your brand. Watch this free Build a Better Brand class to learn my 3-step process (hint: one is story)!
2: Write a subject line that gets opened
It's one thing to have a funnel, it's another to have someone read it - which is kind of the point isn't it?
It doesn't matter what you say in the body context of your email, if people don't open your email they will never know any of it. I argue that this step is the most important part of the process.
The reality is your audience is bombarded with emails on a regular basis and you need to grab their attention as quickly as possible. Ask yourself what would make me open this email?
ACTIONABLE TIP ↠ Spend time creating your subject line! One of my recommendations is to write the content of the email first and THEN pull some of the juiciest pieces as the subject line. Using things like numbers, questions and emoji’s can help with open rates. Be sure to keep your subject line lower case (i.e. “7 ways to improve your marketing” vs “7 Ways to Improve Your Marketing).
3: GIVE TREMENDOUS VALUE TO YOUR AUDIENCE
This is an excellent time to not only build trust with your audience through storytelling, but to also position yourself as the expert and guide they need.
People want to know WHY they should listen to you, so tell them! Start giving tips about a topic that interests them, share advice or a life lesson and what it taught you or share an old blog post that gives value.
This is the time to give, give and give so they make your emails a top priority in their inbox and understand why they should invest in you over someone else when the time comes.
ACTIONABLE TIP ↠ This is not just about “How to” content, while that can be super useful to your audience, it’s not the only way to add value. You can add value to your audience by solving a problem for them, giving them inspiration or flipping their mindset. When you think of the end goal of your brand, it should be to solve a problem your ideal customer is experiencing…use this time to start doing that. I recommend anywhere between 3-5 value emails before your subscribers is added to your weekly email list.
If you’re looking for an email platform I recommend, look no further than Convertkit! I’ve been using them for years and they are still my TOP resource for entrepreneurs.
CONCLUSION
Growing your email community is VERY important. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a way to reach your audience that doesn’t rely on social media. No matter what stage you’re in at your business, having a free gift and email funnel is necessary and a great way to start building community and building trust.
If you’re ready to improve your overall brand to attract ideal customers, increase engagement and build a revenue-generating business, be sure to watch my free branding class: Build a Better Brand Method.
I'M MICHELLE KNIGHT
I was just a new mom with an ambitious dream to start my own business. That dream turned into a multiple 6-figure business and the ability to travel full time. Now, I teach women how to brand and market their authentic voice online and take bold action to create a life better than their dreams.
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TOOLS I LOVE
KAJABI
Grab a 30-day trial of Kajabi and test out their website, email, landing page and course platform.
HONEYBOOK
Save $200 off this client management tool! Save hours with streamlined workflows and onboarding.
CONVERTKIT
The ultimate email platform for simplicity and deliverability.
SMARTERQUEUE
Save time by scheduling your social media in one place and extend the life of your content with evergreen scheduling.
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How to Get Started With SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
If you have a website and aren't paying attention to SEO, you are missing out on FREE traffic to your website and potentially on your list. And if you are a blogger, it's even more crucial in getting people to check out the content you spend precious time creating (like this piece right here)!
SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine. Basically, it's how Google knows to rank your content so people find it.
Over the past year, I've watched as Google searches lead people to my little blog and onto my email list and eventually to becoming paying customers. I don't know about you, but I'll take free advertisement any day of the week.
Today I want to share with you three simple steps you can take to get started implementing SEO on your own website. I use Squarespace, which makes it truly easy to implement, but these strategies can be used on every platform.
1) Content is Queen
There is a reason so many entrepreneurs are blogging and creating videos, and it isn't because they have a ton to say. It's because content rich websites have a better SEO and therefore a better ranking on Google. Think of different ways to add content to your website that is in alignment with what your ideal client is searching for. Some of my top ranking blog posts are:
7 TIPS FOR A WELL-BRANDED PHOTOSHOOT
HOW TO GET YOUR IDEAL CLIENT TO STAY ON YOUR WEBSITE
REPURPOSING YOUR CONTENT TO REACH MORE PEOPLE IN LESS TIME
Struggling to come up with ideas? Listen to what people are asking around you! If you have a list, private community on Facebook or are active in other groups, see what questions people are asking and address the problem with a solution on your website (just like I'm doing here).
2) Add Keyword Title and Descriptions
I know it's super tempting to be cute with your title, but for SEO purposes let's think more practically. When naming your blog post or coming up with your custom url be super specific and think of your keywords.
For instance if I were to do a blog post about uncovering your story and how that helps you build a business, I wouldn't use those words because my ideal client isn't searching for that exactly. What they are searching for is How to Brand Yourself When Building A Business (see the difference)? Then in the page description write a 2-3 sentence tagline about the post. This will be hidden, but will tell Google exactly what your content is about allowing them to better categorize your content.
3) Renaming Your Images
Speaking of hidden content, let's talk images. When you upload an image you have the option to change the image name and write a caption. It's important to add keywords, or the title, to the image name, so Google has one more place to pick up on your SEO. In addition, it's crucial to add a caption to your photos, even if they are hidden. Most of the captions on Brandmerry.com are hidden and it has the same effect as a page description without cluttering your page.
BONUS TIP: This is huge for Pinterest as well. If you, or someone else, pins your image, Pinterest will pull the caption associated with your image, so make it a good one!
I've included a photo below to better show this step in Squarespace ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Step One:
Add your caption under the photo
Step Two:
Hide your caption (Do not display caption)
Step three:
Change the file name of the image
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>