Brandmerry Blog Archives
3 Time Management Strategies No One is Teaching
“I don’t have enough time!” This used to be a regular phrase in my vocabulary and although I didn’t realize it at the time, it was hurting my overall productivity. Yes, you guessed it, your mindset impacts your productivity. Today I’m sharing 3 Time Management Strategies No One is Teaching!
3 Time Management Strategies No One is Teaching
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
Time Management is so important as an entrepreneur.
I’ve found throughout my journey that by not only planning better, scheduling my time, creating more time, but also changing my outlook around time, I’ve been able to do more.
Before I can give you all the strategies I’ve used, I want to talk about how your beliefs around time are actually limiting it.
The truth is it isn’t about the strategies, if it was the new planner every year, the new calendar and the use of a tool like Trello, would magically make your time management better, but that just isn’t the case.
If the strategies work for a little while, but then you fall off the wagon, it’s time to look deeper at the root cause.
If you feel like you’re running out of time…
If you feel like you never have enough time to start…
Or you feel you’re wasting time…
This is for you!
1. MAKING TIME A TOP PRIORITY
THE VALUE OF YOUR TIME
I firmly believe that time is our greatest value.
A very significant part of my story is that I lost my brother to childhood cancer at the age of 18. It didn’t happen right away, but over the months and the years I started to change my view around time.
I know we all recognize that life isn’t infinite, but is this knowledge translating into how you spend your time daily?
How are we spending our time on this earth and are we doing the things we truly want to do?
When we put more emphasis on time as our greatest asset, we enjoy life more and the other pieces, like money, success and strong relationships, fall into place.
The biggest mindset shift I want you to take with you today is how to make time your greatest priority.
Actionable Step: Answer this question
How do you value time? How are you spending 24 hours a day?
If it’s true that we can’t get our time back then why do we use it so poorly?
HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME
When I started my business, I had to figure out how to fit this whole business into my schedule.
I had to learn very quickly that how I was spending my time wasn’t conducive to the goals I had for myself.
And before you start to think you have to make sacrifices in to reach your goals and create more time, I encourage you to focus on the choices.
It is a choice.
Where do you want to be?
What are your dreams?
What are you working towards?
You’re not going to get there if you don’t make the choice and yes sometimes the choice requires making hard decisions.
Actionable Step: Complete a time analysis
Spend the next 72 hours to track your time and how you’re spending it. This will give you a great overview of where the “time sucks” are happening. When you have this information you’ll be able to see just how much time you’re actually wasting.
Imagine if you spent 10 minutes less (minimum) on social media that’s over an hour. What could you do in an hour that will get you closer to your dreams.
If you’re not making the choice of where you’re spending your time, none of the strategies will matter.
2. IDENTIFY YOUR PRIORITIES
When is the last time you sat down and thought about your top priorities?
It’s not something that comes up in typical conversation, but it’s so important.
Actionable Step: Answer this question
You have 24 hours tomorrow to do whatever you want to reach your goals and dreams, what do you do?
We need to be asking ourselves this question because it’s so easy to get sucked into priorities with our jobs, children, spouses and more.
When you answer this question those are your values and priorities.
Maybe for you it’s:
Going outside
Exercising
Snuggling your babies
Traveling more
It’s not just about moving up the corporate ladder or having a $50k launch it’s about the things that bring you the most joy.
Identifying your values is just one step, the next part, and the part that’s up to you is how often are you living those values daily.
Please remember that you get to choose how you spend your time.
Yes, I know many of you work a 9 to 5.
Yes, many of you have children.
Of course, there are things that are required of you, but how are you spending the other hours in a day.
You will prioritize in your schedule what you prioritize in your life!
When you decide the techniques, tools and strategies will work.
3. CREATING MORE TIME DAILY
Use your calendar. We have calendars everywhere, yet so many people are not using their calendar correctly.
If you struggle with time management and aren’t scheduling EVERYTHING in your calendar, then it’s time to start.
I used to schedule date nights with my husband at the beginning of my business.
I used to schedule friend time (I still do)
I would schedule my content, coaching time and my time with my son.
By doing this, we can make the things of value to us a top priority. They are on the calendar and everything else can fit in where it can.
Get as detailed as possible to get yourself into a routine.
If you are a modern woman you are busy, there is no shame in using your calendar to prioritize your values. Put those in first and fill in the rest.
Create Boundaries. If you need to create more time you need to be clear with others and yourself about your priorities.
Find your people that you can trust and open up to about your dreams to ask for support and help. Creating boundaries with yourself allows you to ask for support from others.
This support can look like exchanging babysitting, asking for kid-free time from your husband (try for the same time every single week), it could be moving money around to invest in an assistant 2 hours a week to grow your business.
Not only is it important for you to understand that you can’t do it all, it’s also important to understand you don’t have to.
Creating boundaries with others frees up more time in your schedule to focus on the things that matter most.
You sometimes have to say no to things, to do things that get you closer to your goals and dreams.
Again, it’s not a sacrifice!
If you’d rather be doing something else, maybe it’s time to see how invested you are in your dreams.
TIME-SAVING HACKS: TOOLS I USE TO MANAGE MY TIME
Trello and Asana. Any task management platform will work, but these are my favorite.
I use them every single day for my business, but I also use them for our travels as well. You can use it while working your 9 to 5, with your weekly schedule, for project management and more.
Prepare for your week. Do yourself a favor and spend 20 minutes every single Sunday to plan out your life. I spend 20 minutes to see what my priorities are, where I’m dedicating my time, any deadlines and how I’m going have fun. This allows me to head into Monday prepared and not flying by the seat of my pants, which we all know leads to procrastination.
Have batch days. You can bulk write your content on a specific day, or meal prep on Sundays. In addition, I suggest choosing specific days that you do backend things in your business and different days to work with clients. When you batch your tasks together you will actually save yourself time.
CONCLUSION
Time is our greatest asset and it’s important to remind yourself how valuable it truly is. If you’re struggling with time management it’s time to go deeper than any strategy, it’s time to shift you’re thinking.
I promise you do have enough time, it’s all in how you use it.
If you want more tips on time management, creating boundaries and productivity be sure to subscribe to my new podcast, The Beautiful Climb on iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
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.
Mindset Techniques for Female Entrepreneurs (Create a Mindset Routine)
It’s no secret that you can have all the strategy and marketing techniques in the world, but if your mind is not taken care of and supported daily, being an entrepreneur is hard work. If you’ve ever wondered what online entrepreneurs do to feel confident and supported check out today’s blog.
Mindset Techniques for Female Entrepreneurs (Create a Mindset Routine)
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
When thinking about my own mindset journey it’s always been very ebb and flow. The times when I lacked any sort of mindset consistency or deep inner work it definitely showed in both my role as a mother, my marriage and as a businesswoman.
For me, the 3 main areas affect my mindset most are:
Morning Routine
Money Beliefs
Consistent Messaging
Today on the blog, I want to break down each of these pieces to support you in creating a mindset routine that works for you and your life.
Too often I see entrepreneurs feeling shame, been there done that, around the “traditional” techniques not working for them. I encourage you to take the lessons I’ve learned and use them to inspire you!
Ok, let’s get into it.
1. CREATING YOUR MORNING ROUTINE AS A FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR
Let’s just clear the air around something super important. Yes, we call it a Morning Routine, but that doesn’t mean you need to do it in the morning. That doesn’t mean that if your morning doesn’t go as planned, it won’t work.
The keyword here is routine and I hope you’ll remember that.
Ok, now that we’ve covered that let’s talk about shame (oh so fun Michelle)!
When I started my business and left my 9 to 5, I reached out to entrepreneurs inside of a Facebook Group asking them what I needed to do daily and the response was a morning routine. And they got specific with it, stating that an hour was ideal (i.e. 30-minute meditation, 15-minute writing and 15-minute movement).
So, I did it, because trust me when I tell you enough people were telling me the same thing that I thought they had to be on to something.
We’ll surprise, I found myself struggling for two reasons:
This timeframe didn’t work for me and
I needed something else and for me, that was physical intensity (more time dedicated to working out).
This all came from my own awareness.
Awareness is one of the best mindset skills you can create. Awareness is at the cornerstone of everything, it brings things to the surface you might not recognize day to day. This includes limiting beliefs and blocks, emotions that need to be tended to, as well as the awareness that rest is needed.
And this awareness is so important when we think about the seasons of life.
Just like the seasons in nature, we have the same seasons in life and often each season is asking something different from us. It’s our job to recognize that and make decisions on what’s needed most to create a life on our terms.
For me, this awareness and particular seasons were telling me that I needed to start the day with more energy and shorten the time I was dedicating to my morning routine.
GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION and release the shame and expectations that one way is the only way.
At this particular time and even today, I realized I needed something more intense.
With this awareness and knowledge, I created a new intention (that’s what I call goals) that apply to my morning routine.
“I’ve created a morning routine that serves me with movement, meditation, mindful writing and nourishment.”
This is important because it’s made for me and allows me the flexibility to do what feels best.
What would your ideal routine look like?
What 3-4 areas would you want to focus on?
When you’re creating your mindset routine, remember that mindset is the best form of self-care.
THE MORNING ROUTINE OF A 6-FIGURE ENTREPRENEUR
I know you love examples, I’m the same way, so here is a glimpse into my own mindset routine and the time I dedicate to each.
Remember, everything is based on my intention, “I’ve created a morning routine that serves me with movement, meditation, mindful writing and nourishment.”
MOVEMENT: I get my blood pumping and body moving first thing in the morning and aim for 30 minutes to 1 hour at least 5 days a week.
MEDITATION: I don’t do a full meditation daily. I aim for 3x a week (other seasons it’s been more like 5 or even 7). My meditations are typically no more than 10-15 minutes in length and I prefer meditations that are led by someone else. Check out YouTube or Spotify to find one that you enjoy.
MINDFUL WRITING: This is my release. I do this 3x a week, except in high seasons of creation like when I’m launching, writing or speaking. I’ve found that asking myself a prompt or question helps with the flow.
I always start with two questions and let my writing go from there.
What do I need to hear today?
What do I need to work through today?
NOURISHMENT: Again fueling my body is part of my mindset. I’m a firm believer that you can have a great mind, but an unhealthy body or even a healthy body, but an unhealthy mind. I strive for both, so daily I’m making my morning breakfast a big part of my mindset routine.
As you can see, the intention I st is my only rule, how I perform each piece is open to what’s needed most at that time of my life.
2. MONEY BELIEFS AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
Money beliefs are so important to address as an entrepreneur because we are the ones bringing in the money.
Your view of money is often deeply rooted in what you’re taught or saw growing up. For many of us it lives in the subconscious and it’s our role to bring it to the surface. We can only do this through heightened awareness and bringing it into our mindset routine.
If you find money isn’t coming easily to you, or you’ve reached a cap you need to uncover what’s blocking the flow of money - we all have this block at some point by the way.
This is where daily meditation and writing can help remove this block because you’re digging deeper than you might do in the normal day to day of living your life.
I have very specific seasons where I do deep money work and I’m in one now.
A few things to keep in mind:
No one can do the work for you. If you find you’re struggling to make progress there is so much support available online. We have a mindset coach inside of Roadmap to Freedom, my group program for new and aspiring female entrepreneurs.
Focus on not only identifying the beliefs but also releasing them (forgive). This doesn’t happen just once it must be repeated over and over again especially as you reach a new level in your business.
Create a habit of catching yourself daily with the messaging you’re putting out into the world and what you’re receiving.
3. CONSISTENT MESSAGING THAT AFFECTS YOUR MINDSET
While I love talking about messaging as it pertains to your brand, it’s also so important to talk about the messaging you put out into the world and the messaging coming back at you daily.
If you’re constantly surrounded by people, media or information that brings you down or talks negatively about money or your potential, you will start to mirror that belief.
Make more deliberate decisions about what and who you surround yourself with.
Listen to a podcast, I highly recommend my new podcast The Beautiful Climb, watch videos that inspire you or read uplifting articles.
Your vibration matters and needs to be high the majority of the time to attract the things you want in life.
It’s also important to catch yourself and what you’re saying daily.
For example: If you tell yourself and others you don’t have time, that will begin to be true for you. You absolutely have the time, it’s how you choose to view it and use it.
We have the decision in how we respond to things that come our way. We might have things that happen to us or for us (depending on your views) and it’s up to you on how you respond.
This is a muscle you have to flex. It’s not always easy, but making a habit is so important!
TIPS TO MAKE YOUR MINDSET A DAILY HABIT
Create affirmations + post them in prominent places (I like the bathroom)
Set daily alarms multiple times a day with reminders to breathe, think positively about money or just to evaluate your thoughts at that moment and change them.
Catch yourself when you’re using a specific language like “I don’t have time!”
Write your intentions (goals) daily so they are at the front of your mind.
Create a mindfulness playlist to ground you when you’re feeling low energy or overwhelmed.
Schedule it! This is so important, it doesn’t happen by chance, these changes don’t fall into your lap you have to practice them and make them a priority.
CONCLUSION
I’ve felt like my routine or mindset wasn’t resilient enough in years past, because I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. This was a belief that only contributed to more doubt and resistance towards attracting what I wanted in life.
Through the years I’ve made my mindset a top priority to overcome perfectionism, remove internal and outside expectations and create a life on my terms.
I chat about my journey and give you the tools to do the same on my new podcast The Beautiful Climb. Learn more at TheBeautifulClimb.com and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
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.
How to Sell Authentically Online (3 Changes to Make Today)
Do you sell products or services online and notice that every time you have to have the “conversation” you feel gross or freeze? No worries, we’ve all been there, however, if you’re not selling you’re not making money so let’s fix this belief!
How to Sell Authentically Online
(3 Changes to Make Today)
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
I’m really passionate about the topic of selling because I see so many entrepreneurs struggling with the idea of selling their products and their services.
Many of the clients that I work with, especially in those beginning stages, are really worried about sounding sleazy or sounding pushy or being aggressive with their audience in any way. And, and a lot of that really comes from the way that they look at selling.
I’ll give you an example...I call her Susie.
Susie as the girl in the Facebook group who sees that you're also in the Facebook group, maybe her Facebook group maybe not. About one day after joining the group you receive a message that says, “Hey, I'm also in this Facebook group [inserts Facebook group] and I'm just wondering, do you build sales funnels?” She then proceeds to pitch her mini-course she just created or her freebie or her masterclass or whatever.
And of course, you’re like, “Ok, but I don’t know you and you don’t know me!”
It's these types of strategies that people are using that we're on the receiving end of that give us this bad taste in our mouth when it comes to selling or promoting our services.
But at the end of the day, if you want to create a revenue-generating business, a profitable business, you have to sell, right? You have to talk about your products and your services.
So how do we do that? How do we do that in a way that feels authentic to us and that is focused on our community and as a result leads to what I think is a more reputable, a more energetic, a more attractive brand overall.
I promise there is another way to sell online that doesn’t feel gross to you or your audience and increases your conversions and we’re going to dive deep into that today.
YOUR MINDSET AROUND SELLING ONLINE
We all know that strategy is so important when it comes to building a profitable business, but if your head is not in the right space, those strategies don't work.
The biggest block that I see entrepreneurs have when it comes to selling is their view or belief about selling.
The sooner that you change your mindset from selling in terms of pitching and you focus more on the connection, the easier all of this will become.
When you’re focused on connection, over selling, you’re focused on your audience.
When you’re focused on selling, you’re focused on the product or the service. If in your mind you're like, I'm going to sell this person. I'm going to get this person into my program because then I'll hit my number. Or then I'll hit my monthly goal. You're just focused on the product and the service.
But things start to really shift when you decide that you’re going to show up and you’re going to listen to this person tell you their pain, their struggle, their problem, then you’re going to offer up what you have as a solution to that problem and they have a choice to take it or not take it.
When you can switch your mindset in this way, I am telling you it changes everything, not just for your audience, but also for you because the process doesn’t feel inauthentic.
This simple change in your own mindset, your own belief on what selling really is will have a big impact on your conversion rate and the success that you experience from selling your products and your services.
YOUR MARKETING IS THE SALES PROCESS
When you think about online marketing and sales, it’s crazy. We are asking people we’ve never met before to invest in our product or service, often sight unseen. And the reality is there are a lot of people offering the same thing, so not only are you asking them to do this but to also make the decision to choose you.
And that’s really what it’s about...the brand as a whole.
This is where your marketing comes in; more specifically relationships and human marketing.
The selling is happening long before the pitch or sales conversation. All of the branding, content and interactions that are part of your marketing strategy are meant to lead people closer to buying your product or service.
Zig Ziglar says, “If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you!”
The foundation of every sale you make comes from the consumer trusting you over another brand, and that trust happens long before you make an offer, send a link or have a phone call.
IT’S NOT A SALES CALL, BUT A SALES CONVERSATION
Look, I no longer have sales calls - I have sales conversations.
This small shift in my mindset and in my actions changed my conversion rate from not so great, to 90%.
Let’s break this idea down.
When you’re getting ready for a Sales Call, you’re prepping for that call. You’re mapping out how and why they should buy from you, what you need to say in order to close the sale and once again all of your focus is on the service or product.
When you switch to having a conversation you actually listen!
When you frame the conversation to listen more, it is no longer about you and your product, it’s about your audience and your problem.
It’s no longer about what my product offers, but what about my ideal customer specifically needed.
When you’re listening to your ideal customer, it’s important to listen for a few key points (p.s. This counts for email communication as well).
What are they struggling with?
What do they want?
What obstacles are standing in their way?
And because you’ve listened to these three main points, you’re able to frame the offer specifically for them.
If you’ve ever struggled with what to say in a sales conversation, try listening and you’ll discover they will tell you everything you need to know.
5 SALES OBJECTIONS
Zig Ziglar states that there are 5 core sales objections, and I’ve got to admit I believe him 100%.
No need
No money
No hurry
No desire
No trust
Why is this important? Because not only can you address these objections in your relationship marketing leading up to the sale, but you can also use this knowledge to pinpoint where your ideal client is on a sales conversation.
When you have this information you’ll become a better marketer and you guessed it...sales queen!
CONCLUSION
When you look at the info above, you’ll notice it comes down to three core areas; mindset, relationships and sales conversations. It’s important that you identify the area you feel you need to put the most energy in your business to start seeing better results and feel more aligned with the process.
Selling is so important, because without there’s no money! That’s why in my signature group program Roadmap to Freedom, we dedicate an entire phase to the Art of Selling. I know how important it is to not only work on confidence around selling but also how to prepare for sales conversations, how to handle objections and so much more.
To learn more about Roadmap to Freedom visit brandmerry.com/freedom.
P.S. If you want to watch this blog content + learn 3 of my favorite selling strategies be sure to watch the video below.
P.P.S. I’ve got another video on boosting your Confidence While Selling, which you can read and watch here.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
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.
3 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid as an Online Entrepreneur
You’re probably making these 3 marketing mistakes right now. If you’re anything like the thousands of entrepreneurs I support there keeping you from growing your community and your profits. Read the blog to find out if you’re making these mistakes and how to fix them.
3 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid as an Online Entrepreneur
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
In the past four years of running my online business, I’ve worked with thousands of entrepreneurs in marketing their brand and business.
I’ve noticed three core mistakes that online entrepreneurs are making when it comes to marketing their business.
And, full disclosure, I’ve ALSO made these mistakes - you live and you learn right?
Along with everything I create at Brandmerry.com, I want to give you the insights and tools to brand and marketing yourself online. So, let’s start with the top three mistakes.
For additional tips on what I call SMART Marketing and what I believe the 3 pillars of a solid marketing strategy are, be sure to watch the full video below. These tips start at the 19:32 minute mark.
Marketing Mistake #1: Relying on Social Media
The very first marketing mistake is that you are most likely relying only on social media to grow and market your business. As the online mentoring and course industry expands more and more coaches are utilizing social media platforms and unfortunately the message is getting out there that all we need to do is show up on social media to grow a profitable business.
I don’t know about you, but I quickly noticed it’s not quite that easy, right?
While, this strategy might have worked wonders for them and it probably still does cause they have like 100,000 followers or 25,000 followers, for those of you that are just starting out and in the trenches of that first and second year maybe you've realized that you've hit a ceiling and that you can't create more content.
Showing up on social media daily to engage and create content takes a lot of time. When you go about using this strategy only, you’ll start to create less and less content because it starts to get harder to keep it consistent. Then over time you notice you’re going weeks without anything.
I got to a point in my business where I had reached six figures, and although I felt accomplished I also didn’t know how I was going to keep growing. I realized I couldn’t make more than this a year, if I was going to keep getting clients and then still show up on social media every single day.
The reality is by relying on this strategy I was limiting myself and you’re most likely doing the same. It’s not scalable to rely on social media to grow your community and profits.
The other piece is that you don’t own social media. If you're relying on Instagram to promote your business and Instagram doesn't work, how do you promote your business?
If you're relying on Facebook or even your Facebook group to show up and promote your business and for some reason that's not working in the middle of a launch or a sale, what happens?
That’s why it’s so important to have these other avenues in place to consistently build your audience.
**If you’re curious about my favorite strategy which is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) be sure to check out this post here.
You should not be relying on social media to constantly attract new leads and grow your business. Social media is where we go to be social, to build relationships, to nurture the community that's already there.
Marketing Mistake #2: Not Generating Leads
This mistake makes me hurt a little inside, when I see an entrepreneur who has no efficient way to collect leads from prospects on their website, watching a live video or following them on social media.
This is all about list building. The idea is that if someone is taking the time to consume your content, you want to give them a way to join your “inner circle” i.e. your email list.
To kick it off, I highly recommend Convertkit to grow your email list because it has all the tools you need including landing pages, segmenting, forms for your website, tags, funnels and more. You can try it for free with my link here.
The beautiful thing about capturing your ideal customers information is that they are committing to your business. It’s essentially their first investment in you and your brand. Even though you're not getting an exchange of money, somebody is saying, “Okay, I trust you. I like what you're about and want to hear more from you. I want to welcome you into my inbox!”
I don't know about you, but my inbox is a sacred space. This is a big deal!
So to generate consistent leads to your business you want to have advanced marketing strategies in place like, SEO, podcasting, YouTube, blogging and Pinterest where you’re putting out a piece of content and every single day people are finding it and saying yes to joining your list.
Now, here is the kicker!
There needs to be an exchange that happens where you give them a free gift in exchange for their email address. This is the very beginning of the lead generation process.
If you’re new to list building, here is the overview below. If you want to learn more about list building, check out this blog here.
So you start with a free gift. If you’re a service-based business this can be a PDF, video training, audio training, a quiz...there are a ton of different options here.
If you sell a product, this might be a coupon code or a discount on their first item, but it could also be something really cool like a quiz. If I were selling a skincare product, I might create a free quiz that tells people their skin type and recommends the best products. In order to get the results and tips, they would have to give their email address.
That’s the free gift, something of value in exchange for their email address. Then you show up for them regularly in their inbox, providing value and time to time asking for the sale.
3 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR FREEBIE (FREE OFFER)
Your freebie needs to be something your audience knows they need. If they are not aware of it, then it’s going to be really hard to market.
It needs to provide value to your audience. If after they consume the content, they walk away with something to implement, having learned something new or being inspired it’s valuable.
Your free gift needs to be a clear pillar of your brand. For instance, a skincare quiz sounds super cool, but I wouldn’t do that as a free gift because it doesn’t directly connect to my brand message or paid services.
Marketing Mistake #3: You’re Blaming the Algorithm
I call this the blame game.
My marketing isn't working because of the algorithm…
My marketing isn’t working because my industry is saturated…
My marketing isn’t working because my ideal client isn’t on [insert platform]...
That is not why your marketing isn’t working, but it's really easy to fall into this rut. It's really easy to fall into this thinking and then stay there.
I can teach you all the strategies in the world, but if you're stuck in a mindset that no one cares or no one sees it or it doesn't matter, then you won't get results.
And that's the truth.
I’ve had those moments in my own business, especially in the beginning. If I was promoting a challenge and there were 5 people who signed up, and in my mind it was nobody cared.
EXCEPT 5 people!
5 people who signed up, who had never heard of me before, who had never bought from me before, who were giving me an opportunity to show up for them.
That’s 5 potential clients.
It’s all in your mindset.
Such a big part of showing up is creating content! If you don't think people will find it, if you don't think people will find value in it, then what are the odds that you’re going to consistently show up?
Your mindset will take over and you’ll feel there is no point...no one sees it
...the algorithm is out to get me.
No, the algorithm is out to challenge you...accept that challenge and become better.
If your marketing isn’t working change your mindset, accept responsibility and find solutions.
We cannot play small games when it comes to building our online brand and our business and this belief will keep you playing small. In order to be successful, we need to think big picture and big picture responsibility, taking responsibility for things, not working and finding solutions.
CONCLUSION
The first part to improving your marketing is understanding the mistakes you’re making and my guess is you’re now super aware of three.
From here, you can create a course of action to fix them so you can continue to grow your online business. If you want to learn more about SMART Marketing and the three pillars of a successful marketing strategy watch the video people (these tips start at the 19:32 mark).
If you’re ready to take action to improve your marketing, grow your audience and grow your profits, then I encourage you to check out Brandmerry Academy and join the waitlist for when the doors open again.
Learn more at brandmerryacademy.com
P.S. If you want to learn more about my repurposing strategy, check out my 3 tips here.
P.P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
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.
Improve Your SEO in 3 Steps
Every online business should be optimizing their SEO to rank higher on Google and get their business and content in front of their ideal clients. Learn 3 ways to improve yours today.
When I started implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) it was by accident. I didn't really know what I was doing, and I was kind of DIYing it every step of the way.
You know the feeling of just piecing together information as you find it? It definitely took longer than I wanted it too, but I slowly started to see results.
I remember being in New York City in 2018 and my cousin messaged me and said, “You know, you're on page one of Google, right?” and I knew at that moment it was working.
It was crazy that with some work on the backend, I was ranking on page one of my industry.
Whatever I was doing, remember at the time it was totally plug in play strategies, was paying off. I knew I needed to fine-tune my strategy to start seeing an increase in leads and sales.
Why is SEO important for online business owners?
I don't know if any of you were like me where you spent all of this love and time and energy creating your website just to find out that people wouldn't actually stumble upon it.
In my case, five people were finding my website every single month. Can you relate?
This is why SEO is so important for every type of business. We have these awesome websites, but no one is landing on them. And with 3.5 billion Google searches a day, it seems silly that so many entrepreneurs are missing out on free traffic, quality leads and sales.
In my own story, when I began to get more strategic with my SEO (some of the strategies I’m sharing with you below) we started to see not only an increase in traffic every month, but also an increase in conversions to my higher-level programs.
New clients that were investing between $5,000 - $10,000 were coming from Google. This was happening because women were specifically looking for a branding coach or business coach (i.e. ready to invest) and finding my website on page one (often in spot one) and booking a call...some booking directly on the website!
And that trend has just continued and continued to where every single day I'm getting messages from people who say, I found you on Google.
The reason for that is because I didn't try to go viral for my blog. I put my focus and emphasis on ranking for my industry.
Oftentimes we think about SEO as it pertains to blogging, but we forget that we can also optimize our site for our industry to bring in quality leads ready to invest.
We want to optimize our blog posts, our title, our bullets, our headers, our images, all of those things play a role.
3 Phases to Improve Your SEO Ranking
Phase 1: Site-Wide SEO Optimization
This is the back-end SEO for your website. It includes not only your site title and description, but also making sure you’ve optimized the main pages of your website as well.
Every website platform has these SEO capabilities, and a simple Google search will help you locate yours. I know Wordpress gets a great reputation when it comes to SEO, but I personally love Squarespace. Squarespace is what we host my website on and love it; implementing the SEO on the back-end is super simple.
On your page titles you want to use the keywords within your industry and what people are searching for. SEO is not about being cute, it’s about being strategic.
Many businesses use their name or their business name as their site title and that’s just not enough. Unless, people are searching for you specifically that’s not bringing in new leads. You want to add those keywords, like your title there as well.
For instance, my Site Title is ‘Personal Branding Consultant | Branding Coach | Michelle Knight’
After your site-wide SEO is implemented you want to optimize the main pages of your website. The first page you want to focus on is your home page.
>> Inside Brandmerry Academy, not only do we teach you the step-by-step for implementing proper SEO, we also show you how to increase conversions on your homepage with captivating copy, lead magnets and more. Learn more here >>
For each of your pages (Home Page, About Me Page, Work With Me Page and Blog) we want to also optimize the title and description.
You can spend one weekend optimizing your site and then not have to worry about it again for 6 months to a year. That’s one of the reasons I love starting here with Phase 1.
Phase 2: Blogging and Quality Content
Blogging and the content on your website is what tells Google that what you claim about yourself in your site description is actually true.
If I’m claiming I’m a Branding Coach and there's nothing on my website about branding or teaching people how to brand themselves, Google's going to be like, “Okay, that's cute, but you know, we don’t really trust you!”
Creating consistent content, via blogging, will allow your content to rank as well as help you communicate to Google you are legit. It’s important to carry over the SEO optimization to every blog you create. This includes your blog title, description, headers, content and alt text.
So many people struggle with consistency, and they avoid blogging because Social Media seems easier. The truth is when you’re strategic with your content you can spend the same amount of time writing a blog and repurposing it. Learn more about repurposing here.
And your content will last longer.
Phase 3: Backlinks and Brand Exposure
Backlinks are links back to your website! These are another way to show your credibility to Google. The more backlinks, the higher your Domain Authority.
Now, some people will trade backlinks and that is a NO!
People will also charge for backlinks and that is a NO!
What I encourage you to do and my favorite strategy is to build these backlinks through brand exposure.
This includes being a guest on a podcast, writing a guest post, guest blogging, speaking at conferences, etc...When these platforms feature you they will link back to your website.
So, you’re getting an awesome backlink, and you’re also getting brand exposure in front of a new audience for free. I’m all about that strategic life!
3 Ways to Improve Your SEO This Week
1. Research your main keywords
You need to understand what you want to rank for before you start optimizing your site.
Conduct research on the product or service you provide so you understand the industry as a whole and what people are searching for. I like to use tools like Keywords Everywhere and Ubersuggest to do a thorough keyword search.
You can also do some industry research through Google. Look for other brands in your industry and see what keywords they are using in their site title and site description. Pair that, with Ubersuggest to see how people are actually doing and you’ll have a great keyword bank to get started.
2. Optimize the Backend of Your Website for SEO
This is what we talked about in Phase One, but now it’s time to do it! After you have your keywords chosen you want to go into the backend of your website and update your Site Title and Site Description.
This should take you no more than 30 minutes and will make a big impact.
3. Optimize Your Homepage for SEO
You’ll repeat the same thing you did in Step 2, and update your Page Title and Page Description for your home page. Also, do a double check of the headers on your page, making sure they are efficient and include your keywords.
BONUS: Go through your images on the home page and add in Alt Text. Make sure the file name for the image includes your keywords and the caption includes a thorough description as well.
Start with these 3 steps and start improving your SEO immediately.
When I started ranking on page one, I was only focused on these 3 steps and then I started integrating more and more blogging, content and backlinks.
If you’re looking for more support with your SEO strategy, we’re guiding you through the entire process inside The Brandmerry Academy.
Brandmerry Academy is a year-long membership community that gives you monthly marketing mini-courses, group coaching and advanced strategies to increase your leads and profits without spending all your time or relying on social media.
Learn more about Brandmerry Academy at brandmerryacademy.com
P.S. If you want to learn more about my repurposing strategy, check out my 3 tips here.
P.S.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
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.