Brandmerry Blog Archives
My #1 Tip in Building a Sustainable Business as an Entrepreneur
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
I'm on a mission to help more entrepreneurs think about not only building a revenue-generating business, but also a sustainable one.
A business that gives them the freedom to enjoy the money they are making.
A business that creates consistent income without taking all of their time.
A business that you can take a break from!
Yes, taking a vacation or break is difficult when your business requires you to be present, especially before you have a team, BUT it's important.
The more you prioritize your personal self-care and breaks the better your business will be. Yes, in today's episode I'm sharing my #1 tip when building a sustainable business...
...my quarterly week of rest!
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Building a sustainable business requires sustainable marketing strategies to save you time as a business owner! This is why Brandmerry Academy exists - to help you get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media. Trust me, it makes a BIG difference. Learn more about how Brandmerry Academy can help you build a sustainable business at brandmerry.com/academy.
- 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.
![The Best Morning Routine for You [work from home vlog]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d62d400442629982c4892b/1644870115681-KCKBV6JKLMW4NGIUFCXQ/The+Best+Morning+Routine+for+You+%5Bwork+from+home+vlog%5D.jpg)
The Best Morning Routine for You [work from home vlog]
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
So I have this whole thing with morning routines where I've been asked to do a morning routine vlog. A couple years ago, I was asked to do a podcast.
It took me a really long time to do it.
I think the reason for that is I think we have these crazy expectations for morning routines where we want to have them, and we should have them, but we watch people and we see their morning routine and then we attempt it and it doesn't work with our lifestyle. And then we feel really defeated. And we're like, "Ooh, F the morning routine."
I felt like that for a really, really long time. So I've always been a little hesitant to do a morning routine video because I don't want anyone to be like, "Oh my gosh, if I don't do it that way, it's not even worth it." That's totally not what it's about.
Last year I recorded a podcast episode all about my morning routine. Now I thought I would show you a little behind the scenes.
I've been working on my mindset around a morning routine for a really long time. When I first started as an entrepreneur, I used to think that I had to wake up at 5:00 AM, meditate for an hour, make sure that I was journaling, and I also always wanted to move my body, but also felt like I had to exercise, and then needed to make breakfast and take care of a kid. It was like a whole thing.
So I really struggled with what that looked like for me. And it's changed so much over the years. I was thinking in the shower, I feel like I've just taken really small movements to find my perfect morning routine, which is what I feel like I have today.
So, I want to show you what that looks like, but I was constantly just making changes and adjusting what I was doing and fitting things in as I felt like my body and my mind was craving more. And then eventually, because I have grown my own business, my husband is now home and I have more time in the morning.
We've eventually gotten to this point where it was like, "Okay, well now I can have an hour and a half to two hours every morning to focus on taking care of myself." So, there's my disclaimer.
The Best Morning Routine
I typically get up around seven and my family's not up yet. Yes, I know, I'm blessed.
I get up around seven and I put my workout clothes on right away. I literally pee and my workout clothes go on. I don't give myself time to talk myself out of it. This is something I really struggled with for a really long time. I would try and talk myself out of working out.
Like, you don't need it. But for me, movement, it's just such a mindset practice. And my body is just so important to me. And I've tested this time and time again. If I don't move my body, first thing in the morning, it's not going to happen. And if I don't move my body first thing in the morning, then I also feel pretty crappy the rest of the day. So this is like a top priority for me.
I'd say the one thing that I've tried to consistently do, even when I only had 20 minutes in the morning or whatever, I would always try to do some sort of movement.
So I move my body first thing in the morning. Cal typically wakes up during that process, as you saw, and hangs out with me. Again, we've been doing this for a while. And, when I started my business, he was a baby, so he was always there with the morning routine.
So we've definitely set, and it's not perfect by any means, but we've definitely set it up where if I'm working out, this is all part of mommy's morning routine, try not to interrupt her. Again, not perfect.
Today went okay, but it’s give and take when you have kids. I usually get him breakfast. Ben's getting up around that time. Today was Friday so it's plant watering day. So I take care of my other babies. I love them so much. They bring me so much joy. And, then I hop in the shower.
Now my dog is in my closet, snoring, because she likes to hang out with me because I walk her in the morning and now I'm going to get ready. I typically just fluff off my hair and put on clothes.
You can't see them right now. I'll show you later, but I have pants on that button. It's a whole mindset thing for me. My clients know about it. I feel like everyone who follows me knows about it. I am a firm believer in putting on actual pants with a button because it makes you feel like you're ready for the day and it's a productivity thing.
And then I will typically put a little bit of makeup on. I'm usually filming or doing a video or I have meetings. I very, very rarely wear makeup on the weekends and I don't wear a lot. I don't do the whole thing, as you will see. It takes me like five minutes to do, but yeah, I'll put just a little bit of makeup on and do that whole thing.
What I have noticed in doing my morning routine consistently is obviously habit building, which I love to talk about at Brandmerry. I really started focusing on my habits in 2019 into 2020. I had noticed, like I already mentioned, I constantly wanted to talk myself out of taking care of myself in the morning and then I'd feel really crummy. And then I would be mad at myself for not taking care of myself in the morning. It was just this cycle.
And I found Atomic Habits, which is one of my favorite books of all time, highly recommended for any human being in the entire world. And that really changed the way that I looked at habit building in that I had always been really into goal setting, but I wasn't taking the daily actions to get there. I'd cram it all in at the last minute.
And the way that James Clear positioned atomic habits in the book and how it was a 1% every single day and the consistency really just was what I needed to hear.
I started implementing much more consistency in my life. One of them being my morning routine because I just am such a firm believer in how you start your day is how you're going to carry your energy throughout the day and how you're ultimately going to end your day.
And when you're running your business from home or you're working from home, there's a lot that can come up. There's a lot of distractions, it's all very unexpected. You can have a plan and sometimes it can go out the window. When you add children into the mix, it's completely different. My son is home, which of course has its amazing pros, but then there's also that opportunity for more distraction, as I think so many parents saw in 2020 and are still seeing today.
I have just found that when I kick off my morning, focusing on myself and taking the time to start my day and get in alignment, as I like to say, it makes such a big freaking difference in what I do throughout the day. Not only am I happier, which is so important, but also I'm more productive. And as someone who runs their own business, that's important to me.
I think with productivity, there's all these tips and tricks and all the things that you can do. I love sharing them. I'm one of those people that does that, but I really think at the bare minimum, just having a morning routine will get you started on the right foot. Whatever that looks like for you.
So I just really try to honor this. I even do it on the weekends. It looks a little different on the weekends because I don't want to wake up in the morning that early, but I still move my body and that's a top priority.
Morning Routine Checklist
What I would encourage you to do, if you're open to my encouragement, is identify three things that are a top priority for you every single morning. That's what I did. And that way I was always honoring those even when I only had 30 minutes, when I had an hour, when I now have two hours. What are those top priorities?
You can always add to it and expand as you go. And then you'll just feel really good because you're always honoring those three things that are the most important to you.
So for me, it's always been movement. As I mentioned before, movement is just such a huge part. And then another one for me is getting ready. I need to get ready. If I don't get ready, I don't feel ready. I don't feel like I can take on the day. I don't feel like I can take anything that might come my way. So getting ready, this part of that process, it just makes me feel really, really good.
I know when I first started, I didn't do this and I could just tell the difference. Like I was much more likely to just lay down in my bed in the middle of the day. Not that there's anything wrong with a nap, but it was so much easier when I wasn't just ready for the day. When I'm just in my clothes doing my thing, it just makes such a big difference. So getting dressed is a big one for me.
The other thing that I've noticed for any of my work from home peeps is that if you get ready for work, whatever that looks like for you, then one thing that I've been doing, because I don't have a commute, it's a very, very easy walk from the office to the bedroom, I change my clothes again.
So it's like a mindset thing where I'm like, "Okay, I'm ready to start my day. I'm ready to be in work mode." And then I change my clothes when I'm done, before dinner. And that has just helped a ton with just, it's kind of supporting my mindset switch.
So that's a big one for me, getting dressed, movement obviously, and then nourishing my body. My breakfast is key. I make a smoothie pretty much every morning, except for the weekends. I'll show you that and share a little bit more of that. At this point in the day, all I've had is waters
So we're finishing this up and I'll do what I'd like to call phase three. I know it surprises no one that I think about my morning in phases. Phase one is kind of my quiet movement time. Phase two is this, getting ready. Phase three, take the dog.
As many of you know, I'm obsessed with my smoothie. So that's what we're going to do now. I make my smoothie and Cal's smoothie in the morning. This kid's been drinking smoothies since day one. I do this and then I'll go to the office and get started. And that pretty much wraps up my morning routine.
And now I'm obsessed with espresso. I got this machine for Christmas so now I drink coffee. I didn't for a really long time, but every time we were in Europe, I would drink it and I realized, okay, I kind of like it.
So smoothie first, office, check emails, and then espresso. One thing that I will add, my son is legit crawling under the camera right now, is that at this point in the day, I have not looked at my email. I have not looked at social media.
This is something that I've always wanted to do. And I started doing it at the end of last year and it's made a huge difference in my mindset. It is incredible. This is kind of what I was saying, look for little opportunities where you can just add little things, one at a time into your morning routine that doesn't take any time out of your morning routine schedule.
I check my phone to see if I've got any messages from family or anything because I actually sleep with my phone in the other room. But I don't touch email. I don't check social media. I don't even check my task manager, which is crazy. Not yet anyways.
So that's something that you can do that doesn't take any time. And then we also talked about those three main things.
So there you go. I hope that this video inspired you to just start making really small movements to your ideal morning. It's taken me a long time to get here, but this is my sacred time. No joke. And I know what I do in the morning really sets me up for success, not only in my business, as a mother and as a wife and in life. And it just feels dang good.
So whether you've got 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, two hours, pick your three main things and honor those.
P.S. Have you tuned in to The Brandmerry podcast? I release new episodes every Thursday on topics around branding and marketing! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at brandmerry.com/podcast
- 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 Increase Conversions on your Opt-In Landing Page for Your Lead Magnet
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
Your landing page (aka opt-in-page) is one of the greatest tools for entrepreneurs to grow their email list and ultimately their business.
It's not secret that growing an email list is an amazing asset, but where does your landing page come into play.
Should you just have a pop-up on your website?
What about an opt-in box to your newsletter on the blog?
Why do you need a landing page?
Well, I'm answering that and so much more on the Brandmerry Podcast! Too many entrepreneurs are throwing away their ability to grow their email list because they don't have a landing page, and if they do, they don't think about the best ways to optimize it.
Not any more.
You'll learn 6 specific ways to increase conversions on your landing page in today's episode!
Tune in now to hear:
The importance of your lead magnet landing page and where to share it to grow your email list of ideal customers.
6 of my top landing page conversion tips to increase the percentage of people who join your email list!
The simple change you can make, which takes less than 2 minutes, to increase conversions on your landing page.
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Good news! You don't have to master your email list building alone or any of your other marketing for that matter! My top strategies are taught in great detail inside of Brandmerry Academy. From storytelling to video marketing and even your lead magnet strategy, The Academy helps you market without relying on social media! This is essential if you want eyes on your lead magnet and to grow your list on evergreen. Learn more and join the waitlist at brandmerry.com/academy.
- 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.
Success Habits For A 6-Figure Business
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
I want to have a candid conversation around habits, specifically the success habits that I believe contributed to my six figure business and ultimately six figure salary.
This might be a bit of a detour from what we normally talk about on content creation, branding, and marketing, but here's the thing; what happens outside of the strategies in your business, all those tips and tricks and tools and things that you're implementing, actually plays a major role in your success. Now I know at the beginning of this post, I talked about a six figure business. So I want to take a short bit of time and talk about money and business, about salary, about all of those different things.
Your goals might be different than mine. When I set out to create a business in 2016, I really wanted to create a six figure business. That felt like a milestone for me. So all of my energy and my attention and my goals were really dedicated to achieving that number.
Over the years, my goal has been to maintain that number and continue to scale it, ultimately building a million dollar business. Now I'm sharing these specific numbers with you because I think it's really important to have a monetary revenue goal for your business.
I really believe that what I'm sharing with you today will help you get to six figures. I also think implementing these tips that I'm going to share with you will help you get to whatever revenue goal you desire. I think we can all agree that entrepreneurship, running a business, starting and launching a business, and putting that out into the world is not an easy task.
Often we hear a lot about the step by step process to putting your business out in the world, being able to market your business and ultimately accept cash for your products and services. But very, very rarely are we putting the energy and attention on what has to happen behind the scenes. What has to happen in your life in order to support those revenue goals.
At Brandmerry and specifically inside of my membership, Brandmerry Academy, we take a holistic approach to running an online business. We're really focused on sustainability because we know as the support team for our members, that if things in our life are incredibly shaky, it's going to play a role in our business and vice versa.
SUCCESS HABIT #1: KNOW WHAT YOU’RE WORKING TOWARDS
So let's talk about the very first tip I have for you, which actually piggybacks off of the revenue goal idea. It's really important that you know what you're working towards. All of those strategies that you might want to implement for your business are only going to make sense if you know how they all fit together leading to the big picture.
I know I talk a lot about goal setting. I know you hear it all the time. You might even be sick and tired of it, but there's a reason why we talk about it. It plays a major part in your overall success.
So I really encourage you to take moments, even a few freaking seconds to just say, "What do you want?" What is that revenue goal that you're working towards? Because what that's going to allow you to do is reverse engineer the step by step process you need to take in order to get there.
This is one of the processes I talk about inside of my six month planning video, which you can definitely check out on my channel. And it's something that I'm practicing in different aspects of my business. So not only am I crystal clear on the revenue goal that I have, but I'm also really clear on what I want to do with that revenue goal.
Right behind my camera I have a vision board that I look at that really maps out exactly what I'm working towards. What this allows you to do is prioritize your time and your energy and your money towards the things that you ultimately desire.
SUCCESS HABIT #2: CREATE CONSISTENT HABITS
The second tip I have is consistency in habits. If you’ve been part of the Brandmerry community for any period of time, you've heard me say these two words on repeat. Consistency and habits. There is so much power in repeating the same routine day in and day out. What it ultimately allows you to do is progress. So this concept comes from James Clear in Atomic Habits where he talks about improving by just 1% every single day.
So if we think about your number one tip, which is get clear on your goals, get clear on what you're working towards, your habits are ultimately how you're going to get there.
Now you might have really clear strategies. I'm going to create YouTube videos. I'm going to blog. I'm going to email my list. I'm going to promote this offer. All completely business related. But what I really encourage you to do is also think about the things outside of your business that are going to play a role in your overall success.
For me, this is my morning routine. I know there's a whole love/hate relationship with morning routines. I'm actually going to share my full morning routine with you next week in a brand new vlog. But I have learned to appreciate the morning routine over the years. As soon as I removed all the rules of, I had to wake up at 5:00 AM and I had to meditate for an hour and I had to do all these different things and really created a structure that worked for me, it became such a powerful grounding practice in my life.
And I have tested it on the days when I do not honor this habit and go through the motions of my morning routine. I'm less productive. I'm more distracted. I'm more tired and honestly, kind of irritable. And that doesn't play well when you're trying to run a business full-time.
So whatever these habits look like for you, I highly recommend that you focus on some sort of morning routine with whatever chunk of time that you have. I’ll have more on setting that up next week on the vlog.
These daily repetitions that you're doing to really honor yourself and honor your commitments to yourself and ultimately your goals are going to play a major role in your success.
Another habit that I have is task management. So we use a software called ClickUp, which I've talked about multiple times on this channel, to organize tasks.
This is incredibly helpful because I can prioritize the things that need my attention and I check that every single day. It allows me to check in on recurring projects, make sure I'm not missing any deadlines and rearrange things based on how I'm feeling, which helps me enjoy my job and become the CEO that I want to become.
I also have a habit of scheduling everything in my calendar. Every single thing that I am doing goes in that calendar, whether it's business related or personal. I honor that, and that really helps me prioritize the things in my life that I know are going to lead me to my ultimate goal.
SUCCESS HABIT #3: TAKE TIME TO REFLECT
The third tip for you I have is to take time to reflect. This was a really hard one for me in the beginning. I have a very go, go, go mentality. Some might call it a push mentality where I'm always fixated on what is to come, AKA tip number one.
I don't take the time to actually pause and feel gratitude. In the beginning I noticed that that definitely kept coming up over and over and over again. I actually credit this tip to reaching my first six figures in business because it allowed me to celebrate every single thing that I did achieve.
I started to implement a daily self-reflection practice where I would sit down and write down the things that I was proud of, the things that I had been working towards that I wanted to celebrate. I got in the habit of celebrating every little thing that happened in my business until I hit that six figure mark. Every little sale that came, even if it was a $47 sale, I would do a dance around my house. Anytime a sale would come in with a big launch, we would go out to dinner.
It became a joke almost that if we didn't celebrate, did it really happen? Now as my business has grown, I've backed off a little bit on the little micro celebrations, but I still take time to self-reflect and sit and really think about what I've done. I think this gives us momentum. It keeps us going. It gives us the power to continue building our business even when times might get a little rocky. I also find that having this self-reflection practice is great for checking in on all areas of my life.
So as I mentioned before, I'm not just a business owner and you're not just a business owner. There's a lot of other things that you're doing. And I want to make sure that all of those different areas feel good and feel in alignment and I'm dedicating the appropriate time and energy to them.
So having this self-reflection practice is incredibly helpful in reflecting on how am I feeling with my relationship with my husband? How do I feel about my son and I in our day to day routine? How am I feeling about my self-care and so on and so forth?
So whatever this self-reflection practice looks like for you, I am not one to tell you exactly how to do it. You want to make sure that you carve out time to honor that.
Today in my life, it looks like a weekly check in with journaling. I also do my very best to pause and celebrate every single sale or every single milestone that we achieve in the business. And I'm doing regular yoga practice, which for me is just such a way to honor, not only my body, but also reflect. I also do a 90 day self-reflection where every single quarter I'm asking myself:
How did this feel?
What did I love?
What didn't I love?
What do I want to change?
And so on and so forth. We actually have an entire podcast coming out on the Brandmerry Podcast walking you through all the questions that I use in my quarterly reflection.
SUCCESS HABIT #4: MAKE TIME TO PLAY
Number four is all about play. We have to take time to have fun in our lives. When was the last time that you actually played freely? Like, you had no obligations, you had no expectations. You just allowed yourself to have freaking fun. We know that rest and play are essential habits in your overall success. So it might sound a little crazy what I'm about to say to you, but I want you to actually schedule play.
Now before you're like, "Ugh, that doesn't sound like fun." If you're like me, you're probably not naturally doing it. You probably aren't seeking out natural opportunities for play. I know that's how I was when I was first starting my business.
I was in a work, work, work mentality, which of course was needed as I was launching my business. But I would forget to stop. I would forget to play. Luckily I have a husband and a son who are very, very good at it and so they would remind me.
Now it is a top priority. And to get to this place, to get to where I am today, where I will close my computer and peace out for the day or we'll book an impromptu trip, I had to start scheduling moments of play and I encourage you to do the same. Eventually it will become a habit. It will become consistent. You won't have to schedule it, but to get started it's okay.
So I encourage you to schedule friend time, to schedule happy hours, to schedule days to go to the zoo, to schedule vacations. All of those different things are so important.
One of the things I started doing in my business, which I guess is scheduled technically, is taking an entire week off every quarter. Now I call this my quarterly week of rest, but let's be honest, I'm playing most of the teo time. And we typically try to coincide it with a vacation. So this allows me to schedule a period of time where I'm not working at all in my business. I'm not answering client communication. I'm not in my Facebook groups. I'm not doing any of that. I get to have fun and rest and play with my family and ultimately fill my cup back up. This is an incredible habit that will lead to not just your first six figure success, but continuing to scale and grow your business.
SUCCESS HABIT #5: RESEARCH
This fifth tip I have for you is all about learning and advancement. One of the things that I identified in my own routine really early on, a priority if you will, was research. I really love research. I'm really good at it. It's part of the reason that people pay me for my services because I've got a lot of knowledge in my brain because I love to learn. I love to research.
I know that it is this combination of learning and advancement and implementation that has led me to building a successful online business. I really have seen time and time again, where entrepreneurs, people in general, but entrepreneurs specifically can get stuck in what they're doing. That they're like, "Ooh, this is working and so we're just going to keep doing this over and over and over and over again."
While I'm all about repurposing what works and I'm all about repetition, I think we always have to behind the scenes be thinking ahead. This is how we get ahead of trends. This is how we talk about things and we present things before anyone else in our industry. It's how we're jumping on maybe a new way of marketing before everybody else has.
It's because we're paying attention and we're open to learning and advancement. So what I typically recommend my clients do is dedicate 20% of their schedule to learning. I don't want to tell you to just learn because I know a lot of you will then say, "Okay," and you'll just start learning, learning, learning behind the scenes, researching, researching, and not actually implementing anything you're learning. There has to be that balance. So if you can, dedicate at least 20% to researching your industry or learning something new.
Maybe you're looking to expand your marketing. So you join Brandmerry Academy and have access to all of our courses and you're going through those courses to continue to advance your business. We always have to be looking for opportunities for growth. That's what ultimately leads to success in any area of life, the opportunities and taking advantage of those opportunities to grow, even if it's just by 1%.
SUCCESS HABIT #6: FOCUS
My last tip for you today is to focus. At the very beginning, I asked you to get really clear on exactly what you want and why you want it. This is going to help you take the daily action in order to get there. Now we have to make sure that you're actually honoring and focusing on those daily actions. I think distractions are one of the ways that entrepreneurs deplete their time and their energy.
When we can really shift how we focus on our priorities and have those things like task management software, using our calendar, setting boundaries, having communications, all of those different things that ultimately help us focus, we're going to find that we're actually more productive with less time.
I think this is the key to building a sustainable business. Oftentimes we think to get to the next level we have to do more, we have to put in more time, we have to put in more energy, we have to put in more money. When in reality it's about doing more with less. It's not about doing more things. It's about being more strategic with our time, with our energy, working smarter, not harder as everyone likes to say.
So this last tip I have for you is to really focus on those goals, focus on those priorities, honor them.
I think the key to focusing is being able to say no to things that aren't serving you at this moment. I know that can be really hard, but I want you to really think about it as a choice. You're not sacrificing this thing. You're making a choice to honor this one instead.
I also know that minimizing distractions will serve you at the highest level. So things like turning off notifications on your phone, removing Facebook. I do not have Facebook on my phone anymore. Turning off notifications if you use Slack. Shutting the door to your office, even for a small period of time so you can focus. Using something like a Remarkable to take notes because there's no other apps or anything else. Use a pen and paper, whatever it is, really work on ways of minimizing your distractions because that's going to ultimately allow you to focus on those things that you've already deemed a priority.
I know focus is going to look different for everyone. And so much of it does depend on your schedule, but I really encourage you to take a look at where your energy and your time is going and ask yourself, are these going to my top priorities? If they are fantastic, now laser in and let's focus on them.
If they're not, then how can you shift the energy or shift the amount of time that you're spending on certain things to remove distractions from what you ultimately want? I think at the end of the day, the success habits or achieving success, whatever that looks like for you is saying, "This is what I want. I'm willing, I'm open and I'm going to take the daily steps to get there. And I'm going to focus on this priority," while also of course making time to care for yourself.
The idea of success is a well rounded idea. It's not just, you make a lot of money, right? It’s “I can make a lot of money and I'm also loving the crap out of my life. Spending time with my family, doing the things that I love, traveling, honoring my values.”
That to me is the ultimate definition of success.
I hope that this video is really helpful for you in identifying the six things that I really credit to having a successful and sustainable business and life. As always, if you are looking for support when it comes to building a sustainable business, which includes sustainable marketing habits, mindset, daily life habits, we always have a spot for you inside of Brandmerry Academy. You can go to brandmerryacademy.com to learn more. Join the waitlist to find out when doors open again.
P.S. Have you tuned in to The Brandmerry podcast? I release new episodes every Thursday on topics around branding and marketing! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at brandmerry.com/podcast
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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.
Marketing Funnel Explained for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
Understanding the purpose and the power of marketing is incredibly important. There are a lot of moving parts. I talk a lot about content creation, video marketing, podcasting, SEO, etc…
It can feel like there are so many pieces to market your business, and you might be wondering how they all fit together in this mysterious puzzle that is marketing.
So today we’re going to take a deep dive into marketing, explore the different phases of marketing, and help you understand where all of these different elements fit in.
If you prefer to watch the video training, you can watch it here on my YouTube channel.
THE MARKETING FUNNEL
The first thing that we're going to dive into is the marketing funnel.
In the first section, the largest section, you have your cold audience. These are people who don't know you at all, nothing about your brand.
Then in the second section down, we have your warm audience. So once someone has gotten to know you a little bit, they've been warmed up via your content, some of the things that they've seen online, they've joined your email list, and they're starting to really build up that trust with your brand.
At the very, very bottom, we have your hot leads. These are essentially people who are ready to purchase or are already paying customers. And we're really focused on retention with them. So as you can see from this diagram, we want to make sure that people are coming in through the top of the funnel consistently.
This is where marketing comes into play. Often in the industry, we talk about it like a faucet. You want to turn that faucet on so that new people, leads, and money are constantly coming in. Anytime you turn it off, the bottom is going to dry up and that's where your paying clients are coming from. So this idea of consistent leads coming in is incredibly important.
Now, one thing I want to mention is that the timeframe from cold to hot is going to be different for everyone.
CUSTOMER BUYING PROCESS AND MARKETING
I talk about that process a little bit more in-depth in my Customer Buying Process video, which you can go ahead and watch here. That explains a little bit more about the phases that customers go through before making a purchase.
You might attract someone at phase one, not even thinking about buying anything, or phase five, ready to purchase. They could be coming in at any one of those markers. And that's important to note because even though we have this upside-down triangle, this funnel that’s focused on bringing in leads, someone could move through this funnel in as little as 10 minutes.
Or, somebody might take six months to a year.
But let's explore a scenario right here. Let's say that someone finds you on Google. They are Googling your niche, they find you on Google, they land on your website, and they consume a piece of your content.
So now they've moved from cold to warm, and then they're immediately like, "Okay, yes, this is perfect." They’ve gotten what they need, they feel connected to your brand, they know you’re the right person for them and they submit an application or make a purchase. And it all happens within 10 minutes. That person was a little bit further along in the buying process when they initially discovered your website. But as you can see, they went through your funnel very quickly.
One of the things that I love to teach inside Brandmerry Academy is the power of SEO. We have an entire marketing course on SEO and how to use it to your benefit as a business owner.
Now, the same might happen when someone discovers a piece of your content on Pinterest.
They go to your website, they read your blog, and they opt into your email list. On your email list, you give them an offer to buy something and they buy immediately. We see this happen quite a bit when it comes to evergreen marketing strategies, which is why we're obsessed with teaching them inside of the academy.
Then we also have members who have been on our email list for years sometimes before they're ready to buy. But it's been through that warm-up phase, creating content, and showing up for them that they stayed. And when they were ready to purchase, they came to my brand because of the relationship that I had built.
So I always want you to remember this diagram because this just shows us how important it is to consistently focus on marketing and getting in front of a cold audience so that we can then move them through the funnel.
MARKETING PHASES
A few years ago, when I launched Brandmerry Academy, I wanted to think about a way for my clients to simplify how they approached marketing.
We have this “fancy” upside-down triangle with your cold, warm, and hot audience, but what does that mean?
What's happening at each of those stages?
That's when I created a three-part marketing system. This is the foundation of everything that we teach inside of our marketing membership when we teach our different strategies like SEO, Pinterest, blogging, podcasting, and video marketing.
Inside this three-part system is where we're going to talk about all the little bitty things that you're doing with your marketing and where they fit into the bigger marketing picture.
AWARENESS PHASE
The very first one is going to be the awareness phase. The awareness phase is when someone is suddenly aware of your brand. So they didn't know about you before, but then they discover a piece of valuable content that makes them aware of your brand and what you provide.
This phase right here is just more proof that evergreen marketing strategies are so important. Because evergreen marketing strategies, like the blog that you’re reading, or the video that you might watch next are pieces of content that continue to perform over and over year after year. So by putting those pieces of content out there, you always have ways for someone to discover you and enter into this awareness phase.
ATTRACTION PHASE
Then the second phase that they would move into I call the attraction phase. This is when they're suddenly like, "Oh, I am totally into this brand and what they're sharing and I want to know more." I often use the imagery of a little bunny where their ears perk up and they're like, "Yes. Oh my gosh, tell me more. I am ready. What else do you have for me?"
That's the attraction phase. This area right here is where your email list-building strategies come into play. So typically someone who's moved into this phase will be ready to give their email to you, which I always say is like currency, and invite you into their world, invite you into their inbox so that they can learn more about you and from you and ultimately how you can help them solve their problem. So this phase is incredibly important.
CONNECTION PHASE
Then we move into the third phase, the connection phase. This is the moment when someone has moved from being attracted to what you're saying to being fully connected to your brand. At the connection phase, this is where we find that you're building that trust - the know, like, and trust factor that gets people to buy.
We know that purchase decisions are based on an emotional connection. One of my favorite quotes that I discovered when I was starting my business from Zig Ziglar says, "If people like you, they'll listen. If they trust you, they'll do business with you." So this connection phase is focused on building trust. And we have a lot of different marketing strategies that help us do just that.
The triangle shared in the beginning shows the power of marketing and why it's so important to constantly be getting people in front of your brand. This second part, these three phases of marketing shows the step-by-step process that someone might be going through.
Now, let's talk about the different strategies that you're going to use at each of these phases.
MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR EACH PHASE
STRATEGIES FOR BRAND AWARENESS
In the awareness phase, individuals are completely unaware of your brand. This makes content creation super important as it serves as the strategy for attracting new audience members. Whether discovered through Google searches, email shares, or platforms like YouTube and Pinterest, strong content is key.
Focusing on evergreen marketing strategies is essential during this phase. Strong SEO practices ensure visibility on search engines like Google, Pinterest, and YouTube which rely heavily on keywords and can put you at a major advantage.
Unlike social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram where content is not searched for, but rather stumbled upon, platforms like Google, YouTube, and Pinterest attract users actively seeking solutions to their problems, making them further along in the consumer buying journey.
For those of you who still like social media (more on this in a bit), short-form videos on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels can be effective. However, it's important to note that these platforms may not give you as high buyer intent as search-based platforms.
Another valuable strategy at this phase is to invest in public relations. This can be an investment of an expert, or just some time in your calendar weekly. With a PR major and years of experience in the industry, I love to emphasize the importance of guest appearances on podcasts or other channels to my clients. Being invited into someone else's community establishes an amazing level of trust, speeding up the audience's journey to a paying client.
The awareness stage is about consistently reaching a cold audience. Rather than constantly seeking out your ideal customer, focus on optimizing your content delivery and platform selection to allow your audience to discover you—a principle we emphasize at Brandmerry Academy.
STRATEGIES FOR BRAND ATTRACTION
Now, let's talk about the second phase: the attraction phase. This is where your social media skills will come into play.
I've shifted my approach to social media over time. Initially, I used it for awareness, trying to scout for clients on the platform, but it wasn't yielding the results I hoped for. However, when I began integrating evergreen strategies, I realized I could reposition social media into the attraction phase.
Now, those who already know me from other platforms might follow me on social media. It alleviated the pressure. I could focus on building trust, sharing expertise, and even have a bit more fun, knowing this audience was more likely to convert because they were already familiar with my brand. Social media became a nurturing tool rather than a hunting ground.
Social media serves as an excellent tool at this stage for building connections that lead to sales. Think video content, posts, Instagram stories—all those engaging elements, whether you love or loathe creating them.
Moreover, at this stage, email marketing takes the spotlight. Once someone is attracted to your brand, getting them onto your email list is crucial. This is where having a compelling lead magnet comes into play. It's vital for marketing success.
We advise all our clients to get their lead magnets set up quickly. In fact, inside Brandmerry Academy, clients get a bonus called Funnel in a Weekend, which guides you step-by-step through setting up your opt-in page and funnel in just three days. If this has been a challenge for you, I highly recommend checking it out.
In the attraction phase, our focus is on moving our audience closer, encouraging them to follow us on social media, and join our email list. We continue to create and share content, sometimes repurposing what we've already produced in the awareness stage. The goal now is to ensure our attracted audience sees it, utilizing social media and email marketing to maximize visibility.
Additionally, public relations can be a game-changer at this stage, enhancing authority and trust with our existing audience. I've had the privilege of being featured on esteemed platforms like CNBC and Fast Company, and each time, I make sure to inform my audience. It's incredible how these features can boost authority and reassure those who've been on the fence about working with me.
So, while we're not creating new PR content, we're leveraging it to enhance this phase of the marketing process. It's a reminder that a single piece of content or action can serve multiple stages or phases of marketing.
STRATEGIES FOR BRAND CONNECTION
Now, let's dive into the connection phase. Here, it's all about maintaining the momentum of sharing our content and building trust with our audience. However, there's one element that I believe is absolutely crucial in this phase: storytelling.
Storytelling is my passion; it's where I shine. I adore discussing brand storytelling and, more specifically, how to craft compelling micro-stories within your content—whether it's on your blogs, social media, or videos.
When I first started my business, I stumbled upon the power of storytelling. As I integrated it into my content, I noticed an amazing shift. My small audience began to engage more, and ultimately, they started making purchases.
I vividly remember one of my early live streams, where I spoke to the same small audience I'd been nurturing for months. To my surprise, someone reached out via email afterward, expressing their readiness to schedule a discovery call. The only thing I changed was the addition of storytelling.
I firmly believe that it was the humanizing effect of storytelling that made the difference. By sharing more personal stories, I became more relatable and approachable, and my audience responded positively. Storytelling can be a powerful tool for converting your audience, especially when they're small. It's a strategy I've employed numerous times in my business, including in this very video. I highly recommend integrating storytelling into your approach and leveraging it to your advantage in the connection phase.
Whether you're launching a new offering, seeking to fill spots in your program, or introducing a new product, storytelling can speed up the transition of your audience from attraction to connection, ultimately leading to conversions.
I share my Storytelling 101 training inside Brandmerry Academy. Entrepreneurs with more knowledge can explore my course Storytelling Made Simple for a deeper dive into digital storytelling and how to use it in all of your marketing efforts.
CONCLUSION
Alright, let's do a quick recap and discuss some of the top tips to master your marketing. I know I've covered a lot of ground, and honestly, I love diving deep into this stuff—it's the kind of detailed knowledge you'll find inside the academy.
First off, ensure you're consistently generating leads for your business. Evergreen marketing strategies are key here—keep that flow of leads steady. Remember, it's not about doing more; it's about being strategic with your marketing efforts.
For example, if you're solely relying on social media, you might be missing out on opportunities in the awareness stage. Shifting your focus to creating evergreen content like blogs, YouTube videos, or podcasts can expand your reach across different phases. Add storytelling into the mix, and you've got a winning formula.
Always keep the client journey in mind. Don't buy into the notion that if someone doesn't buy right away, they're not worth your time. People move through the buying journey at their own pace. By honoring each phase, you guide them along the journey, building trust and connection with your brand.
This early trust and connection also lead to better client retention rates. When clients trust you from the get-go, they're more likely to stick around for the long haul.
As I've mentioned before, everything I've covered here is available inside Brandmerry Academy. It's a marketing membership designed to help you market your business without relying solely on social media. It's all about reclaiming your time as an entrepreneur and focusing on what matters most to you.
Head over to Brandmerry.com/Academy for more information. I'd love to support you on your journey and see how these strategies transform the way you run your business.
P.S. Have you tuned in to the Authentic Brand Builders podcast? I release new episodes every Thursday on topics around branding and marketing! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at brandmerry.com/podcast
- 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.