Brandmerry Blog Archives
Quarterly Planning Tips for Entrepreneurs
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
Last year, I released a video all about planning six months in business. If you haven't seen it, watch it here. But I understand that sometimes planning for six months can be a little overwhelming.
So today I want to talk about quarterly planning.
How can you plan 90 days at a time in your business so you're not only more productive and focused, but you actually enjoy your life?
Look, the reality is that you've got to have a plan in place or you're flying by the seat of your pants. When you're constantly flying by the seat of your pants, you're constantly feeling overwhelmed and we don't want that. And guess what? We don't need it.
So if you've always wanted to have a master plan, but you're not exactly sure how to do it, I am going to walk you through my quarterly planning process. I've been using this for years in my business. I teach my clients how to do it inside of my program Brandmerry Academy, as well as my high level clients.
I'm obsessed with planning and the reason that I love having a solid plan is it allows me to focus. I know what I'm working on. I know how to get to my end goal. Let's stop with the wishful thinking. Let's stop with the “I hope I get paid this month” and let's create a plan.
One of the reasons I love focusing on quarterly planning, 90 day planning, is that as a business owner, I am thinking about the quarters in my business.
Quarterly Planning Step 1: Break Down Your Yearly Goal into Each Quarter
So one of the first steps that I have for you is to take your year goal and break it down into each quarter. What I love about this process is it creates mile markers for me to my end goal.
So let's say that you want to create a six figure business this year. You would break that down either equally 25, 25, 25 and 25,000 every single quarter. Or if you know that your kids are going to be home during the summer and you're going to be a little less active, maybe you put a little bit more energy into the front end and the back end.
However you want to break up your end of the year goal, that's going to be the very first step in this process because as business owners our decisions that we make in our branding, in our marketing, and what we're promoting are ultimately leading to our revenue goal.
So reverse engineering is a fantastic way to make sure that you're constantly getting closer and hitting that end of the year goal in business.
Quarterly Planning Step 2: Put Important Dates on the Calendar
Now that you've taken the first step, you know what you want to create for the year in terms of revenue, and you've broken that down into each quarter, now we're going to focus on putting important dates on the calendar for the next 90 days.
So I get it. We were talking about the big picture before. You're focusing on the whole year and I promised you that we were going to talk about 90 days. Now we're talking about 90 days.
So whatever quarter you are currently in right now, we are getting ready to enter into Q2 of 2022, we're going to follow this process. So if you're getting ready to go through April, May and June for Q2, great, but this applies to no matter where you're at in your process or how you're going to be separating the quarters in your business.
The first thing that I love to do is write down major dates for the next 90 days. Now this includes any holidays, any breaks, any prior commitments that you already have and vacations. Yes, when we are planning your quarterly plan, I want you to choose one week every single quarter where you are going to step away from work. No creating, no working with clients, none of it and you're just going to play, rest and rejuvenate yourself because you need it.
So we've scheduled holidays. We've scheduled breaks. We've put our one week vacation in there.
Now, if there are any specific launches that you know you're going to do over the next 90 days, put those in your calendar as well. This could be a new book launch that you're going to be doing, a new course or a new product that you're going to be launching. It could be your signature product that you know you're going to launch in May. Whatever it is, get it on the calendar now.
Yes, as we're going through this process, I want you to specifically put this stuff in a calendar. Don't just write it down in a notebook and then forget the notebook later on. Put it in your calendar and bonus points if you can put it in your digital calendar, like your Google Calendar as well, so that when you are looking and someone's asking you, "Oh, are you free this day?" You can be like, "No, I'm not. I'm on my quarterly week of rest."
So now you have your specific quarterly goal in terms of revenue, you have your very specific dates that are pretty much non-negotiable. The launches that you want to honor, your week of rest. Don't forget. It's important. You've got your breaks. You've got your holidays.
Quarterly Planning Step 3: Quarterly Focus
Now what we're going to do is look at that and say, “okay, what is my quarterly focus? What am I going to be focused on this quarter? Is it going to be a specific product or a service that I'm going to be launching? Am I going to be creating something? Am I focused on really growing my email list because I want to launch later in the year?” What is your focus going to be? Are you going to roll out a YouTube channel and you want to get those subscribers up?
Whatever that looks like for you, what are you going to focus on this quarter? Now I really like to do a quarterly focus because we're going to talk about in the next step how we break that down. But this is giving you a full 90 days to focus your energy on one core part of your business.
Now obviously there are ongoing things that you need to do. Take care of your clients, talk about your products and your services. You're going to be marketing, all of that but what are you focusing your other energy on in your business? Is there something you've been wanting to start, release? Something like that? What is that going to be?
So think about the full quarter focus. What are you going to be focused on for the next 90 days?
The next step is to then break that down monthly. So I'll give you an example.
Let's say that for the next quarter I am focused on my program Brandmerry Academy. So I know that I'm going to have a launch in January, which we did. Then in February, we're going to be focused on onboarding, releasing our new membership site, testing all of the things. Then in March, I'm going to be focused on elevating some of the programs. So adjusting some of the programs, adding some new content in there. But my focus is really on the Academy. Each month I've got a really clear task that I want to achieve by the end of the month.
What that allows me to do is consistently move forward to my goals. No matter what's happening with the day to day things, the admin, the finance, the clients, the fires that you have to put out, the social media marketing, all of those different things, I know that I'm on track to hit my one monthly focus, which is then going to allow me to hit my quarterly focus. Which is then going to allow me to hit my quarterly revenue goal.
Quarterly Planning Step 4: Get Specific About Monthly Dates
The next thing that you want to do is get really specific with your monthly dates. So we've done the week of rest. We focused on the holidays, breaks, and any big launches. Is there anything else that's going to be coming up for you in regards to those specific focuses?
Let's say you are planning on launching at the end of January. Are you going to do a free class? Are you going to do any sort of promotion? You're going to want to put those in your calendar now so that you can prepare and they're not just coming at you at the last minute. This is going to allow you to take those small steps to get to your goal rather than feeling overwhelmed at the last minute because it totally snuck up on you.
So now that you have your monthly focus, what I recommend doing is putting in any other micro dates that you have to actually achieve that focus that you've put out there intentionally.
Quarterly Planning Step 5: Start Writing Your To-Do List
There are a lot of monthly focuses. There are a lot of dates. There's a lot going on, but I swear, we're almost done. Now you're going to get really, really micro with it and start mapping out your to-do list.
This is not something that you have to do for the entire quarter. I personally like to do that, but you want to at least focus on the next 30 days. So we're using this example of launching. If I'm going to be launching my program Brandmerry Academy, these are the very specific dates that I'm going to honor. I'm going to be doing a masterclass. I'm going to be doing a wait list. I'm going to be releasing some YouTube videos, whatever it is, what are the steps that I need to take to get there?
I love a good brain dump. I have this theory. I tell all my friends, I tell my family, but when we keep everything in our head, we can feel really overwhelmed. We find that we never actually have breathing space outside of our business. We're constantly thinking about all the things that we need to do.
What I love to do is any time I'm in that head space, I will write down everything that's in my head. Every single thing that I can think of that is happening and clear the space. This allows me to enjoy, and play and step away, which ultimately will help me in my business.
So what I love to do when I've got a big goal is sit down. I sit down with my notebook and I write down every little thing that I can think of that's going to help me achieve that goal. It's going to create more space. It's going to reduce the overwhelm and guess what? It's going to actually allow you to get those things done because oftentimes when they're living up here and then other things from life are being thrown at you, we forget them. Then the launch is over and you're like, “oh, I totally meant to do that.” Write it down, make a massive to-do list. It doesn't have to be fancy, but get it out of here.
Quarterly Planning Step 6: Plan Out Your Content
The last thing that I do is I plan out my content. Yes, I love planning 90 days of content. I created an entire video teaching you my process, exactly how I do that. I highly recommend it for all entrepreneurs, but this is kind of the final step.
The reason for that is that we're now crystal clear on our goal. We know what we're focusing on for the quarter. We know what we're focusing on monthly. We've got our important dates in there. Not just launching, but also taking time and breaks to play and create balance.
Because content creation is such a vital part of getting your brand seen and paid, it's something that you want to map out in advance. Because if you're flying by the seat of your pants and saying, “oh my gosh, I’ve got to create a video this week. Oh my gosh, I have to show up and create a podcast.” It's going to create a lot of stress.
The more that you can plan out your topics and know what you're going to be talking about each week, coincide those content topics with launches and important dates that you now see right in front of you, it's going to streamline this process.
So make sure you watch that video Planning Out 90 Days of Content where I break down my step by step process. But this is the final part in your quarterly business plan.
At this point, you will have a 90 day calendar with your vacation days. I'm just going to keep saying it over and over again. Your vacation days, your breaks, important things that are happening in your personal life, as well as your business. Any major launches that you have. Any courses that you're going to be putting out there, any events that you're going to be doing, it’s all on your calendar. You're going to have a massive to-do list, at least for the next 30 days, of things that you're going to be doing to achieve those goals, and you're going to have your content mapped out.
Getting It Scheduled
I'm going to really quickly just show you my 90 days. As I mentioned, we're entering the end of Q1 heading into Q2 and so this has got a lot of crosses in it. But do you see, this is what I'm talking about. I've got this very big plan here. We've got post-its for every YouTube video that I'm doing. We've got launches up there. We've got vacations on there. We've got the whole shebang. So do you see what I mean? You want to visually be able to see that.
I also have all that important stuff inside of my Google Calendar, because then if I'm out and about, and I'm talking to someone and they're like, "Are you available on this day?" I can make sure that I actually have the capacity to take that on. I'm not overbooking myself. I'm not stretching myself too thin.
I also really wanted to share with you a little acronym to help you remember how to best plan your quarter and how to best improve your productivity and improve your focus. These are kind of the five pieces that I really, really try to honor, no matter what I'm planning in my life. Whether it's quarterly, six months, or an entire year.
Quarterly Planning with STARS
It's the STARS acronym, because I want you to be a freaking star at planning and executing your plans. So I'm going to share that with you as a little reminder for us to close out this video.
The S stands for schedule it. I've said this a lot inside of this video and in all of my productivity and planning videos. But if it's not on the schedule, it's a lot easier to bump it down in your priority list. I'm a big fan of really honoring my priorities. That's why we follow the process that I just shared with you and saying, “what are the things I want to work on? What are the things I want to do? What is my vacation time?” Getting that on your schedule.
Then know that it's not really negotiable. If someone comes at you and says, "Hey, could you do this? Could you fit this in?" You can look at your schedule and you can say, "You know what? I don't have the capacity to take that on at this time. I have other priorities that I'm working towards."
The T is for take time out. You need to take breaks and as I mentioned inside of this video, I recommend that you schedule those breaks. At the bare minimum, please schedule one week off every single quarter where you can step away from your work as an entrepreneur. I also recommend that if you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed, maybe there's a little bit of weight on your shoulders and you're just noticing that it's time to hit the pause button, schedule yourself a Friday off.
As you begin to go full-time in your business, if you are working part-time or as you begin to have more control over your entire schedule, you can start to work in those weekly days off. I typically don’t do calls on Friday. I don’t schedule any appointments. So if I do feel inspired to work, I can, but I'm typically taking that day for self care.
The A is for adjust. You need to be flexible. I hear this a lot when entrepreneurs are like, "Well, I don't want to have a plan because then I'm afraid that if I get an idea, I won't honor it. Or if I have a plan and it'll be so rigid that I won't feel inspired."
I've actually found the opposite to be true. In fact, when I have a plan, I have more mental clarity and more space for inspiration. That's where this adjust comes in. If something comes up for you and you're feeling really called to experiment with it, if something's not working in your business and you've given it that full 30 days and you want to make some small adjustments, please do. This is all about creating that balance, that adaptability, and you need to be open to moving things around.
This is one of the reasons that I love to plan a full 90 days in my business, because for marketing specifically, you want to give it enough time, enough consistency to work well. But then as you start to move into that 90 day, you notice this is not working, you can adjust your game plan. Especially if you are doing this quarterly plan early in the year, you can make those adjustments as you then plan out the next quarter and the next quarter, which will ultimately help you reach your end goal, your revenue stream in business, in a way that feels really good to you.
The R is for reflect. Now you absolutely need to take time to pause at the end of every quarter, bare minimum, to reflect on what happened. One of the things that I love to do is actually reflect on how I'm feeling about the previous quarter.
So this isn't so much a planning part of the process, but it's going to help you plan for the next 90 days. Last week, I released a podcast episode on the Brandmerry podcast, where I shared how I audit my business every 90 days. While I am looking at things regarding data like email list growth, website traffic, sales, revenue, all of that, I'm also taking a large portion of my time to reflect on how I'm feeling. What has brought me joy in my business? What felt like a challenge or a struggle that I didn't really enjoy? What did I want to do and I didn't make time for? How am I feeling going into the next quarter?
This is how we built sustainable businesses because we're checking in with ourselves and we're making these aligned decisions.
Finally, we end with our final S, stay focused. Stay on track. This is why I love a good solid plan because it gives me a clear direction on what I'm working towards. One of the things that I have really started to master in my business specifically is putting on my blinders and staying focused on what I ultimately want to achieve.
Sometimes this looks like unfollowing people on social media because they're giving me a lot of messages, or not opting into freebies, or master classes, or searching for outside support out of what I'm currently focused on.
A great example of this is when I am working on maybe evergreening a program, meaning I have my program Brandmerry Academy and I want to create a passive way for individuals to join my email list, to hear about the program, and ultimately join.
If I have a plan in place for how I want to execute that and I've thought about that and I've mapped it all out, there's a lot of information online of all the different ways that I could do that. But what I want to do first is honor my instincts, honor my intuition and kind of block out the noise. So I want to give myself those 90 days to focus on getting that up and running, then of course, analyze and reflect, and if I need additional support, I can seek it. But that's a great example of really staying focused. You've mapped out what you want, put your blinders on and stay really focused and try to block out all of the excess noise.
There you have it, quarterly planning. I hope that this was really helpful in breaking down the step-by-step, and giving you some bonus tips for actually sticking to it and achieving it. Again, I have an entire video on six months planning if you want to check that out as well. If you're an entrepreneur or content creator, I also have an amazing video on planning 90 days worth of content. I know we touched on that a little bit in the planning process, but I show you a full behind the scenes in this video.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- 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 Create Daily Habits
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
In December of 2019, I read a book that ultimately changed my life. The book was Atomic Habits by James Clear.
While I was very familiar with the importance of daily habits, I’d always struggled. I was goal-oriented and had been setting goals for myself since I was seven years old, but I often would miss my intended goal or even forget about it.
I hadn’t yet mastered how to take daily action, or improve by 1% as mentioned in the book, to get to my end goal without feeling rushed or out of alignment.
This book, and life lesson, came to me at just the right time, as I had been struggling to find my footing after selling our home and choosing to travel full-time. Over the past three years, I've applied the lessons and information in the book to not only improve my day-to-day life but also my mindset, health, relationships, and business.
Through this work, I've developed a deeper understanding of the person I want to be – yes it’s that good! But, it hasn't been easy and it has been a journey.
Today, on the podcast I’m sharing a repurposed recording from 2020, shortly after reading the book, to shed some light on what the beginning was like. It can be really easy to see someone's chapter 10 and compare it to your chapter 3, but we all start somewhere.
I hope today's episode gives you a starting place to implement your personal aligned habits and the inspiration to start exactly where you are with what you have.
In episode 41 of the podcast you'll learn:
Just how important small daily actions are for greater change in your relationships, mindset, health, and career, not just this year but forever.
The specific habits I needed to create in order to see shifts and changes in my life, as well as sustainable growth (especially in business).
Why daily habits are necessary not just to achieve our goals and make revenue in our business, but to shift our identity and honor our commitments to ourselves.
Don’t forget to grab your copy of Atomic Habits by James Clear!
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- 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 Conduct a Quarterly Small Business Audit
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
At Brandmerry, we are big fans of planning.
Planning for the year.
Planning for 6 months.
Planning for each quarter.
But, we also know that planning is only half of the battle.
Having plans and never checking in on their progress can easily lead to a lack of progress.
Things can shift so quickly in online business that if you’re not consistently checking in on your progress, what’s working, and what’s not, you might get caught off guard a little too late.
And that’s just in reference to your data. Now let’s talk about your personal life - how often are you checking in on how your business goals are fitting into your personal lifestyle?
This is something I do regularly as a business owner and every quarter (i.e. 90 days) I’m checking in on my goals, the data behind them, and most importantly, how I feel about the work I’m doing.
For me, this is key to building a sustainable business and something I encourage my clients to do as well.
Today on the podcast, I’m sharing my top questions and tips to Conduct a Quarterly Small Business Audit.
Listen in to the episode for the full rundown of each question below and additional tips for evaluation and then come back and copy these questions for your personal audit.
I recommend completing this audit at the end of every quarter.
Then take the information you have in front of you and make adjustments to your goals.
This is a fantastic way to stay on track and make sure you’re making aligned decisions in life and business.
QUARTERLY SMALL BUSINESS AUDIT QUESTIONS:
Part One: Reflection
What did you love about your work this quarter?
What didn't you find joy in?
What felt draining or not in alignment?
Looking back, what would you have changed about this quarter?
Were there actions you knew you should have done, that you didn't get to?
Looking back, what did you accomplish? Let's celebrate that!
What do you want to bring into the next quarter?
Part Two: Data Audit
What is your current email list size?
What is your current website traffic for each month of the quarter?
What activities generated the subscribers? (base this off of your marketing efforts - examples include: Youtube, Instagram, Website Traffic, Pinterest, Podcasting, Reels)
If multiple offers, which offer brought in the most money?
How much did you spend on that offer in advertising?
What offer had the biggest ROI (return on investment)?
What was your cash income for each month in the quarter?
Your best income month? Why?
Your lowest income month? Why?
What was your cash income for the quarter as a whole?
What is your goal for the next quarter? Think revenue, launches, hires, marketing, etc...
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- 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 Find Clients on Social Media
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
When I was starting my business, I often thought about how I could find clients online.
It was a topic of conversation in most of my programs, everyone was constantly thinking about where they could show up to get in front of their ideal customer and even educators were focused on helping YOU find clients.
As I grew my business and started distancing myself from social media marketing, I began to question the traditional ways of online marketing.
I was introduced to a new world of online marketing that didn’t require me to post daily on social media to get leads and sales.
That's right, social media marketing is not the best marketing strategy if you're looking for a consistent flow of leads and sales. Instead, I started to focus more on evergreen marketing strategies and the power of search engine platforms.
And suddenly my focus went from, “How do I find my clients online,” to “How do my clients find and pay me?”
In today’s episode, on the Brandmerry Podcast, I’m sharing my evolution with online marketing and introducing an important online marketing reframe.
Tune in, to episode 39, to learn:
How I changed my marketing focus from constantly chasing down my clients to setting my business up so that my clients could find and pay me on a regular basis.
An alternative to paid advertising, when first starting your marketing, that will save you time and money and increase your marketing ROI.
The top marketing strategies I recommend every entrepreneur have in place so their ideal customer can find their brand, no matter what stage of the buying process they may be at.
Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.
P.S. Ready to get your brand seen and paid without the pressure of social media? I'm teaching my top strategies inside of my new free class, "How to Build a Brand That Gets Seen and Paid!" You're invited to tune in and learn my signature 3-part framework for a sustainable 6-figure brand. Sign up to watch for free at Brandmerry.com/class
- 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.
![Email List Building for Beginners [Step-by-Step]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d62d400442629982c4892b/1647277879312-RIY8WPUHOMLAI176WIQJ/Email+list+building+for+beginners.jpg)
Email List Building for Beginners [Step-by-Step]
Prefer to watch this blog content instead of reading it? Head here to watch it on the Brandmerry channel.
Today, we are talking about your email list. I got this question from a previous video that I did all about growing your email list. You can check it out right here. They wanted a specific video on what goes into starting and building your email list. So I'm going to break it down for you step by step in this video. Whether you already have an email list and you want to make sure all of your gaps are filled or you're just getting started, this video is for you.
My goal is to help entrepreneurs, not only have a phenomenal brand, but get that brand seen and paid. And one of the ways to do that is through email marketing. Before I jump into the step by step, I'm going to throw some awesome stats at you because if you're not yet convinced that email marketing should be a main focus of your marketing strategy for your business, these stats will definitely convince you that this is the right path to take.
Did you know that you have a great ROI with email marketing? In fact, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you will make an average of $36 in return.
You might be thinking, but do people really purchase from email? Yes, they do. 60% of consumers say that they make purchases based on the emails that they receive from businesses.
And you might also be thinking, oh, I don't want to annoy my audience. I don't want to have to email them, but this belief is actually holding you back because 61% of email respondents state that they like receiving promotional emails weekly. Yes, weekly.
So if that doesn't already convince you that email marketing should be where you are focusing your energy and attention this year, I've got nothing else for you. If you want to get your brand seen and paid, email marketing is exactly how you do it.
First things first: IDEAL CUSTOMER
I've got six steps to get your email list started and ready to rock and roll. And at the end, we're going to talk about promotion. But before I do that, we've got to talk about a very, very important part of your email list growth. And that my friends is your ideal customer.
You need to be crystal clear on who you want to fill your email list with because it's not just about having big numbers. It can't be about, I want to hit 10,000 email subscribers, and you're not being intentional with the subscribers that you are attracting. This is incredibly important because as you're going to see in some of the later steps, we're going to be creating messaging and gifts to pull your ideal customer in. And if you don't know who your ideal customer is, you can't create those things that's going to pull them in.
You need to understand who your ideal customer is at their core. If you have not done this work, I have a video for you all about market research. Make sure you watch that because it is going to be essential in following these steps to a T and making sure they actually work for you and not against you.
I have clients who come to me with big email lists and aren't making any money. And the first thing we look at is who are those subscribers? If they're not your ideal customers, they won't buy from you.
Build your email list step #1: LEAD MAGNET
Let's get into the very first thing that you need to do to start building your email list. That is to create some sort of freebie, lead magnet, or free gift. They all mean the same thing, interchange the words however you want.
It essentially means that you are creating something that you will give to your ideal customer in exchange for their email address and their name. Very, very important. So when you're starting to think about your freebie, your lead magnet, you want to know your ideal customer. Because you want to create something for them.
I often tell my clients to think about the email exchange as a $1,000 purchase. So for every single email that you get, you're making $1,000 in currency. When we change this focus, it requires us to create something of high value for our lead magnet.
Now that's not to say that you need to create an entire mini course, or you need to record eight videos. But you want to solve a very specific problem for your ideal customer. So while you're doing your ideal customer work, and you're starting to think about your lead magnet, I want you to write down three main problems that your audience is facing. Then create some sort of lead magnet that's going to help them solve a portion of that problem.
Now, with your lead magnet, it's important that you're not trying to solve all of their problems. You want to make this very micro. So I'll give you an example.
I have a free class which you can watch right here, that's all about how to create a better brand that gets paid and seen. In the class specifically, I am breaking down the importance of branding, what is needed to build a better brand, and then how to get that brand seen, and some of my top strategies for marketing.
I'm not teaching all the nitty gritty of exactly how to do each of those steps. That is taught inside of Roadmap to Freedom. But in order for my audience to understand the value of Roadmap to Freedom, they need to understand the importance of these steps first.
So not only am I positioning my product as a great next step for them, but I'm also solving a core problem that they have, which is what am I supposed to be doing? What am I supposed to be focused on when building my brand and marketing it to my ideal customer? I'm going to give you another example.
Let's say that your ideal customer's problem is that they have low engagement on social media. You could share with them a brand guide to help increase engagement. You could share five prompts that will get great engagement, that they should work into their weekly social media schedule. And you could even, as a third option, share with them a messaging framework or a template that they can use to craft their social media posts to get optimal engagement.
You wouldn't share all three of these, but you would share one of them. That's how micro I want you to be with your freebie and your lead magnet.
So the first thing that you want is your freebie lead magnet, free gift, whatever you want to call it. Some examples of this can be PDFs, quizzes, a video, a class, whether that's on demand or a live class, meditation or an audio recording.
One thing I want you to keep in mind is you want this lead magnet to be evergreen, meaning that it's not requiring you to show up at a specific time. We always want to have one lead magnet that someone can grab at any time, any time of the day, any time of the year, any time. And then of course you can sprinkle in live events like a free class or a free challenge or something on top of that. But we always want to have a way for your audience to join your email list.
Build your email list step #2: LANDING PAGE
The next thing that you are going to need to grow your email list is a landing page, a place for your audience to opt in, give their name and their email address to you in exchange for that free gift you just promised them.
Now, your landing page is so crucial in the success of your email list building strategy, because it's essentially where your messaging is going to shine. So I recently did a podcast episode, episode 34 on the Brandmerry Podcast, where I share exactly what you want to have on your landing page to increase conversions. So make sure you check out that podcast episode, but here are a few things that I want to touch on that you absolutely need on your landing page.
TITLE
Number one is a crystal clear title. What is your freebie and how is it going to help your ideal customer? With my class that I spoke about before, which of course you can watch here, I'm saying, I will teach you how to build a better brand that gets seen and paid consistently. That is key. I'm very, very clear on what I'm going to teach you and exactly what you're going to walk away with and how it's going to benefit your business.
BULLETED LIST
The second thing you want to have is a bulleted list. Now you can choose to do actual bullets or maybe they’re blocks, whatever it is, I want you to clearly tell your audience what they're going to get when they give their name and their email address.
What I mean by this is don't just assume because it's free, that someone is just going to sign up right now. Remember, email is currency, and we need to start thinking about it in that way. So you want to clearly communicate to your ideal customer how your lead magnet, what they're about to get from you is going to benefit them. How is it going to solve their problem? What are they going to learn? What will they be able to do with the information that you are giving them?
Clearly communicating that will help them see the benefit and your conversion rates will be much higher on your landing page.
AUTHORITY BUILDER
The third thing that you need on your landing page is a small authority builder. How do we build authority? Storytelling. Yes. So I always recommend that my clients have a small bio about who they are, their hook statement, just really positioning themselves as an expert because the idea is that you're getting this lead magnet in front of people who know nothing about you. So we need to position that authority by sharing a little bit more about our professional bio, some of our accolades, and what we do.
STRONG CTA
The fourth thing that you need is a strong CTA. So those are those amazing buttons, that area where they're going to put their name in the or email address in. And I recommend being really deliberate with your buttons, saying things like, "Sign up now, get the download, watch now, grab the training. Those are really, really strong CTAs that are going to increase your conversions.
As I mentioned, I have an entire podcast, episode 34 on the Brandmerry Podcast, which breaks all of this down step by step. So make sure you tune in for this particular step on your landing page.
Build your email list step #3: CONFIRMATION PAGE
The third thing that you need is a confirmation page or a thank you page. So this is essentially a page that your audience will land on after they have given their name and their email address.
So they land on your landing page. They say yes, heck yes I want this. They put their name in, they put their email address, they hit a little button and voila. It takes them to a page that confirms that they have submitted their information.
This is incredibly important because we want to think about the times where we've put in our information online and there's been no confirmation message, or we get nothing. And we're like, oh my gosh, did it go through? I don't know. Let's just make it easy for our ideal customer.
This confirmation page can be as simple as saying, "Thanks so much. Your download is on its way. Your video is on its way. Go check your inbox now." You can take it even further and make a small offer on the backend. But I recommend if you're just starting out, keep it simple, get them to their inbox so they can grab that email right away, open it and click through.
PLATFORMS
So let's pause for just a second and talk about platforms that I love for these different steps.
So the platform that we use over here at Brandmerry is called ConvertKit. We also recommend Flodesk to many of our clients as well. That's another great platform that we have a lot of our clients have success on.
So essentially what you want is a platform that is going to allow you to create landing pages, it's going to allow you to create some sort of form, where they're going to put their name and their email address in, and it's going to allow you to automate what comes next. So all of those emails that you want to send that say, "Hey, your download is here. By the way, this is who I am." So on and so forth. You want those all to be automated.
So we really love ConvertKit and Flodesk. There are a lot of different options out there. So of course find the one that works best for you. But if you're anything like me and you're like, I just want a really, really great program. And I don't want to spend hours looking for it on Google, I highly recommend ConvertKit.
QUICK RECAP
So let's recap. You've created a freebie that your audience absolutely needs. You have now created your landing page, where someone is going to land to give their name and their email address for this awesome freebie that they've got to have. After they've submitted their information on this page, they are then going to land on a confirmation page. Now that confirmation page can just be a single low, easy, no design needed page on your website.
Build your email list step #4: Confirmation Email
And now what happens. They're going to their inbox to grab their welcome email. This email is something that kicks out immediately after they put in their name and their email address.
So let's use ConvertKit as an example. ConvertKit gets that information, they tag them in the system and they shoot out this confirmation email. In this email, you want to make it short, sweet and to the point. You essentially want them to click through, grab that download, take that quiz, watch that video and get to work.
You want to make sure when you're building your email list, that it's not complicated, that it's not a lot of steps because at the end of the day, you want your audience to have a win. We want to help solve a problem, but we don't want it to take them 72 days, because then that's prolonging how long it might take them to purchase your product or your service.
So we want these steps to happen very quickly from the moment that they land on your landing page to getting that confirmation email. We're talking like 10 minutes max. So automation is key. Keeping that email short and simple. Hey, you wanted this. Here it is. Click here to grab it. I'll be back with another email soon. Keeping it really, really easy.
Build your email list step #5: EMAIL FUNNEL
Then the next thing that's going to happen is your email funnel. Your email funnel does not have to be terrifying. If you want an entire video on your email funnel and the top things that I recommend, let me know and I will make you that video because let's be honest, this is a lengthy piece. There are a lot of different details in it. I teach all of this inside of my program, Roadmap to Freedom, but you came here to learn how to grow your email list and that's what we're going to talk about right now.
So we already talked about the very first email. The very first email is very simple. It says hey, this is your freebie. Grab it. Now, they're getting to work. Within 24 to 48 hours, I lean on the 24 hour side, you want to send the first email of your automated sequence. This automated sequence will be set up inside of your email platform.
Email One
If you're using ConvertKit, as I recommend, you will set it up inside of sequences and choose the timing between the emails. Maybe you're going to send an email every day for three days, you'll set it up, you'll link it to your form and voila. This is all happening on autopilot.
When you're designing your email funnel, I want you to think of it as a handshake. It's essentially your introduction to someone that knows nothing about you. So what do we want them to know about you?
We want them to know your story. So the first email that you send should be really focused on the work that you do, who you are, and positioning your brand as an authority, as a brand that they absolutely want in their inbox on a regular basis. You can also set the tone for the type of emails that you might be sending weekly via your newsletter.
Email Two
The second email that I recommend you create is another bonus tip. So let's say that you created a freebie all about social media engagement and you shared with them five social media engagement prompts that they could use. Well, in the second email, you could now say, okay, you have your prompts. I gave those to you in your freebie, but I'm coming in with another sweet bonus. In this email, I'm sharing with you a sample template to structure your social media post.
You don't have to create another freebie. You can deliver it directly in the email. You could also link to a really popular blog that you have, or a video that shares amazing information about something that's really valuable for your audience. You're just further positioning yourself as the authority and as the expert, someone who is going to support them in solving their problem.
Email Three
Then the third email, and again, I'm talking about a very basic email funnel right here, you could present your offer. Now, if your offer is over $47, I recommend putting a few more emails on the backend. But at the bare minimum, you can just have a very simple three email funnel, and then they would go directly into your general newsletter.
Now, one of the things that I teach at Brandmerry is the importance of this consistent communication. As we heard in the very beginning of this video, your audience wants weekly correspondence from you. 61% of surveyed consumers want to hear from their brands weekly. So I always recommend that my clients make that a routine in their marketing strategy.
Now someone is on your list, they're familiar with who you are, you've set the tone, you've given them some amazing advice, you are now the authority. Now they will leave that automated funnel and they will get those weekly general broadcasts from you, which could be anything from your YouTube, your podcast, your blog, your promotion, anything that you are going to be sharing with them every week. The handshake has happened. And now we're all in relationship building.
Again, inside my program, Roadmap to Freedom, we understand the importance of email marketing. Everything that we teach and do inside of that program is focused on building your email list so you can get seen and paid. So inside of Roadmap to Freedom, we teach our clients how to set up their email funnel in as little as three days. We've got a sweet bonus called Funnel in a Weekend. If you want to learn more about Roadmap to Freedom and you want to see if it's the right fit for you, watching my free class by going to brandmerry.com/class is a fantastic way to learn more about the program, learn about my approach to marketing and how it can benefit you in your business and snag that sweet bonus.
Build your email list step #6: PROMOTION
Now we're moving into the sixth part of this process. This is the most important part. This is the part that is ongoing. Those other pieces, you might set them, you might be able to forget them for a little while, but now you're into your marketing. How do you get your new freebie seen? How do you get it in front of your ideal customer?
This is where you are going to want to focus on two types of promotion. Yes. Remember I said, email is currency. Think about growing your email list as a form of promotion. You need to be talking about it consistently.
There are two categories that I love my clients to focus on: active and passive promotion.
PASSIVE
First, we're going to start with passive. What does passive mean? Passive is that banner on your blog that you set that says, "Grab my free quiz." They click it and voila, it opens up a box. It takes them to the landing page. They get to sign up for it. It's having that call to action on your homepage. It's a popup. It's having the link in your bio on your Instagram. These are all things that you're going to set up on the different platforms that you're on, on your website, maybe your banner on Facebook, you get what I'm saying, where you're linking to your freebie and you're setting it and you really don't need to worry about it.
So if someone lands in any of those different areas, they're really interested in hearing more about you, they're interested in joining your community, they have what they need. They go to the landing page and the process starts for them.
ACTIVE
The second category is active promotion, and this is the one that's going to take more time and energy on your part and is something that is going to help you with getting your brand seen and paid. Now my favorite ways to grow my email list are through SEO platforms. Things like Pinterest, YouTube, Google, blogging, things like that. And I also love to talk about my freebies and my lead magnets on social media as well. But as you know, here at Brandmerry, we do not put a lot of pressure on social media. We are more focused on SEO strategies. So having those in place will create that consistent stream of leads coming into your email list without you having to post daily.
I talk more about this strategy on marketing inside of this video. Go watch that. That is going to really help you with the strategy behind growing your email list and the types of things that I recommend.
Again, I teach all of this inside of my free class, where I'm teaching you how to build a better brand that gets seen and paid consistently. You can go to brandmerry.com/class to watch that completely on demand.
I hope this was really helpful in breaking down the step by step needed to start building your email list. At the end of the day, your email list is a fantastic asset. It is what you can take with you. You can download it as a spreadsheet and upload it somewhere else. We cannot rely on social media as a way to grow our communities. They are a nice little way to market if that works for you, but they are not a space where you control the narrative. Email marketing is where you get to do that. And as we saw in the beginning of this video, it can help you increase your ROI.
PS: Roadmap to Freedom doors are opening soon! This live group program will help you create an online business that allows you to create a life of abundant experiences and impact. This high-touch program helps you simplify the process so you can make more money on your terms. And, the 2023 cohort is going to be better than ever with updated content, lifetime access, new bonus content, and more! Join the waitlist and be the first to join in January 2023.
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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.