February 19, 2024 • 22 mins
Whether you love it, hate it or you're still on the fence about social media, this week's episode might get you thinking about social media and the way forward.
While I absolutely understand all the pluses, I find social media and the constant need to create content a little overwhelming. And after a conversation with my son, who has the social following to be considered an 'influencer', I'm wondering if social media is simply the game you can't win!
So, in this episode, I'm sharing what is arguably an alternate to social media and maybe the solution your business needs to save you time and money too!
This episode is brought to you by Become A Business Money Magnet - Simple habits to manage your money and supercharge your profits!
Want 30 Ways to Save Money in your Business? Download the guide here.
Need a business finance coach or want to get your pricing sorted? Book a Strategy Call NOW.
Join the conversation
Connect with Justine:
Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn
Website
Discover the Secrets of Successful Business Facebook page
Follow Justine on Instagram @flossifiles or @secretsofsuccessfulbusiness
Host: Justine McLean – Flossi Creative
Producer: Leah Stanistreet – Snappystre...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey.
It's my business and I'll do itmy way, how they started,
rather than going harder to getmore focus on growing more with
(00:25):
what you have.
What they learned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make Just because
you can do it?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
doesn't mean that you should do it.
It's really important toremember that it's a long game
and, of course, we'll ask themfor their secret source for
creating a successful business.
If you're not feeling you'renot doing it right, you should
be struggling at times.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain.
Talk solutions for thosebusiness pain points, working
(00:52):
smarter, not harder, mindset andthe challenges of bidding it
all in with the demands oftoday's busy life style.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FawcayCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
(01:37):
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now withoutfurther ado.
Let's dive into today's episode.
(01:57):
You don't have to be in businessvery long to realise that
business is a numbers game.
You've probably had some ofthese before Earn more than you
spend.
Or the Pareto principle, whichbasically says that 80% of
consequences comes from 20% ofcauses.
So 80% of your income, forexample, comes from 20% of your
(02:20):
clients.
Or conversion rate You'll onlyconvert at between 2% and 5%
probably 2%, so you need to havea big list for the numbers to
work.
More profit equals more success, and that equals more freedom.
You get the picture.
So the idea then is that thebigger your audience, the bigger
(02:41):
the potential to sell more ofyour thing, and the more you
sell, the more money you earn.
So it's a little wonder that inthis digital age, where the
best marketing platform we havesits in our hand or in the
handbag of our prospectiveclients Yep, I'm talking about
the smartphone here thatbusiness owners are absolutely
(03:03):
fixated on social media, soincreasing our audience numbers,
our engagement all across thedifferent platforms and then,
hopefully, the sales in theprocess.
But for many business owners,it is the only marketing tool
they use, and so all of theirmarketing efforts and a good
(03:25):
chunk of their time and money isspent creating new content just
for social media TikTok,instagram, facebook, snapchat,
pinterest, linkedin.
There are so many differentplatforms and I often find
myself wondering whether socialmedia is the game that you just
(03:49):
can't win.
Why?
Because when I started mybusiness, there was no such
thing as social media, and whileI completely understand
fixation Today, in the twenties,and I also understand how vital
it is to appear on theseplatforms as a way of social
(04:10):
proof, for me, relying on socialmedia to boost my business is
just a fool's errand.
It's like building a businesson rented space and, honestly,
like I said, it's playing a gamethat you can't win and that's
just the way the moguls who ownthese platforms like it.
I have always relied on word ofmouth and on my email list and
(04:34):
that's how I've built mybusiness over many years and I
will pick that hands down oversocial media every time.
But it always blows my mindwhen I speak to business owners
who honestly believe that thereason they're not making any
money is because they don't havea big enough following on
(04:56):
socials, or that they need to domore work on those platforms to
increase their engagement andthen, hopefully, they'll make
more sales.
But there's just so much time,energy and effort that goes into
it.
I thought I would go directly toa source who has been very
successful on social media andhas built a bit of a business on
(05:18):
social media to chat about.
You know what he thought aboutsocial media and he was going to
come on this podcast, but he'stoo busy flying around the world
, so I guess you could call myson lucky and influencer.
And at the time of recordingthis podcast he had a combined
following on a couple of hisplatforms tick tock and
(05:40):
Instagram.
He's got snapchat as well, Ithink, but just on those two
platforms of more than twomillion followers.
And the other day we weretalking about viral tick tock
videos and reels.
Because you know, I'm curiousand for me, if I can do
something that's going to sendsomething viral or get people
more interested in my product orget them onto my list more
(06:03):
importantly, then I'm open tothat.
I wanted to know what was itthat tips people over the edge
so that you can get into thatviral territory, and was there a
formula that worked every time?
And look, he's had a few ofthose viral videos.
I think you know the video forme that went viral was probably
one that I was in for him, inwith him.
(06:24):
Sorry, but usually for me aviral video is about a thousand
downloads or a thousand views.
For him a viral video ismillions of views, multiple
millions of views, and he canachieve that in a couple of
hours.
Mine, you know, it's a thousandover a couple of days.
But I, when I asked Lachlanabout whether or not he could
(06:46):
identify that one thing thathelped a video go viral, that
really helped the followers come, that help boost the engagement
, he made this comment that kindof surprised me and that was
that social media was likegambling and it was a game that
you couldn't win.
And his view was no matter howbig or small your account, the
(07:11):
algorithm worked exactly thesame for each and every one of
us.
It was like gambling.
So Every now and then thesocial platform would deliver us
a jackpot in the way of thatpost or video that goes viral,
whatever that means for you.
But trying to work out why, therhyme or reason behind that is
(07:33):
almost impossible, because thatvideo you could then repeat 10
times and the chances of itgoing viral again were going to
be pretty slim.
And Lachlan has learned thatover many years of working on
the platform and, obviously,building his audience.
His comment was that there wasno way to work out what it was
(07:55):
that was making him hit thatproverbial jackpot and no way
really to work out the algorithm.
So naturally, I pressed him onthis a little bit because I
thought surely there's a wayyou've had so many of these
viral videos.
There has to be something herethat is sending your engagement
and your followers soaring.
(08:16):
Is the hashtags used?
Is it I don't know, the shirtyou wore?
Is it the length of the reel?
Could it be the caption andagain he said no, there's no
real way of knowing.
I think in that viral moment,what happens is the platform
convinces you that social mediais the way to go for your
business and in doing that, itkeeps you coming back for more,
(08:39):
making more content, spendingmore money on ads, spending
countless hours scrolling forideas, more.
So the social media platformsget what they want higher
engagement.
You're continuing to come backfor more, but in fact there's no
rhyme or reason to what's goingto get you that next jackpot.
So it is a little like gambling.
(09:00):
So I let that sit with me for awhile.
We had quite a long discussionon the ins and the outs of
whether social media was likegambling and whether it was
really a game that you justcouldn't win.
And I guess after speaking toLachlan someone who makes a
living really off the platform Ithought, well, he's probably
(09:21):
right, it's just another numbersgame.
That's part of business andsomething that we need to buy
into, maybe that necessary evil.
But it had me thinking aboutwhether or not the old fashioned
ways and old fashioned only 30,30 years ago, but word of mouth
, referrals, building that listis really a better way to market
(09:45):
your business and I guesswhether you could do that
without socials at all.
It's an experiment that I'm notgoing to buy into because I like
my social media for that socialproof, so that if people want
to follow me easily, if theywant to reach out to me easily,
it's there.
My platform is there Instagramthey can send me a message.
It's not a drama.
(10:05):
Same thing on Facebook.
You know where I can have aclosed community on Facebook
where I can talk to peopleactually inside this Facebook
community, secrets of successfulbusiness, and you know we can
talk about money and I know thepeople who are coming into that
closed community, who areprepared to share their email
with me to be part of it, aregenuinely interested in what I
(10:26):
have to say.
So there's definitely a placefor it.
I'm not saying that there isn't,but I think if we think about
you know, business being thatnumbers game and the name of the
game being that you want tosell your thing, make money,
make a profit so that you canpay yourself and your team and
live, then relying on socialmedia too much is probably not
(10:51):
the way to go, especially forthe longer term.
We've all seen where socialmedia shuts down for no reason,
where people get their accountsclosed, where they're banned for
, you know, breaking somecommunity rule.
But you have none of that withyour email.
You have none of that with wordof mouth or referral.
(11:11):
Sure, people can opt out ofyour email and that's okay.
In that case, they know exactlywhat it is you're selling, they
know exactly who they, who youare, and if they don't want to
follow you, then that's fine.
If they don't want to buy intothe community that you're part
of, then that's fine.
It means that in doing that, inhaving that email list, in
having that referral program, inworking with loyal customers,
(11:34):
you're always refining your list.
So essentially, what you'regoing to have is a group of
people who coming along for theride because they're generally
interested in what you have todo.
So I'm not suggesting for aminute that you go ahead and
ditch social media, becausethere's definitely a place for
that in your business.
What I am saying is don't relyon it.
(11:55):
As I said, my marketing weaponof choice is my email list and
in my opinion, every business,no matter how big or how small,
should have an email list as thecornerstone of their business
marketing.
You know, when I think backover my 30 years in business,
you know the bulk of my work haseither come from my email list
(12:15):
or from word of mouth, and thatjust makes things easy.
Because having an email list iseasy, it's inexpensive, it's
effective and it's the fastestway, in my opinion, to turn
those cool or lukewarm clientsinto raving fans and then, you
know, unlock the real earningpotential in your business,
(12:37):
especially if you choose tonurture your list.
So if you haven't already gotan email list in your business,
my recommendation is to make astart, and the best way to do
that is go ahead and gather allof the emails of everyone that
you've worked with during yourbusiness life.
You can put family or friendsin there who might enjoy hearing
(12:57):
what you have to say, and sureadd them to.
Or if you're running a referralprogram, for example, it might
be important to put those peopleinto your list so you can share
with them when the nextreferral opportunity is coming
up.
So once you've got that initiallist together, it's then
important to continue to addthat every time you have a new
(13:20):
client, because if we go back tothe numbers game that is
business and we think that 80%of our income is going to come
from 20% of our clients.
Well, they are the 20% thatwe've worked with in the past.
So if you've got them all on alist, then it's going to be
really easy to reach out to themwith your next offer.
So once you've got your list,your marketing email marketing
(13:42):
list set up, my advice would beto find some great software so
that it's super simple tocommunicate with the people that
are on your list.
Now there are loads of optionson the market.
There are some free versionsand, honestly, they've all got
similar features and benefits.
Some of them are much easier touse than others.
Personally, I use Flowdeskbecause it's got great templates
(14:05):
.
It looks kind of pretty, it'svery easy to use and I can
schedule the emails in there aswell, and I can do that well in
advance.
There's no sort of caveat onhow many I can schedule and also
I could grow my list to amillion people and Flowdesk will
support me without charging mea whole bunch of extra money.
So that's my recommendation.
(14:27):
If you're interested, I'll popa little link down in the show
notes.
But when it comes to gettingtogether that list and, you know
, creating a list that you'regoing to send to.
Don't make the mistake of justreaching out to them when you
want to sell something, becausethere is no faster way for
(14:48):
someone to unsubscribe from yourlist, even if they are a
longtime loyal customer, than tobe hammering them all the time
with sales information.
So instead use your email listto speak to your ideal clients,
to nurture them, to give theminformation for free.
That might be an extension ofwhat it is you do for them.
(15:10):
Pepper that with subtle selling, sure, and every now and again
you'll be wanting to pop in asales specific email.
You know if you've got a newoffer, a new product, a new
service or you really need tosort of make a few bucks quickly
.
Definitely used to sell, buttreat your email list as more of
a community.
(15:30):
So warming up the audience, whowill hopefully one day come and
buy from you, might take awhile.
I have had my email list for avery long time and I still have
people who will come in and buyfrom me off that list, who have
never bought from me before andthey have been on that list for
many years.
(15:51):
And once you've got that listup and running, it's all about
then growing that list, soextending that list from just
the people who you've workedwith in the past, and family and
friends to new people thatyou're bringing into your
ecosystem, and that's how socialmedia can help you in that
endeavour.
Now, according to OptinMonster,60% of people 60% of people who
(16:15):
come across your business andare given the opportunity to
download a freebie or sign upfor a newsletter will always
sign up for your email list.
But only 20% of those samepeople will choose to follow you
on social media.
And even if they do follow youon social media, the percentage
(16:36):
of when they see your thingcoming up is so low that you
could probably post the samething five days in a row and
it's likely that your followerswill never see that post from
you.
So think about that for aminute.
If you could get 60% of peoplewho come up, who come across
your business, who are going tosign up and that 60% of people
(16:57):
so 60 out of 100 you haveimmediate, direct communication
with them that is way betterthan the 20 people who will
choose to follow you on socialmedia, who may or may not ever
see your thing or hear from youever, again and again.
That's out of our hands.
That's all down to thealgorithm.
(17:17):
So, hopefully, you've got yourmessaging right on things like
your social media and on yourwebsite and you've got some
search engine optimization SEOset up in the back end of your
website so that you are comingup on google searches and that
60% that are your ideal clientsare then seeing your thing and
(17:38):
signing up.
But when you've got your emailmarketing set up and you've got
a welcome sequence ready to go,it's really time to get
intentional and to start to growthat list, and, in my
experience, the best way to doit is with a lead magnet.
So a lead magnet can be a freeor low cost resource or offer
(17:59):
that's essentially just used forgathering contact details and,
specifically, people's emailaddresses.
So, you know, these days,though, I'm finding that
consumers are much more savvywhen it comes to email lists and
who they choose to share theircontacts with, because you only
have to go through a BlackFriday or Easter or Christmas or
(18:22):
one of the many holidays thatwe have, and the number of
emails you end up getting arecompletely insane.
So people are very savvy aboutwhat they want coming into their
inbox.
So once people take that stepand they want to sign up for
your list, then make sure yougive them value in that lead
magnet.
Give them some sort of value, aquick transformation or a quick
(18:46):
win, because that is what isgoing to keep them connected to
your list and follow it up witha nurture sequence.
Talk about who you are, youknow.
Give them another opportunityto engage with you in something
free.
It could be your free Facebookgroup, but look to send out five
to seven emails once you havesomebody sign up for.
(19:07):
Whatever thing it is you'regetting them to sign up for and
speak to them, really nurturethem.
Some lead magnet ideas caninclude checklists, quizzes,
ebooks, mini courses, cheatsheets, coupon codes if you've
got a product based business,some free shipping templates or
free trials, a free Facebookgroup, a closed Facebook group,
(19:30):
for example.
There are lots of differentideas for lead magnets out there
.
The sky is the limit, so useyour imagination when it comes
to getting people to sign up.
One of the best ways I thinkfor 2024 to get people to
actually sign up is to give thema free trial to something.
It could be a low costmembership that you've got going
(19:52):
on, or something that, when thefree trial is over, let's say,
you give them a seven day trialor a month long trial.
When the free trial is over,you email them, tell them the
free trial is over, and then yougive them the option to stick
around.
Another interesting one thatI've seen is that people are
(20:12):
using their email list.
Once they have those people intheir ecosystem, they're
actually monetising their emaillist, so they're providing
additional content in anotheremail that sits behind a paywall
, and so, essentially, they'resigning up for a freebie, but if
they want more information,more contact with that
(20:35):
influencer or that businessowner, that person, then they
have to pay a subscription offive bucks a month.
So lots of different ideas.
There's no question, though,that growing your email list can
be challenging at times.
I think it's about justconsistency, keeping at it,
because there'll be things thatgo crazy.
I had my profitable pricingformula that I was giving out at
(20:59):
a very discounted cost throughJanuary, and I got 35 signups in
a day for that one, just togive you an idea.
So there are lots of differentways that you can keep growing
that list, but I think the mostimportant thing is to be
consistent in terms ofcontinuing to find that growth,
to find the people who come intoyour world.
(21:20):
But, most importantly, you'vegot to nurture the people that
you've already got.
So make sure that, once you'vegot them in your world, you're
sharing that value, and I thinkyou'll be really shocked at how
many people on your listeventually choose to work with
you.
And remember, if you choose tosell your business at some stage
, your email list if that goeswith your business sale is going
(21:41):
to be an asset that the newowner will find invaluable.
So I'm interested in yourthoughts.
If we're thinking of businessas a numbers game and we've
decided that social media isreally the game you can't win a
little bit like gambling, whereyou're enticed to keep playing
because of that occasionaljackpot you get with a viral
(22:03):
video what do you think aboutthe idea of email marketing and
doing things a little different?
So I hope this information hashelped you today and I'll see
you next time.
And until then, keep livingyour definition of success.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Thanks for listening to the secrets of successful
business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
focicomau and make sure you hitsubscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(22:43):
Catch you next time.
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey.
It's my business and I'll do itmy way, how they started,
rather than going harder to getmore focus on growing more with
(00:25):
what you have.
What they learned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make Just because
you can do it?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
doesn't mean that you should do it.
It's really important toremember that it's a long game
and, of course, we'll ask themfor their secret source for
creating a successful business.
If you're not feeling you'renot doing it right, you should
be struggling at times.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain.
Talk solutions for thosebusiness pain points, working
(00:52):
smarter, not harder, mindset andthe challenges of bidding it
all in with the demands oftoday's busy life style.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FawcayCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
(01:37):
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now withoutfurther ado.
Let's dive into today's episode.
(01:57):
You don't have to be in businessvery long to realise that
business is a numbers game.
You've probably had some ofthese before Earn more than you
spend.
Or the Pareto principle, whichbasically says that 80% of
consequences comes from 20% ofcauses.
So 80% of your income, forexample, comes from 20% of your
(02:20):
clients.
Or conversion rate You'll onlyconvert at between 2% and 5%
probably 2%, so you need to havea big list for the numbers to
work.
More profit equals more success, and that equals more freedom.
You get the picture.
So the idea then is that thebigger your audience, the bigger
(02:41):
the potential to sell more ofyour thing, and the more you
sell, the more money you earn.
So it's a little wonder that inthis digital age, where the
best marketing platform we havesits in our hand or in the
handbag of our prospectiveclients Yep, I'm talking about
the smartphone here thatbusiness owners are absolutely
(03:03):
fixated on social media, soincreasing our audience numbers,
our engagement all across thedifferent platforms and then,
hopefully, the sales in theprocess.
But for many business owners,it is the only marketing tool
they use, and so all of theirmarketing efforts and a good
(03:25):
chunk of their time and money isspent creating new content just
for social media TikTok,instagram, facebook, snapchat,
pinterest, linkedin.
There are so many differentplatforms and I often find
myself wondering whether socialmedia is the game that you just
(03:49):
can't win.
Why?
Because when I started mybusiness, there was no such
thing as social media, and whileI completely understand
fixation Today, in the twenties,and I also understand how vital
it is to appear on theseplatforms as a way of social
(04:10):
proof, for me, relying on socialmedia to boost my business is
just a fool's errand.
It's like building a businesson rented space and, honestly,
like I said, it's playing a gamethat you can't win and that's
just the way the moguls who ownthese platforms like it.
I have always relied on word ofmouth and on my email list and
(04:34):
that's how I've built mybusiness over many years and I
will pick that hands down oversocial media every time.
But it always blows my mindwhen I speak to business owners
who honestly believe that thereason they're not making any
money is because they don't havea big enough following on
(04:56):
socials, or that they need to domore work on those platforms to
increase their engagement andthen, hopefully, they'll make
more sales.
But there's just so much time,energy and effort that goes into
it.
I thought I would go directly toa source who has been very
successful on social media andhas built a bit of a business on
(05:18):
social media to chat about.
You know what he thought aboutsocial media and he was going to
come on this podcast, but he'stoo busy flying around the world
, so I guess you could call myson lucky and influencer.
And at the time of recordingthis podcast he had a combined
following on a couple of hisplatforms tick tock and
(05:40):
Instagram.
He's got snapchat as well, Ithink, but just on those two
platforms of more than twomillion followers.
And the other day we weretalking about viral tick tock
videos and reels.
Because you know, I'm curiousand for me, if I can do
something that's going to sendsomething viral or get people
more interested in my product orget them onto my list more
(06:03):
importantly, then I'm open tothat.
I wanted to know what was itthat tips people over the edge
so that you can get into thatviral territory, and was there a
formula that worked every time?
And look, he's had a few ofthose viral videos.
I think you know the video forme that went viral was probably
one that I was in for him, inwith him.
(06:24):
Sorry, but usually for me aviral video is about a thousand
downloads or a thousand views.
For him a viral video ismillions of views, multiple
millions of views, and he canachieve that in a couple of
hours.
Mine, you know, it's a thousandover a couple of days.
But I, when I asked Lachlanabout whether or not he could
(06:46):
identify that one thing thathelped a video go viral, that
really helped the followers come, that help boost the engagement
, he made this comment that kindof surprised me and that was
that social media was likegambling and it was a game that
you couldn't win.
And his view was no matter howbig or small your account, the
(07:11):
algorithm worked exactly thesame for each and every one of
us.
It was like gambling.
So Every now and then thesocial platform would deliver us
a jackpot in the way of thatpost or video that goes viral,
whatever that means for you.
But trying to work out why, therhyme or reason behind that is
(07:33):
almost impossible, because thatvideo you could then repeat 10
times and the chances of itgoing viral again were going to
be pretty slim.
And Lachlan has learned thatover many years of working on
the platform and, obviously,building his audience.
His comment was that there wasno way to work out what it was
(07:55):
that was making him hit thatproverbial jackpot and no way
really to work out the algorithm.
So naturally, I pressed him onthis a little bit because I
thought surely there's a wayyou've had so many of these
viral videos.
There has to be something herethat is sending your engagement
and your followers soaring.
(08:16):
Is the hashtags used?
Is it I don't know, the shirtyou wore?
Is it the length of the reel?
Could it be the caption andagain he said no, there's no
real way of knowing.
I think in that viral moment,what happens is the platform
convinces you that social mediais the way to go for your
business and in doing that, itkeeps you coming back for more,
(08:39):
making more content, spendingmore money on ads, spending
countless hours scrolling forideas, more.
So the social media platformsget what they want higher
engagement.
You're continuing to come backfor more, but in fact there's no
rhyme or reason to what's goingto get you that next jackpot.
So it is a little like gambling.
(09:00):
So I let that sit with me for awhile.
We had quite a long discussionon the ins and the outs of
whether social media was likegambling and whether it was
really a game that you justcouldn't win.
And I guess after speaking toLachlan someone who makes a
living really off the platform Ithought, well, he's probably
(09:21):
right, it's just another numbersgame.
That's part of business andsomething that we need to buy
into, maybe that necessary evil.
But it had me thinking aboutwhether or not the old fashioned
ways and old fashioned only 30,30 years ago, but word of mouth
, referrals, building that listis really a better way to market
(09:45):
your business and I guesswhether you could do that
without socials at all.
It's an experiment that I'm notgoing to buy into because I like
my social media for that socialproof, so that if people want
to follow me easily, if theywant to reach out to me easily,
it's there.
My platform is there Instagramthey can send me a message.
It's not a drama.
(10:05):
Same thing on Facebook.
You know where I can have aclosed community on Facebook
where I can talk to peopleactually inside this Facebook
community, secrets of successfulbusiness, and you know we can
talk about money and I know thepeople who are coming into that
closed community, who areprepared to share their email
with me to be part of it, aregenuinely interested in what I
(10:26):
have to say.
So there's definitely a placefor it.
I'm not saying that there isn't,but I think if we think about
you know, business being thatnumbers game and the name of the
game being that you want tosell your thing, make money,
make a profit so that you canpay yourself and your team and
live, then relying on socialmedia too much is probably not
(10:51):
the way to go, especially forthe longer term.
We've all seen where socialmedia shuts down for no reason,
where people get their accountsclosed, where they're banned for
, you know, breaking somecommunity rule.
But you have none of that withyour email.
You have none of that with wordof mouth or referral.
(11:11):
Sure, people can opt out ofyour email and that's okay.
In that case, they know exactlywhat it is you're selling, they
know exactly who they, who youare, and if they don't want to
follow you, then that's fine.
If they don't want to buy intothe community that you're part
of, then that's fine.
It means that in doing that, inhaving that email list, in
having that referral program, inworking with loyal customers,
(11:34):
you're always refining your list.
So essentially, what you'regoing to have is a group of
people who coming along for theride because they're generally
interested in what you have todo.
So I'm not suggesting for aminute that you go ahead and
ditch social media, becausethere's definitely a place for
that in your business.
What I am saying is don't relyon it.
(11:55):
As I said, my marketing weaponof choice is my email list and
in my opinion, every business,no matter how big or how small,
should have an email list as thecornerstone of their business
marketing.
You know, when I think backover my 30 years in business,
you know the bulk of my work haseither come from my email list
(12:15):
or from word of mouth, and thatjust makes things easy.
Because having an email list iseasy, it's inexpensive, it's
effective and it's the fastestway, in my opinion, to turn
those cool or lukewarm clientsinto raving fans and then, you
know, unlock the real earningpotential in your business,
(12:37):
especially if you choose tonurture your list.
So if you haven't already gotan email list in your business,
my recommendation is to make astart, and the best way to do
that is go ahead and gather allof the emails of everyone that
you've worked with during yourbusiness life.
You can put family or friendsin there who might enjoy hearing
(12:57):
what you have to say, and sureadd them to.
Or if you're running a referralprogram, for example, it might
be important to put those peopleinto your list so you can share
with them when the nextreferral opportunity is coming
up.
So once you've got that initiallist together, it's then
important to continue to addthat every time you have a new
(13:20):
client, because if we go back tothe numbers game that is
business and we think that 80%of our income is going to come
from 20% of our clients.
Well, they are the 20% thatwe've worked with in the past.
So if you've got them all on alist, then it's going to be
really easy to reach out to themwith your next offer.
So once you've got your list,your marketing email marketing
(13:42):
list set up, my advice would beto find some great software so
that it's super simple tocommunicate with the people that
are on your list.
Now there are loads of optionson the market.
There are some free versionsand, honestly, they've all got
similar features and benefits.
Some of them are much easier touse than others.
Personally, I use Flowdeskbecause it's got great templates
(14:05):
.
It looks kind of pretty, it'svery easy to use and I can
schedule the emails in there aswell, and I can do that well in
advance.
There's no sort of caveat onhow many I can schedule and also
I could grow my list to amillion people and Flowdesk will
support me without charging mea whole bunch of extra money.
So that's my recommendation.
(14:27):
If you're interested, I'll popa little link down in the show
notes.
But when it comes to gettingtogether that list and, you know
, creating a list that you'regoing to send to.
Don't make the mistake of justreaching out to them when you
want to sell something, becausethere is no faster way for
(14:48):
someone to unsubscribe from yourlist, even if they are a
longtime loyal customer, than tobe hammering them all the time
with sales information.
So instead use your email listto speak to your ideal clients,
to nurture them, to give theminformation for free.
That might be an extension ofwhat it is you do for them.
(15:10):
Pepper that with subtle selling, sure, and every now and again
you'll be wanting to pop in asales specific email.
You know if you've got a newoffer, a new product, a new
service or you really need tosort of make a few bucks quickly
.
Definitely used to sell, buttreat your email list as more of
a community.
(15:30):
So warming up the audience, whowill hopefully one day come and
buy from you, might take awhile.
I have had my email list for avery long time and I still have
people who will come in and buyfrom me off that list, who have
never bought from me before andthey have been on that list for
many years.
(15:51):
And once you've got that listup and running, it's all about
then growing that list, soextending that list from just
the people who you've workedwith in the past, and family and
friends to new people thatyou're bringing into your
ecosystem, and that's how socialmedia can help you in that
endeavour.
Now, according to OptinMonster,60% of people 60% of people who
(16:15):
come across your business andare given the opportunity to
download a freebie or sign upfor a newsletter will always
sign up for your email list.
But only 20% of those samepeople will choose to follow you
on social media.
And even if they do follow youon social media, the percentage
(16:36):
of when they see your thingcoming up is so low that you
could probably post the samething five days in a row and
it's likely that your followerswill never see that post from
you.
So think about that for aminute.
If you could get 60% of peoplewho come up, who come across
your business, who are going tosign up and that 60% of people
(16:57):
so 60 out of 100 you haveimmediate, direct communication
with them that is way betterthan the 20 people who will
choose to follow you on socialmedia, who may or may not ever
see your thing or hear from youever, again and again.
That's out of our hands.
That's all down to thealgorithm.
(17:17):
So, hopefully, you've got yourmessaging right on things like
your social media and on yourwebsite and you've got some
search engine optimization SEOset up in the back end of your
website so that you are comingup on google searches and that
60% that are your ideal clientsare then seeing your thing and
(17:38):
signing up.
But when you've got your emailmarketing set up and you've got
a welcome sequence ready to go,it's really time to get
intentional and to start to growthat list, and, in my
experience, the best way to doit is with a lead magnet.
So a lead magnet can be a freeor low cost resource or offer
(17:59):
that's essentially just used forgathering contact details and,
specifically, people's emailaddresses.
So, you know, these days,though, I'm finding that
consumers are much more savvywhen it comes to email lists and
who they choose to share theircontacts with, because you only
have to go through a BlackFriday or Easter or Christmas or
(18:22):
one of the many holidays thatwe have, and the number of
emails you end up getting arecompletely insane.
So people are very savvy aboutwhat they want coming into their
inbox.
So once people take that stepand they want to sign up for
your list, then make sure yougive them value in that lead
magnet.
Give them some sort of value, aquick transformation or a quick
(18:46):
win, because that is what isgoing to keep them connected to
your list and follow it up witha nurture sequence.
Talk about who you are, youknow.
Give them another opportunityto engage with you in something
free.
It could be your free Facebookgroup, but look to send out five
to seven emails once you havesomebody sign up for.
(19:07):
Whatever thing it is you'regetting them to sign up for and
speak to them, really nurturethem.
Some lead magnet ideas caninclude checklists, quizzes,
ebooks, mini courses, cheatsheets, coupon codes if you've
got a product based business,some free shipping templates or
free trials, a free Facebookgroup, a closed Facebook group,
(19:30):
for example.
There are lots of differentideas for lead magnets out there
.
The sky is the limit, so useyour imagination when it comes
to getting people to sign up.
One of the best ways I thinkfor 2024 to get people to
actually sign up is to give thema free trial to something.
It could be a low costmembership that you've got going
(19:52):
on, or something that, when thefree trial is over, let's say,
you give them a seven day trialor a month long trial.
When the free trial is over,you email them, tell them the
free trial is over, and then yougive them the option to stick
around.
Another interesting one thatI've seen is that people are
(20:12):
using their email list.
Once they have those people intheir ecosystem, they're
actually monetising their emaillist, so they're providing
additional content in anotheremail that sits behind a paywall
, and so, essentially, they'resigning up for a freebie, but if
they want more information,more contact with that
(20:35):
influencer or that businessowner, that person, then they
have to pay a subscription offive bucks a month.
So lots of different ideas.
There's no question, though,that growing your email list can
be challenging at times.
I think it's about justconsistency, keeping at it,
because there'll be things thatgo crazy.
I had my profitable pricingformula that I was giving out at
(20:59):
a very discounted cost throughJanuary, and I got 35 signups in
a day for that one, just togive you an idea.
So there are lots of differentways that you can keep growing
that list, but I think the mostimportant thing is to be
consistent in terms ofcontinuing to find that growth,
to find the people who come intoyour world.
(21:20):
But, most importantly, you'vegot to nurture the people that
you've already got.
So make sure that, once you'vegot them in your world, you're
sharing that value, and I thinkyou'll be really shocked at how
many people on your listeventually choose to work with
you.
And remember, if you choose tosell your business at some stage
, your email list if that goeswith your business sale is going
(21:41):
to be an asset that the newowner will find invaluable.
So I'm interested in yourthoughts.
If we're thinking of businessas a numbers game and we've
decided that social media isreally the game you can't win a
little bit like gambling, whereyou're enticed to keep playing
because of that occasionaljackpot you get with a viral
(22:03):
video what do you think aboutthe idea of email marketing and
doing things a little different?
So I hope this information hashelped you today and I'll see
you next time.
And until then, keep livingyour definition of success.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Thanks for listening to the secrets of successful
business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
focicomau and make sure you hitsubscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(22:43):
Catch you next time.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com