154. 3 Trends I'm Noticing in Online Business Right Now

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Something feels off in the online business world lately, doesn’t it? If your go-to strategies aren’t landing like they used to, there’s a reason why. In this episode, I’m sharing three major trends I’ve been noticing in my business, with my clients, and across the digital space. These shifts could explain why things feel harder right now, and I’ll walk you through how to respond in ways that feel aligned and effective.

We’ll talk about why perfectly polished content is falling flat and how being more human and relatable can actually drive better results. I also break down the growing need for more customer touch points before a sale happens, and why that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And finally, I share why simplicity is the new secret weapon in your offers and marketing—and how I’m applying that in my own work. If you’re ready to adapt and thrive, this episode will help you do just that!

01:28 - Trend 1: Authentic (and often messy), human-sounding content is converting better

04:29 - Trend 2: People need more touch points to convert

06:11 - Trend 3: People want simplicity over complex strategies

08:26 - 3 action steps to help you implement these trends this week

Links & Resources:

• Interested in Homepage Express? Reach out here!
• Episode 120, The 20-Minute Newsletter Strategy That Converts with Liz Wilcox
• Episode 148, The 15-Minute Weekly Plan: How AI Helped Me Stop Wasting My Best Brain Hours
• Follow me on Instagram @kristendoyle.co 
• Check out my Everything Page: a one-stop shop for savvy selling!
• The Savvy Seller Collective
• Join my private Facebook community: Savvy Teacher Sellers
• More resources for growing your TPT business
• Rate & review The Savvy Teacher Seller on Apple Podcasts

Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode154 

Tired of constantly hustling to sell your digital products? Check out my free 19-minute training where I show you how to turn all those products you already have into a profitable, automated business. 

 

Get more freedom and less stress ➡️ watch now at kristendoyle.co/training 

Check out my Everything Page at https://kristendoyle.co/everything

Episode Transcript

Kristen (00:00):
Hey friend, can we talk about something I've been
noticing? Things that workedreally well in online business
just a year or two ago aren'tworking anymore. Maybe you've
noticed it too. I keep hearingfrom people who are frustrated
because the strategies thatthey've used for years and
gotten great results from aren'tgetting the same results right

(00:23):
now.
So today I want to share threeshifts that I'm seeing, not as
some big marketing guru, butjust as someone who's been
watching this space and workingwith clients and working in this
space myself. Maybe one of thesetrends might just explain why
your audience isn't respondingthe way they normally do, and

(00:43):
more importantly, how you canadapt and what you can do in
your business so that you'reactually benefiting from these
trends instead of struggling.
Are you a digital product orcourse creator, selling on
platforms like Teachers PayTeachers, Etsy, or your own
website? Ready to grow yourbusiness, but not into the kind
of constant hustle that leadsstraight to burnout? Then you're

(01:07):
in the right place. Welcome toThe Savvy Seller. I'm Kristen
Doyle, and I'm here to give youno fluff tools and strategies
that move the needle for yourbusiness without burning you out
in the process—things like SEO,no stress marketing, email list
building, automations and somuch more. Let's get started,

(01:27):
y'all.
Alright. Trend number one, withAI everywhere, all of that
overly perfect, polished contentstarting to feel a little fake.
It's not just me, right? It'shappening for everybody. People

(01:50):
can tell when something soundstoo perfect, too marketing-y.
And the content that's actuallyconverting now is the stuff that
sounds human, a little bitmessy, more personal, not so
perfect. So let's talk aboutwhat this looks like in
practice.
When you're writing something,whether it's an email, a social

(02:13):
media post, whatever else youmight be writing, write like you
talk, not like you're giving apresentation, and definitely
don't try to sound like everyoneelse in your niche. When you're
sharing things, share the stuffthat doesn't go perfectly, too,
not just the wins. That's thestuff that really makes you
human and relatable, and peopleare really looking for that

(02:35):
connection right now. It's evenokay if you let a typo happen
occasionally, within reason, ofcourse, or maybe your grammar is
not quite perfect. In fact, Iguarantee you, if you ran the
transcript of this podcastepisode through a grammar
checker, there's no way mygrammar is perfect, not even

(02:56):
close. Could I write that way ifI wanted to? Sure, but nobody
wants to listen to that. Sowrite like you talk, not like
you're trying to market.
Think about the differencebetween an AI generated blog
post or article or social mediapost on five ways to boost
productivity, versus, I spilledcoffee all over my laptop this

(03:21):
morning, but somehow I still goteverything on my to do list
done. Here's how I did it. See,one of those feels a whole lot
more real and personal and notlike something that anyone out
there could generate with AI inthe next five minutes.
Actually, perfect example ofthis, one of my best performing

(03:43):
podcast episodes from the lastcouple months was when I was
totally struggling to getanything done in my business,
and instead of recording someperfectly polished podcast
episode and pretending I had itall together, I shared how I
literally went to chat GPT,dumped all my frustrations with
a prompt that went somethinglike, Help, I'm a mess. And then

(04:07):
I worked through a plan. Peopleloved it. It got way more
engagement than some of theother episodes, because it turns
out, apparently, you guys don'tneed me to be perfect. You just
want to know that you're not theonly one who sometimes has a
rough week. And that's the kindof realness that people are
responding to right now in allkinds of different niches.

(04:29):
Which brings me to trend numbertwo. The second thing I am
noticing is that people areneeding more touch points to
convert. Remember when you couldsend out one sales email, or
people would see one Facebookad, and they would buy. Yeah, so
unfortunately, that's prettymuch over. Now it takes way

(04:49):
more, more emails, more showingup, more building trust over
time. And it's not becauseyou're doing anything wrong,
it's just that buyer behaviorhas shifted. And honestly, it's
not a bad thing. I know itprobably feels like more work
for you, but it means that youare building real relationships
with people, and that people aregoing to be that much more

(05:11):
invested in you as a brand oncethey do start to buy things from
you and get those results.
So what this means for us,practically speaking, is that
you need to nurture people for awhile before you start selling
to them. And when you do startselling, plan for longer sales
funnels. You really need to planfor people to see your stuff

(05:33):
multiple times before they'reever ready to buy. So think
relationship building, not quicksales.
For example, instead of a fiveemail launch sequence, maybe you
need seven to 10 emails withsome extra touch points on
social media or through ads.
This is exactly why Liz Wilcox'sapproach to email marketing in
Episode 120 works so well. It'sall about building that

(05:57):
consistent weekly connection andbuilding those relationships
with the people on your list. Soif you haven't listened to that
episode yet, I definitelyrecommend it with the way that
this trend is playing out.
But here's the thing, while yes,we are adding more touch points,
people are also cravingsomething else. Trend number

(06:20):
three, they want simplicity.
Quick wins right now are beatingcomplex strategies hands down.
See, everyone everywhere isoverwhelmed and tired of
everything being so complicated.
So what that means is giantcourses with 47 modules of
everything you'll ever need toknow about this topic are out.

(06:43):
It feels too hard. It feels liketoo much work, and what people
want instead is for you to justtell them the one thing they
need to do right now. Make iteasy for them, take decisions
off their plate, instead ofgiving them more to think about
and decide and plan for and do.
So what this means for yourproducts and your content is

(07:04):
that you need to be thinkingabout how you can make offers
that solve one specific problemreally, really well, as opposed
to trying to solve all theproblems for all the people.
Break those big ideas down intosmaller, more doable pieces and
always lead with what is thateasiest first step that actually

(07:26):
makes a difference for people.
I'm actually seeing this playout in my business right now.
See, I just started offeringsomething new called homepage
express in my web designbusiness. So basically, instead
of a full website redesign thattakes weeks and requires lots of
prep, it's just, let's fix yourhomepage in a few hours. People

(07:49):
are so excited about it, andthey are loving it because it
feels doable, it feels easy.
See, all they do is just voicerecord their answers to some
questions. I run that throughsome AI that I've trained on my
framework and my methods, andboom, we get homepage copy that
I can then put into a page forthem with fresh messaging that

(08:13):
sounds like them, and itactually works. It's just that
one focused thing that we can doquickly that makes a real
difference on their websites.
So those are the three trendsI'm noticing right now in online
business. Here's your actionsteps. First, take a look at

(08:35):
your last couple of emails orposts on social. Do they sound
like you talking or like you'retrying to sound professional?
Next time you sit down to write,do it in your actual voice, even
if it feels too casual or itisn't perfect, just try it and
see what happens.
Second, count your customertouch points. How many times

(08:56):
does somebody typically see yourcontent before you start
actively selling to them? Ifit's less than five, you
probably need to build in morenurture.
And then, last but not least,pick an offer to simplify. Take
one thing that you're selling oryou're teaching and ask
yourself, what is the absolutesimplest version of this that I

(09:19):
can put out there that will getpeople a win.
So don't jump in and try to dothem all. Just pick whichever of
these three feels most relevantto where you're stuck right now,
and take that one action stepthis week. By the way, did you
see what I did there? Thesimplifying? Just pick one and

(09:40):
take one little action step thisweek, you can totally do it.
The thing is, these trends arenot going anywhere. If anything,
they're actually growing. Thegood news, though, I think, is
that these trends can all makethings a little bit easier for
us too. We get to show upauthentically, even if it isn't
perfect, and that makes iteasier to put content out,

(10:01):
because we don't have to make itall polished and perfect first.
We get to build realrelationships with the people in
our audience. And when we'recreating offers and funnels, we
don't have to make them allcomplex. We don't have to do the
big, hard thing. We can createsimpler offers and funnels for
our audience.
Now I am curious, have younoticed any of these shifts in

(10:23):
your business? Send me a DM onInstagram @kristendoyle.co and
let me know which one of thesehits closest to home for you.
And if this was helpful, youknow the drill by now, make sure
you hit that follow button ifyou haven't already, so that you
don't miss the episodes comingup, because we are going to be
talking more about some of thesetopics in the near future. I'll
talk to you soon.