More than a Website: How to Create a 24/7 Engine for your Business

You have to own your online platform if you want to call the shots and control the growth of your business.

At Growth HQ, we decided do stop using the word ‘website’ when we describe what we built for our clients. For our clients, a website is not enough. Many of our clients have been burnt before. They have had websites built for them and spent up in a big way only to find that their sexy new site does nothing other than look pretty. There’s no ROI and there’s no traction.

Now we don’t want to discriminate against pretty, but it really is what’s on the inside that counts. It’s about laying down the foundations and building a skyscraper one level at a time. Building the tallest skyscraper in town takes time, but when it’s built, you have the best view across the land. You then just need to maintain your property to keep it top notch.

How can your business stand out from the rest online?

How can you dominate the competition via online marketing?

The definition of an engine is:

“a machine with moving parts that converts power into motion”

We build Growth Engines, not websites.

A Growth Engine is an adaptable and scalable platform that allows you to feed it with fuel over and over again.

As a business owner, you want a platform that is high performing, consistent and gives you a ROI.

This all starts with your prospects. Who are they and what makes them tick? What are their needs and what problems are they trying to solve? How can you help them?

Once you know what your prospects value most, you can focus on building a platform that will feed you leads and nurture them into paying customers.

7 Steps to Building Your Very Own Growth Engine

1. Product – How do you create a product that stands above the rest? By making sure it serves the needs of the marketplace. Your product is nothing if your target customers don’t need it (or think they don’t need it) and don’t understand it.

2. Persona – The new way of marketing online is to pick one group of customers and focus on their needs and wants. Kiwi business owners try to do too much. As a nation, when it comes to business we say yes too much. Because we are a small country, we think we have to do it all and please everyone. This is an outdated approach. New Zealand has grown up and we haven’t noticed. It’s time to think micro rather than macro and niche down. Focus on one type and others will be attracted organically. This approach means that you can provide clear and direct messages. You get inside the heads of your prospects and you give them what they want.

In order for this to work, you must be clear on who your target market is. Then you focus on them and only them and provide solutions to their problems.

When you focus on a buyer persona, you tailor and direct everything in the business – from product development to marketing and delivery.

3. Platform – The third step is to create a platform that you own and control. You will communicate with your audience via your Growth Engine. It must provide valuable content that your prospects and customers are looking for. In short, it’s your platform that will build strong relationships and convert leads into paying customers.

4. Attract – After identifying your buyer persona – you now attract that group of people. You do this simply, by producing content that solves their problems. In addition, you choose the right channels to distribute and promote the content through (this is where social media comes in).

5. Capture – Now you have traffic and loads of it. You are giving away valuable content but you want something back in return, their email address. The best way to get this is through direct response marketing. You offer a freebie like a guide, book or software in return for their email address. You now have permission to start a beautiful relationship.

6. Nurture – The next essential step is to nurture your relationships, so no kissing on the first date. Keep adding value to their lives. Keep communicating until they are ready to take the next step. Always be there for them.

7. Conversion – This step focuses on converting prospects into paying customers. You must determine which offer will most likely make the sale. Keep in mind though that you need to craft an offer that matches the different stages of the buying cycle. Timing is crucial to conversion since you need to build a strong foundation. You can only focus on conversion when you have done everything else. Build your foundations first and your skyscraper will follow.

Successful real estate agency, Apartment Specialists built a Growth Engine and went from $0 – $1 million. Want to get your own Growth Engine? Download our FREE book.

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