10 Ways to Grow Your Email List

If you’re not building an email list you’re making a BIG mistake.

There’s one fundamental truth about email in business: if you have someone’s email address you can send what you like, when you like.

If you’re building your business on social media you’re building it on rented land. You don’t own the audience and are at the mercy of Facebook or Twitter allowing you to talk to your customers.

Email is the most scalable way to make sales with new customers and build deeper relationships with better customers.

If you give your subscribers value they will give value back.

That said, how can you capture leads and populate your email list? What strategies can nudge your audience to sign up? It is easier than you think but it requires good execution and the discipline to follow through.

It is not about the technology or the apps you use. Gaining subscribers is all about your quick and easy solution to a nagging problem.

Internet based marketers and software companies are a great source of inspiration and tactics to build your email list. Let’s look at some examples:

Example Number 1 – Smart Passive Income

When it comes to capturing leads, Pat Flynn is one of the experts. In 2008, he bought an Aweber account and grew his list from 0 to 10,000 emails in 13.5 months.

Pat created a free ebook on his site. It’s called “Ebooks the smart way” where he teaches newbies how to self-publish an awesome ebook.

He published the book as a special give-away and focused on quality even though it’s free. It’s a book full of truly useful information.

From the beginning, Pat did not create the list to hard sell his products. He created the list primarily to strengthen communication and relationships with his subscribers/readers.

I was one of his subscribers and I never felt he was selling anything to me. Why?

Because Pat Flynn is a master of copywriting.

He knows why you subscribed. You are curious about ebook creation and passive income. He over-serves you with useful information. Then, boom, you are clicking on his links whether it is an affiliate link or not.

His website has a couple of subscribe buttons on the front page. That is it. He uses landing pages via Leadpages. He also uses Viperchills’s OptinSkin to easily embed opt-in forms in his web pages.

Now, he has over 100,000 people in his community.

Example Number 2 – Zen Habits

This next example is a success story for every minimalist living in this digital era. Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits is an awesome website about living with less.

Leo is very strict about affiliate marketing. In short, he doesn’t like it much. His only subscribe link can be found on his navigation menu. In fact, it is just a simple Feedburner link. Its primary function is to push new blog posts to his subscribers.

He will not sell anything to his subscribers. Nevertheless, his email list is still valuable because he can share valuable information to people.

The people in his list will always get his blog posts via email. The newsletter drives traffic to his website. This traffic is important because this is where subscribers will get re-acquainted to Leo’s Sea Change course about minimalism.

This is how he makes his money, by selling his course. Without his list, people will probably forget to bookmark his site and he will be left shouting into a void of nothingness.

See, he is not pushing anyone to subscribe. Nor is he pitching his product in the newsletter. However, Leo has about a million subscribers.

He wants you to change bad habits. He wants you to be healthier. He wants you to be more productive. He wants you to be happy about your life.

This is the power of value and genuinely caring about your audience.

The Sleazy Side of Lead Capture?

Let me preface with a caveat. What is sleazy for some may not be sleazy for others. It really depends on your own personal ethics and principles. Part of marketing is understanding and playing into the psyche of your readers.

Now that you have read two shining examples, allow me to get into the other side of lead capture. This will sound, oh so, familiar to you.

Have you been to a landing page and suddenly or before you leave a pop-up comes filling up your whole monitor? You apparently have two choices:

  1. Yes – Subscribe now to get billions of targeted traffic to your site.
  2. Not now – I don’t want traffic and increased conversion.

This kind of tactic is the new normal. In my opinion, it is invasive and disrespects the reader. It is a promise that plays on our psychological weaknesses. Of course, who does not want billions (or even just thousands) of targeted traffic and increased profits?

This tactic converts so well that more and more honest marketers are using this with reckless abandon.

How to Capture Leads the Practical Way

You will find lots of information about capturing email addresses on the internet, telling you to do this and that. Is there a hard and fast rule to getting more emails and leads? There are none. However, you might get some ideas from these tactics that are time-tested and practical to implement.

  1. Placement of Forms

Your form’s immediate visibility is important. One practice that you will notice on most websites is placing the form “above the fold”. This is the part of the web page where a reader does not have to scroll down.

Based on a study by Jakob Nielsen, “web users spend 80% of their time looking at information above the page fold. Although users do scroll, they allocate only 20% of their attention below the fold.”

  1. Fewer Fields

Work turns people off. If you want to get more subscribers then you need to make subscribing easy and less like work.

Fewer fields leads to more subscribers. In this contact form study, an 11-field form was replaced by a four field form. The result? 160% increase in form submissions and 120% conversion.

For your form just ask the subscriber for their email address. Remove everything optional if you can get away with it.

capture leads

The screenshot above is from Fizzle.co co-founder, Corbett Barr’s personal blog. Look at this example and see how the copy (call-to-action) and the single field gently nudges you to type in your email address.

  1. Call to Action

Similar to the example screenshot above, you need a call-to-action in order to persuade people to subscribe. Your copy should be short but compelling. This is the reason why the best copywriters are paid so much.

However, you do not need to hire the ultimate copywriter. You just need to keep your sentences short and straight to the point.

Know your audience and distill their pain points into a few words, then present the perfect solution in fewer words. This creates motivation and that is the goal of your copy. Here’s a great article on how to create micro-copy.

  1. Button Colours

There is psychology in colours. It is essentially a branch of psychology that studies the behaviour of humans in relation to colour.

According to this Kissmetrics article, the best converting colours to use for your Call to action are: red, green, orange, yellow. Just avoid too much yellow because a lot of it can cause screen nausea!

You can also use orange for your buttons because this colour creates a sense of urgency, impulse and confidence.

capture lead button colour

In the example above, the copy is clear and short. In addition, they are practically giving away the course (more on that below). Plus, they are using orange as a background and a calming green colour for the button. The button stands out because of the background.

  1. Giveaway as Lead Magnets

Now that you have written compelling copy and you have your colours right, why not make your sign up form irresistible by giving away stuff. This step is optional but according to rewardlevel.com, conversion rate will increase.

Check out this Form from Quicksprout:

 lead magnet - capture leads

There is not much to say about giveaways aside from the fact that people love free stuff. Whether it’s a $5 voucher or a free discount code, you cannot go wrong with it.

Why do you need Lead Magnets?

Unless you are a well-known personality, people will not follow you or subscribe to your blog just because you said so. Your opt-in forms are useless without something to entice them.

Your opt-ins are only effective if you have lead magnets!

Lead magnets are ethical “bribes” so that visitors to your site will give you their names, numbers or email addresses. It sounds cool, right? More than that, a lead magnet can double or even triple your opt-in rate.

What kind of lead magnets can fire up your subscription?

We all know the term “different strokes for different folks,” this applies to everyone who goes to your site.  It is good to make different variations so you can segment, at the same time, answer the different needs of your market.

I have gathered a list of different lead magnets that you can choose from. You can play with variations and add them to your opt-in forms. You can also place them on your landing pages or blog and seamlessly interweave them with your articles.

  1. How To ebooks in PDF

This is the most common, yet one of the most effective lead magnets around.

Time is of the essence for many people. For anyone who is trying to catch-up with the fast-paced web environment, “How-to” ebooks can save you a lot of time. A person can simply follow a step-by-step guide and learn from the experience of another.

Of course, your audience might try a different method eventually, but everyone has to start somewhere. A how to guide is a good one to start with.

Check out this example from Jeff Bullas.

 lead capture - Jeff bullas

If you are new to blogging or using a blog to increase your traffic, you would definitely sign up. Aside from its kick ass copy, with just 8-key steps to master blogging, it only requires your name and email.

  1. Cheat Sheets

Now there are different types like checklists, mindmaps, Q&As/fill-in-the blanks. The content, most of the time, is an actual process or practices by companies giving them out.

I love cheat sheets for the sheer simplicity of the process. They cut to the chase. They are very specific.

Your prospects would love them too. They give you a simplified process to follow and save you a lot of time.

Just check out this content mapping template from CMI.

lead magnet - lead capture

  1. Video Courses

There are truly remarkable video courses that are offered in exchange for emails; like this video course offered by Amy Porterfield for free.

Video Course Lead Amy Porterfield   Social Media Strategy Consultant

Of course the rise of video marketing is not surprising. YouTube alone receives millions of searches everyday.

Different forecasts including that of Cisco claim that there will be a rapid rise of video viewership until 2018. We have all seen videos go viral. More astounding is that there are videos that get millions not just thousands of shares.

  1. Webinars/Webcasts

According to a study by Content Marketing Institute, webinars or webcasts are one of the top marketing tactics that are very effective. This is across the board from lead generation to closing some sales.

Check out how B2C is leveraging webcasts to get more leads. It is a rather long form but it gets the job done.

Why  What  and How to Do Social Selling b2c

B2C Why  What  and How to Do Social Selling

  1. Free Consultations

Who doesn’t want free advice from the expert?

Experts are sought after especially online. Everyday many emerging entrepreneurs are looking for someone to guide them. If you are an expert on your industry, then this is a good lead magnet to get a targeted audience.

CORDIE INC   Web Design  Inbound Marketing  Online Marketing  Rochester MN

  1. Infographics

Infographics are good lead magnets, a powerful one is something that your readers want to download and paste on their walls.

More than that it is a good marketing material to remind your audience how valuable your service is.

The Art of Color Coordination - Kissmetrics

Embed Code to Infographic:

<b>++ Click Image to Enlarge ++</b><br /><a href=”http://blog.kissmetrics.com/art-of-color-coordination/”><img src=”http://blog.kissmetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/color-coordination-sm.jpg” alt=”The Art of Color Coordination”></a><br />Source: <a href=”http://blog.kissmetrics.com/art-of-color-coordination/”>The Art of Color Coordination</a>

  1. Gear List

I have seen a lot of opt-in forms giving away tools or resources that a prospect can use. One of them is the one below.

Optin Viral Marketing   ViperChill

As you can see, Viperchill is simply offering information on different kinds of SEO Tools and products that they are using. Given that this kind of information is valuable, especially if you are new to SEO and you want to know more about the best tools online.

  1. Discounts, Coupons, and Freebies

This is a great lead magnet especially for online retail shops. People love discounts, coupons and freebies.

Clothing Online NZ   Discount Clothing   Men   Women

  1. Free trials

Trust is something that you will not easily get online. The tendency of prospects is to check reviews or try things first for free before paying for services or products.

That is why many businesses are now offering free trials especially when it comes to services or tools.

Pricing   KISSmetrics

  1. Exclusive Invites to Join a Community or Forum

This is a site that offers a free SEO course. It has its own community where students can interact with other students and share their ideas.

In this scenario, there is high probability that anyone who signs will continue as paid members.

Insider Subscription   Learn SEO through Training Courses   SEO Hacker School

The Final Step

Whatever tactics and strategies you want to implement, it is always best to look at examples and A/B test your opt-in forms and landing pages. This includes the lead magnets that you plan to use so you know what converts the most for your of audience. The biggest websites do split testing, why not you?

Remember Pearson’s Law: “That which is measured, improves.”

The only way you can create relevant metrics is to test changes and make improvements as you go.

As always, you also need to provide value, as this alone can really push your business beyond the limits.

Need Help?

If you want some ideas on how to grow your email list post your site in the comments and I will give you specific recommendations for your business.

Bonus Guide
Now you are growing your email list you can get prospects to open more of your emails. Get the bonus guide:

10 Powerful Email Subject Lines: Your Guide to a Higher Email Open-Rate

10 powerful email subject lines

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How to Put Your Website on the First Page of Google

“Just Google It” is a phrase that has entered our everyday conversation.

We search Google 3.5 billion times per day.

Over 2/3 of buyers user search when making a purchase decision. Often at the beginning of the process.

If you’re not there you WILL be losing out on business.

Having a website is the first step. Next is increasing your online visibility. Doing this requires SEO.

In fact, you need to understand the principles of SEO even if you are hiring an online marketing company to do this task for you.

The good news?

In little ole’ NZ it’s relatively easy to get your site ranking well on Google. Unless your in a highly competition category then following some basic steps can improve your rankings dramatically.

Higher rankings = better visibility = more enquiries

How does it work? How can SEO raise your online presence and give you an edge over your competitors?

These are common questions that come to mind when you hear the word SEO. There are tons of resources about it on the Internet. It is literally an endless rabbit hole you can fall into.

The web is full of clutter and you need to distinguish fact from fiction. In addition, you want a simplified guide about SEO so you can easily learn some tactics to use on your website.

What is the significance of SEO to your business?

Search Engine Optimisation is a tactic you can use to increasing your business website’s ranking. You can have the opportunity to rank on Google search’ first page if you know how to use this well.

Remember that you are up against a sea of websites. Your awesome content will remain invisible (no matter how valuable they are) if you do not employ the basics of SEO. You are practically non-existent if you are not on top of serps (search engine page results).

Though you need to understand, conducting an SEO campaign is not that simple. The web being in constant flux, Google has evolved since then. Its algorithm favours quality content over the spammy noise.

The name of the game today is earning Google’s “trust”. Proving yourself over time is the key. Though some can break the code, gone are the days when you can rank for a particular search term in just a matter of weeks. It is nearly next to impossible to manipulate the serps.

The Rise of the Three Algorithms

The Google Panda, Penguin and Pigeon are algorithms or formulas used by the search results for ranking sites. These algorithms will impose sanctions and penalise sites that fail to follow their guidelines.

The most common requirement these days is to have high quality and unique content on your site. We don’t discount the fact that having a website with exceptional user experience is always a factor in Google search rankings.

If you do not want to fall into Google’s bad graces, stay up-to-date with the latest guidelines. Usually, the updates are reported by the entire SEO community and discussed in several online forums.

If you want to know the latest on Google’s algorithm, check out Moz’ updates.

Getting started

Creating high quality content starts with good keyword research. This task will help you pinpoint the most ideal keyword/s for your content writing and optimisation efforts.

Note that the shorter the keyword/s, the harder it will be for you to rank it on serps. More so if your site is still new. It is advisable to target long-tail keywords as they are less competitive and far easier to rank.

How to find the right Long-Tail Keywords

You can find an ideal long-tail keyword through Google’s autosuggest feature. To use this, do the following:

  • Navigate to a search page for your country and type a keyword.
  • As you type the keyword, you will notice a drop-down box with some suggestions. Once you see the keyword suggestions, jot down all the keywords that you think is relevant to your content.
  • Choose at least 3 to 5 of the most suitable keywords you find in the autosuggest and head over to Google keyword planner. You can easily find this keyword tool by going to this link: https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner. It is advisable to create a Gmail account, so you can readily access the keyword planner without having to enter the Captcha code every time you use this tool. The keyword planner will provide you the following data:
  • Level of advertiser competition on your selected keywords
  • Amount of searches each keyword gets per month
  • Additional long-term keywords

An attractive primary keyword must have considerable average monthly searches. This is the average number of times people search for an exact match keyword based on their current location.

In Adwords tool, there is a column called competition. Each keyword is categorised as low, medium or high competition. Ignore that column because that is for advertisers and not search competition .

High competition keywords are usually more challenging to rank for in Google. Keep in mind that finding this type of keyword can take time, so be patient and conduct an in-depth search using the tool.

If you find Google’s Keyword Planner vexing, there are free keyword research tools out there. Try out Ubersuggest, SpyFu, SemRush, or all of them.

  • When you have completed your analysis, choose a primary keyword that you will use on your content. However, make sure that you have spent some time in analysing the keyword. It should be a keyword that you can compete for on the SERPs.

Creating and optimising your content

When you are creating content for your website, you must ensure that you meet the baseline specifications for a good optimised content. These specifications are as follows:

  • It must have one primary keyword and one or two secondary keywords
  • If it is an article or blog post, it should contain 500 words but a 1000-word article is recommended
  • It must be unique, well-researched and provide value to your readers

Another thing to consider is the on-page optimisation of the post within your site. Make sure that the primary keyword is in:

  • The page at least once
  • The title of the content
  • The URL of the page
  • The meta description
  • The alt title of image that you will use in the content

Now, what about the keyword density (KD)? Is it still relevant in 2015?

Most SEO specialists will tell you that 2% is the ideal KD; Others will justify that 5% has more weight in the eyes of the SERPs.  In reality, it all comes down to the amount of content on the page.

A 100-word article with a 6% keyword density will look spammy. For a 1000-word article, it is the ideal density for good rankings. The most important thing is that, it should be used in the most natural way as possible.

If you are using the WordPress platform, you can install an SEO plugin to make your job easier. You can use Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. It is free and contains several features that can aid your on-page optimisation efforts.

Quality Link Building

Moving your rankings up on search results require quality links. A word of caution, it is harder to rank highly for a particular keyword if you are competing against sites that have more quality links than yours.

Why is this? Links are the currency of the web. Every time your content gets linked to, it means that you provide massive value to Internet users. It is why links are such a strong factor in Google’s algorithm.

How to acquire quality links?

The general rule when it comes to link building is to avoid “spam tactics.”

Here are a few dos and don’ts to follow.

  • Do try to acquire links naturally, even if it takes time.
  • Do build your links consistently and organically, which means you should schedule your link building efforts and follow it by heart.
  • Do not use link farms or link directories in your campaign.
  • Do not use any automated tools that lets you build thousands of links in just a short period of time.
  • Do not be tempted to buy links or you will be flagged by Google. All your efforts will be for nothing if you get too impatient.

Where to get the link naturally?

To get quality links for your site, you can follow these link building strategies:

  • Guest Posting

What about Google Penguin 3.0 which is geared to penalised manipulative link building or link schemes? Guest posting is considered by Google as a link scheme. Matt Cutts openly declared it as dead.

Can you still consider it in your campaign?

Yes you can, if you use no follow links.

It is still the best way to acquire referral traffic from popular and relevant websites. Try to focus on creating quality content since you are reaching out to other website owners. Having quality content increases your chances of getting into high-authority and credible site.

  • Link Baiting

This is another effective method of building powerful links on a large scale. Is it as simple as producing valuable content? No, but you hit the right spot if you understand what people want.

To start off though, it must be free and shareable. It must be so valuable that people would be willing to share it.

There are different types of link bait and this can include the following:

  • Infographics
  • Beginner guides
  • Breaking News
  • Industry reports
  • How to guides
  • Top lists
  • Article Directories

Article submission is one of the most popular ways of building back links then. This is still useful as most article directories are authority sites. You can focus on creating multiple quality and unique articles and spread them out to different directories for best result.

  • Broken Link Building

This is a new but powerful effective link building strategy. With this strategy, you can reach out to quality sites and use it as an opportunity to ask the site administrator to fix those broken links with a link to your site.

  • Video Link Building

YouTube is surpassing Google search in terms of monthly searches. If you want to capture visitors from YouTube, create a compelling video with a link on the description that points back to your site. Make sure that the video and your description are related. Also, it does not need to be a long; a 3 to 10-minute video will do with useful information about your topic.

Tools to Assess Your SEO Campaigns

To get the result of your current campaign, you can utilise free online tools like Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools. Once you created a Gmail account, you can use it to access these tools.

We have made a step-by-step guide for you. Showing you how to setup Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools. These are essential in tracking your goals and showing progress in your SEO efforts.

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Download the Setup Guide for Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools:

google analytics setup guide

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James’ Secret Formula for Creating Content that Converts

You’ve got a website and it looks great so you’re ahead of 50% of NZ businesses who don’t have one.

But….

….the incoming traffic isn’t what you expected and there’s bugger all conversions and sales. i.e. it ain’t making you $$.

There are well over a billion people using Google Search and yet you are invisible to just about everyone.

This makes you want to bang your head against the wall, right?

Well don’t.

What you forget is that a website is just the tip of the iceberg. As the saying goes “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”.

Your website cannot do what you expect of it if you don’t have a plan and the right tools to get found. You can’t break the ice with just a website. You have to communicate with your prospects, give them something of value and build trust with them.

These things take time but they’re worth it. One day you will have a site that generates leads and sales automatically.

Creating Content for Search Rankings

Search engines are tools that you can use so that prospects find your website. You have to befriend Google and feed it with valuable content. By doing this you are feeding your prospects too.

When creating content for search rankings, keep in mind that your content should:

  • Be accurate and provide valuable information to your readers
  • Be relevant to your products or services
  • Include optimised keywords that you readers are using
  • Be in line with Google’s search algorithm

You need high quality content to build authority for your website and eventually sell your products or services. There is no point in producing content that doesn’t have a purpose.

That is why you need to establish your buyer persona. Get to know your audience and take the necessary steps to determine your target market. This is your key to success.

Conduct Market Research

Doing market research can be daunting. You can simplify the process by creating and using a buyer persona profile.

What exactly is a buyer persona?  It is a profile of your ideal customer; the one that you need to influence with your content.

Market research will provide you with the necessary data about your buyer persona. It will decode your audience’s most urgent needs. It will enable you to focus your content on the people who are interested in your business.

The core of your research must answer the following questions:

     What are their problems that need solving?

  • What factors are they focusing on when they make a buying decision?
  • What are the remedies they are looking for to fix their problems?

Planning your Content

Time to get into the meat of this. You want to know my secrets don’t you?

Before you start writing do these four steps:

  1. Know the purpose of your content

First you need to understand why you are creating the content in the first place. What do you want to achieve? What particular group of people are you trying to reach? What are the topics that you need to highlight in your content? These are the questions you need to answer before you begin creating anything.

  1. Determine your target audience

You must get to know the people you are targeting. Once you understand your target audience you can move onto the next step. Before you move on read my article on creating buyer personas. If you don’t have a buyer persona already take the time to create one.

Now it’s time to organise all your personal opinions, ideas, thoughts and the information you have gathered.

  1. Get information from credible resources

When you post content on your website, it needs to be accurate and reliable. You don’t want to create the wrong impression since one of your goals is to build authority within your market. When collecting information make sure your sources are kosher and keep track of the websites you use.

  1. Highlight your brand

Your brand should stand out in all your content, so you need to be consistent. You do not want to confuse your audience by shifting to various topics that are not relevant to your business. Make sure you only tackle topics that are closely related to what you offer in your business.

Types of Content for your Website 

There are different types of content for your website. It all depends on the goal you want to achieve. You may want to write content that can:

  • Entertain
  • Educate
  • Persuade
  • Convert

You may think that the most important thing is to persuade your prospects and convert them into paying customers – think again! You should produce content that entertains or educates or both.

Entertaining content helps you reach your target market more effectively. This sort of content is emotional and very shareable.

But you need to give your readers some substance – you want content that educates your readers and opens their mind on how they can benefit from your brand.

Are you familiar with brand storytelling? Big names like Apple, Coca-cola and Lego are using this. Did you take your kids to see the Lego movie? It really is awesome because it is a great big piece of brand storytelling.

Brand storytelling ties emotional content that has the capability to draw in your prospects closer to your brand. Great storytelling has the power to convert the usual site visitor into an avid and supportive customer. All you need to do is to tap into their emotions and give them a reason to follow and share the content on your website.

A good example of brand storytelling is Coca-Cola and its popular 20-20 project. This emotionally connected content can be found on YouTube. Coca-Cola boldly used content marketing as a major driver of growth for their company. Consumer-generated stories are featured in their 20-20 project. Its impact is huge if we count their ads that have gone viral.

The Importance of Headlines

Do you click on articles with boring headlines? Or do you click on headlines that interest you and offer you something? Headlines are crucial and they will make or break your content.

Create clickable headlines by:

  • Putting special emphasis on the first three words
  • Make sure it’s within the 65-character mark or less for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes
  • Making it concise and direct to the point – your audience must immediately understand what your content is

The anatomy of a good headline starts with a good, short and catchy phrase. It must be easy to read and generate enough curiosity that the reader will be compelled to click on the article. Here are some good examples of strong headlines:

  • Home Saving Hacks for Busy Mothers
  • The Shocking Truth About Information Overload
  • 13 Surprising Reasons Why Your Business Fails
  • How to Generate Leads without Burning Your Pocket

Make the Necessary Revisions

Get in the habit of revising your content until you find it worthy of your website. Keep in mind that you must post high quality and valuable content. You have to refine your content before you hit the publish button.

When revising any content, you need to check the following:

  • Check your grammar – you can use Grammarly or any other free online tool to check for grammar or spelling errors in your content.
  • Examine the structure of your content – always remember coherent content will lead the reader through a clear line of thinking.
  • Review all the parts – starting with your headline, then the introduction, body and ending. Each part must have a purpose and relevancy to your topic.
  • Assess the overall value of your content – before you publish the content put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and ask yourself this: “What value will I get from reading this?”

If you have now created an epic piece of content it’s time to publish it on your website.

Download my Content Creation Checklist and follow my easy but extremely effective guide.

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Download this checklist to use when creating your content:

content that converts checklist

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growth hq

Welcome to Growth HQ

growth hq

Welcome to the new home of Growth HQ.

If you’ve ever wondered:

  • How do I get more customers?
  • How do I use the Internet to grow my business and free up more time?
  • Where is the best place for me to spend my marketing dollars?
  • How did ‘insert famous kiwi’ get to where they are now?
  • How do I get more ATTENTION for my business?
  • How/where/what do I start?

You’re in the right place.

Read More

How to Stop Trashing Around Like a Dying Fish

We all want to sell. If you don’t you’re in the wrong place.

You know the phrase “Knowledge is power”

Knowledge helps you sell more.

We’ve already talked about knowing your customer.

You also need to know your product or service that you are selling.

A simple way to align this thinking is to go back to the ancient philosophers and take another look at their ultimate wisdom: “Know thyself.”

This time let me angle it a little bit and declare this: “Know thy product.”

By the end of this article you will be able to determine the unique selling proposition (USP) of your product or service. More than that, you will be able to sell more with purpose and confidence.

more sales

This guy has a USP. It’s on his numberplate.

What is a USP and how can it Help Your Business?

What is your USP?

I don’t need to beat around the bush and give a long-winded definition of USP.

Simply said, USP is something that differentiates your product or service from all the millions of similar products and services out there.

It is very easy to be unique if you have a unique product or service from the very start. If you do not have that, you can either develop unique promotions or unique guarantees for your customers.

Aside from that, how can you make your product or service stand head-and-shoulders above other similar offers?

The lesson here is to find out what makes you unique.

This is where composing your USP comes in:

1. Write down your USP. Do not think it. Write it. Write down your USP in whatever way it comes out of your head. You may write down a thousand words, that’s ok. You can cut it down later and distill it to what is essential and unique about your business.

Make a point to be the devil’s advocate of your own business. Think about why your product or service is not worth anyone’s time. This will actually help you think about what will make it unique and what will make your buyers go gaga over it.

2. Be the customer and answer this question as you write: “Why should I buy from you?” According to Corbett Barr of Sparkline fame, if you can’t answer this question quickly, your potential customers will move on. It’s not a good thing. You haven’t even launched your product or service and you are losing already. So put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Be the distasteful critique. Be the killer editor. Be the discerning customer.

3. Let your personality shine in whatever product or service you have. Look at Gary Vaynerchuck as an example. He took his family’s wine business from a million dollar company to a multi-million dollar company because of his social media savvy and standout personality. His personality reflects in his books and in his businesses. People recognise his signature personality.

Your personality is your signature.

4. Look for patterns on the Internet and learn from them. What products and services attract you? What pages, copy or words make you stop and think?

increase sales

Don’t be an ass kisser but nail your USP.

It is Easier to Understand When You Know

Once you know your USP you will have a better grasp of your product or service. Knowing your product or service will help you understand it better. The better you understand your offer the better you can explain what it is to other people.

Communicating your offer to potential customers is essential if you want to skyrocket sales. When you have a good grasp of your product or service it is very easy to be enthusiastic about it.

How many salespersons do you know that make a sale by being excited about what they are selling? On the other hand, how many half-hearted sales pitches have you read or heard that really moved you to buy?

Enthusiasm and knowledge will boost your potential customers’ confidence in your product or service.

Faith is very powerful. It is especially powerful when it comes to sales.

You may have heard about the placebo effect in medicine and healing. The conceit of the placebo effect is to have patients take inert forms of medication that they were made to believe would relieve symptoms of any specific disease or pains.

Not surprisingly, placebos tend to work on 30% of patients.

Why? Because of the power of suggestion. The mind believes that taking a certain medicine will heal. That faith alone is powerful enough to activate any form of healing factor in a body.

When selling products and services, we are not selling placebos. But if we are confident that our service can help other people and relieve whatever pain points we can address, then that confidence will reflect in our copy, our speech, and whatever external manifestations we share and communicate to our potential customers.

Knowing our own product or service and whatever pain points we can relieve will help us sell them by orders of magnitude better than any half-hearted attempts at marketing and promotion.

In summary, you get more sales by:

1. Knowing your product or service inside out.

2. Knowing your USP – it is not simple to write your USP but it is worth it.

3. Keeping your USP at the forefront of your mind so you can clearly communicate your product or service.

4. Communicating clearly – this will help you or your sales team boost enthusiasm about your product or service.

5. By going gaga over your own product or service – this will instill buyer confidence.

When you have a product or service that can actually address pain points of your customers, then all you need to do is differentiate yourself from the competition and reap the rewards.

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Four Essential Questions to Improve Customer Quality

You invested money, time and effort into creating what you thought was an irresistible offer. You mapped out a well-planned promotion. You started marketing it but the response was flat.

Well, you thought, I could reinvent and create a new strategy – so out went another investment of money, time and effort. Still, not many more bites. There are people who are interested and asking about your product. But, no one’s buying. You start asking yourself: where did I go wrong?

I am going to ask you a question.

Did you ever run your offer past your imaginary friends?

No, I am not crazy but I do talk to my imaginary friends. Well actually, they are my imaginary buyers and their names are Steve and Catherine.

What I am talking about are Growth HQ’s buyer personas.

customer persona

Meet one of Growth HQ’s buyer personas – Steve

When marketing efforts fail to make a splash, it means that you have not checked in with your buyer persona. One fundamental concept that you must keep in mind, when developing new products and processes is an in-depth understanding of your buyer persona.

What is a Buyer Persona?

What do you say when asked who your ideal customer is? You may answer: a mother or a CEO of a multi-million dollar company or a teenager who is still getting an allowance from his parents. These descriptions are part of what makes up a persona but they are not enough. Buyer personas are so much more dynamic than this. They have to become real to you.

There are different perspectives about what a buyer persona is. It is an ever-evolving concept. There should be a continual shift and transformation in regards to your ideal customer, as your business progresses. You may have created a buyer persona at the initial stage of developing your company, but she or he will constantly change and
you need to be aware of that.

A buyer persona highlights the roles and responsibilities of your target audience. You need to now what these are so that you can communicate effectively and know what content will reach out and capture their interest.

Tony Zambito, an authority for buyer personas in B2B marketing, defines buyer personas as research-based archetypal (modelled) representations of who your buyers are, what they are trying to accomplish, what goals drive their behaviour, how they think, how they buy, and why they make buying decisions including where and when they
buy.

Adele Revella, a marketing expert and foremost evangelist of buyer personas, recommends looking at buyer persona in two perspectives. The first perspective is the “Core Buyer Persona”. This seeks to understand the buyer in his own environment – without reference to whatever you might want to sell him. It tells you whether the buyer is looking for solution like yours, or is busy with other priorities. The second perspective is the “Product Persona Connection”. It reveals attitudes about your product and company.

As you can see from these different perspectives, a buyer persona is more than just a demographic or profiling of a customer. A buyer persona is a vision of your ideal customer based on intensive qualitative research.

In order to identify your buyer persona you have to do in-depth research of your customers. You then answer the ‘whys’ because ultimately, this will point you to how they arrived at the decision making point for the first initial sale and why they came back for more.

How Important is a Buyer Persona for NZ Businesses?

Buyer personas play a central role in business sustainability and growth. We all know that customers are the lifeblood of our business.

In creating a buyer persona, you will form a strong insight into your buyers. This will provide a substantial difference when planning for effective marketing campaigns. You can then adapt strategies to suit seasons, purchase decisions and buying behaviours.

Your buyer persona will help you tremendously when aligning your content to the interests of your market. Effective content increases social shares, which amplifies your reach to new and potential markets.

Understanding your buyer persona addresses gaps in the decision making process. It allows you to understand the issues and concerns that can stop your buyers from going through with the transaction. It allows you to create a solution for these issues and concerns.

The Four Essential Questions

Who are your buyers?

What are their goals?

What are their problems or challenges?

Where do they source information?

Who are your buyers?

The buyer persona concept is a model based on actual customers. But it may not be who you initially think it is. It may be one type of person who is looking for a particular solution to a certain need, or several people with different needs.

What are their goals?

Depending on whether your business is B2C or B2B, there are varying goals. B2C persona goals are based on personal initiative. B2B are based on common ground arrived at by several decision-making bodies.

What are their problems or challenges?

There are many problems or challenges that buyers have to hurdle over before they arrive at a definite decision. We don’t exactly know how buyers think, we can only assume what these problems or challenges are and identify them by observing.

Where do they source information?

Buyers use multiple channels to source information and new ones are sprouting up all the time. Knowing where your buyers get information from is important, so that you know where to market your products or services. You will also gain an understanding of how they consume information and how to effectively engage them.

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