Creative Business Success

Welcome to Season 1 Episode 5 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! I know that sales/landing pages are not a favorite task for most of us entrepreneurs. In today's episode, I talked to Christa, who provides ministry coaching and project services to her clients. She's been struggling with conversion on the sales pages for her courses, so we're working on some ways that she can update her sales pages to improve her conversions. If your sales or landing pages are making you want to rip your hair out, this one's for you!

Here is a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:

Christa's intro, 0:48

Christa's landing page problem, 1:38

Optimize your page above the fold, 3:01

Spell things out, 3:24

Reduce text - show; don't tell, 3:52

What's in it for the customer? 4:52

What are the three big course takeaways? 6:59

Rearrange or remove sections as needed, 8:18

Reiterate three big takeaways with pricing, 8:55

Make sure your imagery is inviting! 9:30

Use descriptive copy, 12:14

3 biggest takeaways + icons for clarity, 12:56

Using video to draw in different learning styles, 13:46

Tell them what they get! 14:46

Use social proof (e.g. testimonials, partnerships), 15:12

Be CLEAR with your pricing, 16:32

Use concise FAQ sections, 17:21

Offer referral program to drive customers, 17:53

Make sure to have social sharing available! 18:28

-Click here for the Share Link Generator we mentioned-

Where to connect with Christa, 20:16

Let’s dive a little deeper into a few solutions to help you improve your sales or landing pages, though!

Attention spans these days are less than stellar; we all know that. You need to take this into consideration when designing your sales or landing page, though. After all, if the first glance doesn't turn up anything interesting, many people won't bother scrolling further and you'll lose the sale!

Industry lingo for this tactic is keeping content 'above the fold,' with that fold being the point at which someone must scroll to get to the rest of the page. Take a look at your existing sales or landing pages and see how well your pages conform to this. If you realize you're wasting space, re-evaluate your page design ASAP to potentially rescue lost sales.

Make sure that the most important information on your sales page or landing page is above the fold. If you can capture attention right away, you're more likely to make the sale.

"What am I going to get out of this course/service/product?" That's what's going through the mind, either consciously or subconsciously, of every visitor to your landing page. If they can't identify what they get from what you're offering, they'll lose interest and look elsewhere. It's up to you to keep that from happening!

Give your offering a good hard look and see what the main selling points are. Highlight those aspects and make them a focus on your page. If you make it easy for your customers to see what they'll get, it's easier for them to feel connected and make a purchase.

If you find your course/service/product's biggest takeaways, you'll be able to highlight them on your sales or landing page and drive higher conversions.

Have you ever gone to a website and thought, "What in the WORLD is going on here? This page is so confusing!" That might be what your customers are thinking when they visit your sales or landing page. First, try cutting out 30% of your

Welcome to Season 1 Episode 3 of the Creative Business Success Podcast season! In this episode, I talked with Sarah, an assertiveness coach from California. She wants to empower women to become more assertive, but she's been struggling to reach her ideal clients. In today's episode, we work through opportunities for her to connect with the women who need her, creating a community, and leveraging her website to grow her services.

Here is a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:

Sarah's intro, 0:54

Her online presence and audience building obstacles, 3:16

Where are your current clients coming from? 4:34

Ensure you have adequate opt-ins, 5:45

Where does your audience hang out? 6:08

Get offline and connect! 7:33

Networking on Facebook groups, 8:29

Leveraging your free materials, 10:30

-Check out Dubsado to save time on your client emails!-

Leveraging your website to promote your services, 11:18

Speak to your audience through your copy, 13:48

Look through your audience's eyes, 15:30

Promote your go-to pages in your sidebar, 19:20

Building a community for growth, 19:38

Where to connect with Sarah! 21:57

Let's dive a little deeper into a few solutions for expanding your audience, though!

Sometimes the answers are right under our noses. Many of Sarah's current clients have found her via Facebook groups, even though the groups she's been frequenting don't target her ideal clients. In the episode, we talked about some ways that she could better leverage Facebook groups to grow her client base.

We also talked about figuring out where her ideal clients actually hang out. Since they aren't in most of the Facebook groups she's currently in, Sarah knows she needs to expand. In her case, they may be in Facebook groups, but they are also very likely at therapists offices and would benefit from additional coaching and community to build them up. Determining where your ideal client is naturally going to be found is so crucial to success!

If you notice that the majority of your clients are coming from a particular place, whether it be social media, a referral, or whatever it may be, dig deeper! Figure out why they're finding you this way over others. See if you can bring those methods to your other marketing and outreach efforts.

One of the big things we found in this episode is that Sarah wasn't fully utilizing her website and opt-in assets. She has a great freebie, but the copy on her landing page wasn't necessarily conveying the value. She also didn't have the opt-in promoted in enough places and it wasn't always clear where she wanted website visitors to go on certain pages. We talked about some ways that she could improve the copy and leverage her opt-in to increase engagement.

Sarah also had some great blog posts, but they weren't being found as much as they could be. I think that by doing a few simple things like tweaking the blog post titles, she'll be able to improve her website traffic and reach more women who need her. Since the recording, Sarah has already implemented some of the changes we talked about, and her website is looking great!

Evaluate your business assets and see if you're fully utilizing them. Sometimes, having a second pair of eyes can be helpful, so grab a business friend or a coach and find the areas that could improve.

It's so easy to get into tunnel vision within our...

Welcome to Season 1 Episode 2 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! In this episode, I talked with Shawna, a sculptor from Maine. She has been working on finding the right audience for her work. As a military veteran, she has found that she often gets pigeonholed as "good for a veteran" rather than simply a good sculptor. Being pigeonholed is all too common for many of us, so in this episode, Shawna and I work through a number of ideas to help her find and connect with her ideal audience, expand her business through unique marketing, and partner up with other entrepreneurs to further her work.

Here's a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:

Shawna's intro, 1:02

Her obstacles to defining an audience, 2:12

Getting out of the pigeonhole, 2:49

Bridging audience gaps and creating stories, 6:35

New ways to connect and engage with clients, 8:25

Collaborations and growth opportunities, 10:07

When we get tunnel vision in our business, 10:33

Identifying your audience, 11:22

Finding beneficial partnerships, 13:09

Diversifying your revenue streams, 13:57

PR and how to approach it, 15:05

Why it's important to open up to your audience, 17:09

Should I keep my product lines separate? 19:39

Where to find Shawna! 22:55

Let's dive a little deeper into a few solutions for expanding your audience, though!

One of the defining attributes of Shawna's sculptures is that they provoke conversations. If you look at Doc the Ambulance dog, whom we mentioned in the episode (and which has, since the recording, won an Honorable Mention at his latest art show!), you immediately have some questions and can start to envision his story. Check out Shawna's sculptures portfolio. Take a look at her pieces and see how they grab your attention.

Because of the stories her pieces bring to life, I suggested she consider working with writers to TELL those stories. Rather than just sending the piece itself to buyers, she would be able to send the STORY as well. This adds value to the piece without requiring more sculpting and it sets it apart from many other sculptures. Because of the historical aspects of her pieces, Shawna could work with historical societies and possibly even educational organizations to bridge the gaps in her audience.

If you're struggling to find the right audience for your products or services, think about ways that you can bridge the gaps and reach new segments of potential buyers.

This is SO important for entrepreneurs in any field! If you rely on a sole income stream, you're setting yourself up to get burned. In Shawna's case, sculptures are a high-end piece with a limited audience (due simply to the cost to produce them). She can also only make so many large pieces at a time, which limits her income from these pieces. She's been smart in that she has not restricted herself to these sculptures; she also has a line of housewares and decor items that she sells through Etsy. This allows her to produce more items at a wider variety of prices, opening her work up to a larger audience.

Something else we discussed in the episode was taking the stories that were written about her pieces and turning them into an anthology coffee table book. She could accompany each short story with a picture of the finished sculpture and create the book from there. This would give people who aren't able to afford the sculptures themselves to still engage with

Welcome to Season 1 Episode 1 of the Creative Business Success Podcast! In this episode, I talked with Angela, a personal stylist from St. Louis. She’s been struggling with finding her ideal clients in order to grow her business, though. In this episode, I worked with Angela to find opportunities to identify and connect with her ideal clients, create mutually beneficial business partnerships, and get the word out about her services.

Here is a cheat sheet of some of the episode highlights:

Angela’s intro, 0:50

Her local marketing obstacles, 1:41

Creating mutually beneficial partnerships, 2:28

Expanding your network, 3:14

Thinking outside the box, 4:37

Going beyond your current audience, 5:28

What to do with all your new options, 7:37

Finding partnerships for workshops, 7:49

Expanding your testimonials, 8:28

Check out Dubsado to improve your workflow, 9:46

PR reach, 10:25

Emily Richett’s PR webinar, 11:46

Why we all need an outside perspective on our business, 13:20

Where to connect with Angela, 15:29

Let’s dive a little deeper into a few of these local marketing obstacles and solutions, though!

As an entrepreneur and especially a solopreneur, it is SO easy to get in the “it’s just me, myself, and I” mindset. That’s just not true! There are so many others out there who would love to collaborate with you if you’ll just ask. For Angela, I suggested finding some partnerships in her local area, but depending on your type of business, you could do this online too. In this case, Angela could reach out to travel agents to offer packing services to their clients and wedding coordinators to offer wedding party styling services, just to name a couple.

Get creative with your partnership ideas, too! If you’re having trouble thinking of any, ask your friends and family what other kinds of services they think would complement yours and start there.

This one may seem kind of obvious, but it’s surprising how often we overlook it. Angela was focusing on young moms as her primary personal styling audience. The problem is, young moms often don’t have much time or disposable income, which means they can be a hard sell. Instead, I suggested that she consider reaching out to business women and groups that cater to them instead. These women often have the money for a great wardrobe, but don’t want to waste the time picking out an outfit every morning. Angela’s personalized lookbooks would be perfect for this audience, as it would give them a quick way to choose an outfit without sorting through their closet fifty times!

When you start to think about who needs you AND has the ability to hire you or purchase your products, you’ll find your sweet spot (or two!). Don’t get stuck in the rut of who you’ve already been reaching out to – go beyond it.

In Angela’s case, she had some great testimonials on her site, but they’re easy to pass over. Instead of relying on text-based testimonials, I suggested she consider getting video testimonials as well. This is perfect for her services because they are so personal and visual. Showing HOW she helped a client dress well for a particular body type is powerful. Video garners much more attention than text these days, so she can use it in other applications besides just her website. Those testimonials could become Facebook ads, be...