Own Your Business

Not gonna lie: Copywriting is tough. Especially for websites.

You have to do so much all at once. Communicate messages. Maintain interest. Stay in voice. Persuade people. Provide reassurance. Provoke desire. Impress Google. 

Like any skill or craft, it takes a long time to get good at it. 

And like any skill, when you get training and insights from an expert it shaves years off the learning curve.

Obviously, you want to bring in experts for important projects like your website. But I get it, not everyone can afford to hire someone who’s incredible at their craft.

Today, I bring on my wife, business partner, and copywriting expert, Katy Taylor Jacobson, to share 8 copywriting hacks to make it easier to write copy on your website.

So if you’re trying to DIY your website with copywriting on your own, stay tuned, because you’re about to get a crash course in what to do and not do when you sit down at the keyboard.

If money grew on trees, you’d have the best of the best do everything for you. But money doesn’t grow on trees or fall from the sky, and extra zeros don’t show up on your bank account statements.

So we have to deal with reality - which, for entrepreneurs, means wearing all the hats. Social media, bookkeeping, sales, system set up, technology. You name it, and you probably do it at some level in your company.

What’s wild to think about is how NOT normal this is.

In companies with more than one or two people, for example, a marketing department would handle social media. IT would take care of all your app and tech needs. Finance would take care of invoicing, and all you’d get is a report once a month to make sure everything’s on track.

One of the biggest and most important areas DIYed by wedding professionals is the website. And it’s also one of the most important, which means if you’re going to attempt to develop or manage your own site, you should start with some standard best practices.

Today, I bring on Katy Taylor Jacobson, my wife and Ideaction website expert, to share some tips and tricks to remedy often-overlooked issues on your site.

To rebrand, or not to rebrand. That is the question on the minds of many right now.

What exactly does it mean to rebrand, though? Is it just a new logo? Is it a full overhaul of your style kit? Does it always have to involve a name change?

More importantly, when is it a good idea to do? And when should you hold out to see where you can get with your current brand?

Because rebrands are not inexpensive - in either money or time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from clients who end up halfway through a project like this, and they run out of energy, time, or money to get the rebrand and new site launched.

Today, I discuss a recent rebrand with Kate Ford, one of our long-time clients who recently went through a full rebrand, doing everything directly with us. Kate changed it all. Name, style kit, ideal client avatar, marketing messages, website design and, of course, copywriting.

You’ll hear:

- Why she did it

- How it came together

- What she learned along the way

If you’re considering an overhaul, this podcast is for you. Or earmark it for later if you’re not yet ready to dig in, because these things take time to plan out.

For those who don’t know, I write a newsletter for nearly 6,000 subscribers every week. I’ve done it for nearly 6 years now, and it’s filled with great advice like you get on the podcast.

One of the cool things about a newsletter is that I can talk about exactly what’s going on in the industry right now. It’s why I usually only do 2-3 at a time when I batch out content, because I want to make sure I’m in tune with what’s happening rather than sharing evergreen content like I do on the podcast.

This past week, I wrote a newsletter that got a ton of positive feedback from subscribers, and I want to share it with you today.

As you know, I hosted the State of the Industry panel on September 18, and we had a massive turnout for the discussion. Lots of engagement with the audience in the week that followed. Many people wanted my take on it, because I stayed fairly quiet in lieu of having the panelists do most of the talking.

However, I DO want to share my thoughts on what’s going on in the industry, and more importantly, what you should consider doing about it with your business.

Enjoy the ideas. I think they’re amongst the most important I’ve shared in a while.

There’s this terrible myth out there that SEO doesn’t matter as much as it did, say, 5-10 years ago. Or even last year.

The SEO-is-irrelevant idea is especially widespread in the luxury space - which is a crying shame for all those wedding pros who’ve put ALL your eggs into the referral basket.

Yes, referrals are important, even essential, when you get to luxury. However, you can’t NOT have key SEO elements on your search engine results page.

Think about it from the couples’ perspective: They get a throaty endorsement from a past client who hired you, or maybe their planner adds your name to the short list.

The couple still has to look you up to learn more. And where do they go? Google.

Yes, contrary to popular belief, wealthy people ALSO use Google. There’s not a secret search engine for the affluent.

So if you’re in luxury or not, you must get SEO right.

That’s why I brought on my favorite SEO guru in the wedding industry, Sara Dunn, to talk all things SEO for 2024.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- Top three mistakes people make with their SEO

- What areas you can probably DIY - and what ones are best left to the pros

- When to hire your SEO expert when you’re considering doing or refreshing your site

Anyone else feel like it’s a little “weird” in the wedding industry right now? Actually, it’s probably been about a year since it started, but we’re just now starting to talk about it openly. The sentiment hit a tipping point recently, and people are beginning to share how hard it’s been to book couples.

Today’s episode is a megaphone on the conversation. But it’s not just me, it’s a panel of industry experts from around the country in different fields at different price points.

If you’re struggling with filling your calendar, tune in for advice on how to get couples to move faster in saying “yes.”

If you’re doing well, but know you have more potential that’s still untapped, you’re in the right place. The panel has luxury and ultra-luxury perspectives that will give you the inside track on how to connect with clients at the highest levels.

If you enjoy the conversation, please share with others you know who could use the help and encouragement right now.

Everyone talks a big game when it comes to attracting ideal clients, so why is it so hard to actually make it happen? 

It’s because there’s a LOT of work that goes into getting from A to Z, from I know what I want in an ideal client and now I have a calendar filled with them.

That gap is filled by the buyer’s journey, and your job as a marketer and salesperson for your business is to craft a path that’s easy and inspiring to travel. 

If you’re anything like most other wedding pros, though, you’re probably throwing up obstacle after obstacle for couples to become clients.

Tune into our conversation about what’s getting in the way of you and your favorite couples.

Filling your calendar with clients you love is almost as hard as finding a potential partner on a dating app.

It’s hit or miss - with a lot of ghosting.

Before you blame the game, though, look at how you’re playing it. I’m not going to offer dating advice on this episode, but Katy and I will share 10 mistakes we see wedding pros make on your websites and in your sales processes.

Take note so you can make quick updates in key areas. 

Website review

Sales process audit

Today you’re going to get a first - and a second.

What do I mean by that? 

In the past 3 years we’ve run a new episode each and every week. We’ve done a few different kinds of podcast approaches:

- Solo episode

- Guest expert on a particular topic

- Katy talking about websites and copywriting with me

- Celebrity guest talking about their career trajectory

- Client case studies to dive deep into how pros make improvements

- Panels to discuss a topic from a variety of perspectives

Today, I’m going to introduce a new episode genre: Oldie but goodie.

I’m going to bring back episodes from the early days that I feel are super important but are buried under 100+ newer episodes.

Here’s why I’m doing it: Some of the best content we have to share was done when we didn’t have much of an audience. 

But when I look back on what’s most useful for you, dear listener, to improve your business today, these older episodes are just as relevant!

In fact, I regularly send links to many podcasts from 2021 to my current 1:1 clients to review after we touch on a topic in our session.

One of those is pricing presentation. How do you share your pricing in a way that increases the likelihood of someone buying your product or service?

I did two sales process audits this week and found the same mistake with both clients. They used a “base plus a la carte” approach on their proposal, which is very popular - but ultimately not as effective as my recommendation. 

And what is that? You’ll have to listen in to learn, and to understand why menus and single options are not the most effective way to engineer your packages and pricing.

Sign up for our new panel on the state of the industry for 2024.

https://ideactionconsulting.com/state-of-the-industry-2024-panel

Hi, I’m Sam, and I’m a perfectionist.

I used to think I wasn’t a perfectionist. After all, I tend not to focus on the details, and I often leave projects undone, let alone done perfectly.

Then my therapist called BS on that, and because she is not only a licensed expert but also knows me better than anyone else - well, I listened to what she had to say.

Once I became aware of my version of perfectionism - which is one of FIVE kinds - I saw my tendencies everywhere.

Then this year I read a book that rocked my world: The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler. 

Two things: First, listen in on my conversation with Katy - a fellow perfectionist, but with different tendencies. Second, if you feel like you too might be a perfectionist, read the book. It’ll make you feel seen in powerful ways - and give you the courage to adapt your version of perfectionism in healthy ways.