The Ecommerce Roadmap

This week I'm doing something a little different on the Podcast.I'm going to give you one strategy a day for 5 days in a row.

It's a strategy that will get you closer to creating predictable, reliable sales every day, week month. All year round.Each episode is super short - and I'm going to give you one thing to do each day.At the end of the week, you'll be 5 steps closer to being able to count on the sales you want every day, whether you're just starting out, or you're looking for significant growth this year.Let's start today with the thing most people miss.They're not getting their products in front of enough people.In fact, they don't even know how many people they are getting their product in front of.That's where the problem starts. They might feel "invisible", and not know what to do about it.

In the last episode, I used the example of a huge outdoor craft fair with 10,000 people walking around. The 10,000 people is a good demonstration of a physical audience- If you had a booth there, a person at that craft fair was likely to have some slight awareness of your product - in passing. They might have seen you

And some of them [1-2%] will actually stop at your booth and look around.

In the physical marketplace - that's your traffic - they are interested in what you have to sell

We all get that - because if it's a rainy day and there's nobody at the outdoor craft fair - we acknowledge that there was no audience - it was "dead". That's why you didn't get sales.

But what most online store owners miss is that selling online isn't much different.You need an audience - and it should be big. These are people that have some awareness of your product - they've seen you - even if it's just in passing.

And we know that this audience needs to be a good size - because only 1-2% are likely to stop by your website. They're your web visitorsAnd if you might know that only 1-2% of your web visitors become buyers.So if you don't do the work to build and become visible, you're skipping a step

And when I talk to store owners that aren't getting the sales they want - this is almost always a step they've missed.So here's what I want you to do.I want you to go to all of your social media platforms and write down your total 30 day reach.Add it up - that's your audience. If you're looking for Reliable sales of 1-2 a day, you want to have an audience of 100k - 200k

It sounds huge, I know, but if you're not there, I want you to know you can get there fast, and it won't take much time and money - we teach this in the Inner Circle

Go find your number - write it down - it doesn't have to be exact, don't stress

Once you have it, you'll know. Less than 100k over 30 days, you need to focus on building your audience and getting traffic to your site before you can get reliable sales every day.

Get off the emotional rollercoaster

This week I'm doing something a little different on the Podcast.I'm going to give you one strategy a day for 5 days in a row.

It's a strategy that will get you closer to creating predictable, reliable sales every day, week month. All year round.Each episode is super short - and I'm going to give you one thing to do each day.At the end of the week, you'll be 5 steps closer to being able to count on the sales you want whether you're just starting out, or you're looking for significant growth this year.Let's start by getting you off the emotional rollercoaster

You know what I mean - it's the way you feel.

you have a couple of good sales days, and you feel good about your business. You're energized, you start thinking about all the possibilities, the things you'll do to sell more and grow.And then you're hit with a few days in a row where your sales are terrible. You find yourself checking your site to see if it's working. You feel anxious, and it might even be hard to focus. You wonder what you're doing wrong, and you might even feel like quitting.

It's harder than it should be.Sound familiar? It happens to all of us. Even store owners with 7 figure businesses.Here's what you need to ask yourself:

Do I have Proof of Concept?Have people (who I don't know) bought my products for the price I ask, either in person, or on another platform like Etsy or Amazon.And if you have buyers - you have proof of concept. People want what you're offering, and they're ok with the price.So the reason you're not making the sales you want is not your product, or your price, or the color of your buy button.Because if you have proof of concept, eCommerce is a numbers game.You'll almost always be able to find the problem in your numbers. Even if your website isn't perfect. As long as it's not broken, and you have good images, your first problem will likely be found in your data.Here's what we know:1- 2% of the people who are in your audience will come to your site and look around

(that's average)

1-2% of the people who come to your site (your traffic) will make a purchase

Let's think about it this way - Let's say you've got a table or a booth at a big craft fair or festival. Let's say there are hundreds of vendors.And there are 10,000 people walking around - it's a huge area with lots of choices (like the internet)How would you feel if 200 people came to your booth and 40 people bought that day - would that be a good day? But what if you were at that same craft fair the next day and there were only 100 people walking around. And only 2 came to your booth and you sold nothing.

Would you think there was something wrong with your product, your price, or your booth?Or would you say it was "dead" and that's why you didn't make sales?So that's your work today - figure out if you have proof of concept.Have you sold your product at the regular price to people you don't know?If the answer is yes, you can move forward.If it's no - Your next step is to find a way to get proof of concept.

Come behind the scenes with me as I share my most recent "aha" moment.It's a simple concept, but it's an incredibly powerful way for us to:

• Visually see the status of our marketing and monitor it every month
• Know at a glance what we need to focus on
• Understand how we can set ourselves up to sell more every month.

Here's the Sales Funnel Graphic I promised you I have to give our Ads Made Easy Coach, Cathay Hayhurst credit for sparking this idea, and a big thanks to Tina Bar-On, our Member Success Coach, and Kelly Barth for creating this training for our Members.

Wouldn't it be amazing to double your sales without having to go out and spend a bunch of money on ads? Meet Michelle Smith, the founder of https://www.mamasuds.com/

Michelle has grown her business like many of us do. She started at home, and step by step she's built a solid online business with multi six figure sales, employees, and a great income for her family.She's done a lot of things well. But until last year, she'd never implemented Reliable Revenue in her business.Even though she's been an Inner Circle member for years, the time wasn't right.She was so busy working "in" her business, that she hired some help to look after emailing her list.

In March of 2022, Michelle committed to Reliable Revenue, and started implementing right away. Even though she was worried about sending more emails, she followed the instructions and just "did it".And something amazing happened. Within 2 weeks, her sales from the emails she sent paid for her Reliable revenue program fee.In fact, in March off 2022 Michelle doubled her email sends, and increased her sales from email by 8X. In April, as we were finishing the course, Michelle doubled her email sends again, and doubled her sales from emails again. Michelle was incredibly consistent all year, and by November, she had more than doubled her email sends again, and once again doubled her sales from email. Here's what else happened:Even though she's sending more emails than ever before, Michelle's open rate and click rates are higher than they were before Reliable Revenue.

Michelle realized that she's really good at email. In fact she's really good at marketing her business. So good in fact, that late in 2022, she hired enough help that she's no longer working "in" her business. Instead, she works "on" her business. And that means she's finally able to take time away without falling behind in production and shipping.

In a year many business struggled, Mamasuds had it's best year ever in 2022.

Listen to the episode to hear:

• The Reliable Revenue send strategy that can double your sales from email.
• How to keep more of your subscribers engaged.
• How you can get better open and click rates.

Don't miss your chance to learn how you can create more sales without spending more money.Join Susan for our Reliable Revenue Workshop.You'll use your data to build your Reliable Revenue marketing plan.For only $15 you leave with a list of work you can do next month to get on track to have your best year yet. Link for workshop: thesocialsalesgirls.com/rrw

We all want predictable, Reliable Revenue, right?

When I ask clients what they'd like to change in their business, the answer I hear most often is that they want reliable sales - or sales they can count on every day

I get it. When you don't have reliable revenue, it's hard to plan. You're afraid to spend your cash, because you're not confident that you'll earn it back quickly

So you put off investing in inventory, hiring help, and even in your own education because you're "waiting" to crack the code and finally be able to count on your sales.

When you do have "sales you can count on", that's when you have Reliable Revenue.

And suddenly, you have breathing room.

• You can step back and decide how you'll grow your business
• You can invest in Inventory, team, education, salary, even a vacation
• You get some headspace back - because you're not doing backflips every month to get sales

The biggest benefit of all is confidence

Confident that you're on the right track

Confident in your ability to grow your business

Confident that you're not one bad month away from disaster

When you're confident - you're a better manager, and you'll build your business strategically instead of chasing tactics to get sales.

This is how I like to define Reliable Revenue: It's when you start getting sales that aren't a result of any big activity. You don't always know where each sale came from, and you don't often recognize the name of the customer, so you go looking to see where the sale came from.

And what you realize is that these sales are the result of the systems you have put in place, and the work you do consistently.

At first, reliable sales start coming in monthly, then weekly, and later it's daily.And that's when everything changes

Even though it might seem hard to set yourself up for RR, I want you to know it's completely possible. And in fact, you can set yourself up to get RR even when you're new, and you don't have it all figured out

So, how do you set it up?Listen in, I'm going to break it down for you.

Ready to make your Reliable Revenue Plan?

Here's how you can start:

This month, we're running an interactive Reliable Revenue Workshop. Our monthly Workshops are usually for Inner Circle members only, but because this work is so important we are inviting everyone in our audience to work on this with our help.

You can attend a session live and get the self study video for only $15

Register for your Workshop here: https://classroom.thesocialsalesgirls.com/reliable-revenue-workshop

Here's what you'll do in the Workshop:

• You'll start by figuring out where you are now. We'll show you what sales you can expect based on your current data.
• You'll set up your sales funnel - and we'll show you how to monitor it each month
• You'll learn how to Implement Reliable Revenue Strategies
• You'll walk away with clarity on how to get predictable, reliable sales, and you'll be ready to work on strategies to fill your sales funnel.

Don't miss your chance to start the year with a plan - you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You'll work your plan consistently, and build your sales month over month.

2022 brought some big changes for us Ecommerce store owners, and I think it makes sense to start this year off by sharing what's been working to grow sales, what's NOT working, and what's super exciting for Ecommerce store owners in 2023.

I've been working in eCommerce for 12 years, and for more than 6 years, I've been sharing what's really working for people like us - we're entrepreneurs, we don't have huge budgets, or huge teams - we're building our businesses on solid foundations - step by step

Here's something that will inspire you:

More of our Inner Circle members are finding success than ever before.

With every year that goes by, we have more and more members who are reaching beyond 6 and 7 figures, paying themselves well - and even creating wealth in their lives by selling their companies.

So today I thought it would be valuable to share what I see from inside the Inner Circle. What our members have struggled with this year

The tactics that our members are using to grow their sales

What's emerging as the biggest opportunity for us in 2023

Grab a pen, and listen in as I share all the details.I'll even give you a simple strategy to get a head start on the big opportunity of 2023.

Last thing:

As I look back on how the Inner Circle has grown and changed over the years, I'm incredibly grateful to work with our team of Mentors and Coaches. They are successful Ecommerce store owners who use the strategies we teach. They're on the front lines doing the work.We're in a great position to help even more store owners this year.I want every one of you to get the help you need, so we are inviting our podcast listeners and email subscribers to join us for the Inner Circle training this month.We've never done this before - but this lesson is super important.

We're teaching our members how to create predictable, reliable sales every month of the year.

This is a plan everyone can create, no matter what stage your business is at - because you're going to use your own data to build it.

You can get a seat at the live workshop + the self study version for just $15.

When you join us, you'll walk away with your own plan for sales you can count on, AND you'll be clear on the work you need to do to move the needle.

Grab your seat here: https://classroom.thesocialsalesgirls.com/reliable-revenue-workshop

Inner Circle Members - don't pay for this training. Check your email for your code to register at no charge.

This week I'm sharing 3 things to do this week.

You might be relaxing this week, but here's the good news:

This 3 part exercise can be done in your pajamas AND it will make you more likely to have a successful year in 2023.

Here's what you're going to do:

1. You're going to take a snapshot of where you are in business, right now
2. You're going to think about exactly where you want to be in business a year from now
3. You're going to identify the "changes", and put them in order of priority

And as you do this, you'll be able to see what you should focus on to get the results you want.

This is an exercise I do every year. It helps me get clear on what I really want, and actually, see where I need to focus so that I reach my goals.

Give it a try. It's simple and fun. You'll see what's possible for you!

Have you ever thought about selling your business?

Even if you're not ready to sell your business right now, you'll want to listen to this episode.

Today I'm sharing a conversation I had with my good friend Ciara Stockeland.

Between us, we've sold 5 of our own businesses, and helped several others sell theirs too.

We're sharing what's possible, so you'll want to grab a pen and take some notes.

Listen to hear:

1. Where you are most likely to find a buyer for your business
2. What's most important for you to take care of before you sell
3. How you can get started

Not seeing the results you want yet?

Come spend 40 mins with me and I'll show you how to get sales every day: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/saleseveryday

When I was thinking about what I could share with you that would set you up to start the year strong, I knew that this one exercise is what changed everything for me in my business life.

As you glide into the Holidays and prepare for a new year, I know that taking the time to do this is the best gift you can give your business. It will set you up to eliminate overwhelm and get clarity on your focus. Listen to the episode, and then come do the work below! Here are the questions you need to ask yourself: Current status of my business:

• What is my exact revenue for the past 12 months?
• What exactly have I paid myself in the last 12 months?
• What is working in my business now?
• What is not working in my business now?
• How many days/hours am I working each week?
• Is my business profitable?

12 month vision of the status of my business:

• What exactly will annual revenue be?
• What exactly will I pay myself?
• What exact problems will be solved?
• What exactly will my focus be?
• How many days/hours will I work each week?
• What will my profit be?

Next Steps: The $500/hr job you're not doing: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-500-hour-job-youre-not-doing-episode-110/

When I was thinking about what I could share with you that would set you up to start the year strong, I knew that this one exercise is what changed everything for me in my business life.

As you glide into the Holidays and prepare for a new year, I know that taking the time to do this is the best gift you can give your business.

It will set you up to eliminate overwhelm and get clarity on your focus.

Listen to the episode, and then come do the work below!

Here are the questions you need to ask yourself:

Current status of my business:

• What is my exact revenue for the past 12 months?
• What exactly have I paid myself in the last 12 months?
• What is working in my business now?
• What is not working in my business now?
• How many days/hours am I working each week?
• Is my business profitable?

12 month vision of the status of my business:

• What exactly will annual revenue be?
• What exactly will I pay myself?
• What exact problems will be solved?
• What exactly will my focus be?
• How many days/hours will I work each week?
• What will my profit be?
  
  

Next Steps: The $500/hr job you’re not doing: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-500-hour-job-youre-not-doing-episode-110/