How to Attract New Customers to Your Holistic Brand

Attract New Customers to Your Holistic Brand

HOW TO ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS TO YOUR HOLISTIC BRAND

Article: Angel Quintana
Photo: Rose Jane

We are both entrepreneurs and let's face it, we're in business to make money. Without customers and clients, there is no money to be made and without any money there is really no business. Whether you think the market is saturated or you just aren't getting enough traffic to your website, you must always be looking to attract new customers to keep your pipeline full. This goes for seasoned entrepreneurs and new holistic businesses who are just getting started.

Attracting new customers starts with knowing who you ideal customer is, or what we like to refer to as your Kismet Clientele™. If you know who they are, then you just might be able to figure out where they are hanging out--online.

Attract New Customers with Facebook:

With 1.34 billion people on Facebook, it's probably safe to say your ideal customer is hanging out there. They might have joined some Facebook groups or perhaps they are ranting in the newsfeed, whatever they are doing, they are looking to be distracted and entertained. I think it's safe to say, marketing your holistic business on Facebook is a good idea.

Using the newsfeed as a tool to drive traffic back to your site is a great way to get new customers to discover who you are and what you do. However, if all you have is a couple hundred friends and few thousand fans on your Facebook fan page, it might be difficult to bring in new customers without advertising.

Facebook advertising is becoming more and more popular to driving new customers to your landing page and/or website, but why not take it a step further. You might already be sharing valuable content on your website, why continue to share your blog posts all over the web and cookie your visitors with a pixel. Why?

Retargeting advertising is one of the best forms of advertising with a great ROI. The way it works is to place a small "cookie" or piece of javascript code onto the footer of your website. Once you have placed the cookie on your site, this allows visitors to be tracked. Once you have tracked your traffic you may now start an advertising campaign to target the visitors who have already visited your site. Why is this important?

People who have already heard of you (or in this case, visited your website) are more inclined to visit again and are far more likely to buy from you than someone who have never heard of you. Facebook retargeting advertising become a valuable resource to finding new customers or convert old browsers into paying clients. Win win!

Attract New Customers with High-Traffic Blogs:

You and I both know blogs are a hot commodity when growing a business. This would include blogs you have written and shared and blogs that you frequently visit for inspiration. Finding blogs that share your target audience is one of the best kept secrets to internet marketing. 

With domain specific advertising, you are able to targeting blogs and high traffic websites and have your advertisements show up. Think of how many new customers you could attract from your advertisement being displayed on the Huffington Post, Refinery 29, and even Fitness Magazine! There are a zillion of website that display advertisements, there is absolutely no reason why one of those ads couldn't be yours.

Take a moment to hop on over to Bloglovin and write down 50 blogs (have have advertisements on them) that you believe your ideal customer is hanging out. Set-up an advertising campaign and target those specific websites. You'll have new customers and more traffic in no time!

Attract New Customers with Authority Sites:

Authority sites are a huge asset to any entrepreneur because authority sites provide instant information and expertise that is essential to any internet browser. Each day all of us spend time "Googling" questions and phrases into that tiny box hoping to find a solution to our problems. Turns out, your ideal customer is doing the exact same thing.

While your website may not come up on the first page of Google search results yet, that doesn't mean it never will or that it's the end of the road for you. In fact, most authority sites have advertisements on their website because their main source of revenue is affiliate marketing and to monetize their information with (you got it) advertising. 

Having your advertisement show up on an authority site (which is really just a high traffic niche website) that fits your ideal customer profile is a win situation for attracting new customers. Start by making a list of all the authority sites you believe your ideal customers is browsing and target these sites in your advertising efforts. The best way to discover these sites is to hop on over to Google, type in the keywords search you believe your audience is typing and click on all the results on the first page results. Write down the url for each website that has advertising and you believe is an authority sites.

Remember, authority sites are the websites that provide value-- not just some gimmicky website that is trying to sell you something.

Attracting new customers is as easy as putting together an advertising campaign that targets the past visitors, Facebook folks, and internet browsers who are searching for solutions to their problems. If you need help setting up your advertising web-based and retargeting Facebook advertising campaigns, please looking into joining The Club.

7 Secrets to Mastering Your Success

7 SECRETS TO MASTERING YOUR SUCCESS

Mastering Your Success

Article by Kimberly Ward Manning
Photo Credit: Jana Cruder
Magazine: Issue #23

Mastery is defined as accomplished knowledge or control over something. It is not “able to do.” I can play the piano, however, Alicia Keys has mastery over the piano. That’s not to say that at some point I won’t master the ivories. 

Whatever it is that you’re looking to gain superiority over, here are some secrets you need to know.

1| 10,000 hours. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell speaks of a “Law of Deliberate Success,” that in order to be world class at something, one needs to invest a lot of time (about 10,000 hours) in that endeavor. If you want to get really good, get busy.

2| Divine guidance. Hard work is one way to success. While it may sound woo-woo, access to your gifts through the Divine is also possible. Think child prodigies and HH Dalai Lama. 

3| The path to mastery is paved with some boo-boos. To be successful at anything you must have the courage to make mistakes. “Take chances. Make mistakes. That’s how you grow.” Beautifully said by Mary Tyler Moore.

4| Mastery is its own reward. Sure it’s nice to have the carrot at the end of the stick, however, mastery is an intrinsic carrot. Mastery of anything implies a love of that thing. When we love to do something, extrinsic motivation isn’t necessary. So throw the sticks and veggies aside and get down to doing what you love.

5| Share your gift. How do you know you really rock at something? Teach it. Have you noticed when you show another your skill or talent, not only do you illuminate the other person, but you become really sure of what you know (and what you don’t)? This is service to others, and to your mastered gift.

6| The appreciation of others. When you are world class at something, others notice. People will pay a premium to work with you, buy from you, and they’ll want to hang out with you. Mastery can be a magnet.

7| Master thy self. To get and stay really good at anything requires interest, practice and diligence. Think of it as a fitness program where you’re keeping your mastery in shape. Do what you need to do physically, emotionally and spiritually to keep yourself and your gift sharp.

One who gains mastery will create her own opportunities says a Chinese proverb. Remember these seven secrets as you master your success.

How to Be An Influential Speaker in 3 Steps

HOW TO BE AN INFLUENTIAL SPEAKER IN 3 STEPS

Be An Influential Speaker

Article by Denita Austin
Photo Credit: Mike Nguyen
Magazine: Issue #22

Being knowledgeable in your field will automatically give you creditably and creates influence and interest. To become an influential speaker it’s all about the Knowledge & Planning, Character, Honestly & Creativity 

CHARACTER

To attract your audience, you must have character. Your speech or talk must be something of concern to your audience. Your personality must be of leadership skills and a since of humor. This will allow your audience to connect with you and become involved in your speech. Capture the audience’s emotions and learn how to engage with their concerns. Leadership skills go hand in hand with confidence and trust me, your confidence will shine brighter once you’re in-tune with who you are and what you’re presenting. Your character says it all. From what you decide to wear, to how you decide to speak and the topic that you choose to discuss. It all plays a part in your character that the audience will see. 

BE BOLD & HONEST 

Throw fear out the window and be bold to stand up and speak. Your audience will listen to you if they see that you’re confident and straight forward. Using the right words is the key to succeeding as a speaker. Start by building the courage to convey the message. But wait, there is more to it than just being bold, you must be honest. When we lack the confidence as influential speakers, we usually try to be something that we’re not. Your audience will see this a mile away. Take off your mask and be authentic. You must show your audience you’re true self. When they are able to see who you really are, a since of connection will manifest. Your audience will automatically listen, believe and follow what you say simple because you decided to place all cards on the table up front with being honest. 

CREDIBILITY

Now this maybe a bit uncomfortable. Some of us try to tip toe around this however, the more experience you have, the better your skills will be. This doesn’t mean you must hold 16 framed certifications, I simply mean practice makes perfect. The more you practice and build your portfolio the better you will become. For example, let’s say you were offered a gig to speak and you didn’t have the credentials but you had experience, inform your audience of how many years you have under your belt. Tell them how long you’re been working in your field. Trust me they will want to know. Remember, the fear was thrown out the window previously so be honest about who you are when speaking. Being honest, open and authentic is a great way to begin your road map of being an influential speaker.

How Soon Before You Have a Profitable Holistic Business

Profitable Holistic Business

HOW SOON BEFORE YOU HAVE A PROFITABLE HOLISTIC BUSINESS

Article: Angel Quintana
Photo: Angel Quintana

Growing a holistic business online doesn't have to take long. Even if you are just starting out, attracting new customers or looking to sell more holistic products, the way to a profitable holistic business always starts with a marketing plan. No one gets into business and thinks, I hope to be profitable in the next 3 years. While that might end up being the case on some occasions, for the most part, a holistic business can be profitable as soon as the marketing plan has been established, revised, and remains consistent.

A marketing plan is a signature system where the end goal is to generate sales. The goal is to do something long enough to see if it produces results. So often, entrepreneurs start out doing one thing and if it doesn't produce a result in a week or a month, they stop doing it. However, this isn't entirely an accurate way to measure the results.

To measure the results of your marketing efforts, you need to look for progress and progress comes in many different forms. In some cases, perhaps your private community has grow by 20 people in a week or your mailing list grew by 5 people that day. Do you really know where those new people came from? The best advice I could give you is to measure your marketing efforts on a case by case basis or what is referred to as A/B Testing.

A/B Testing allows you to look at  your numbers (or analytics) through a new lens. Instead of deciding something in your marketing efforts isn't working and eliminating it, why not try out a couple scenarios to see if it produces new results before throwing in the towel. There are a couple examples to drill it home.

EXAMPLE #1:
Analyzing an Advertising Campaign

Say you started an advertising campaign and you let it run for 30 days and you didn't generate any new sales. To discontinue advertising would be premature because advertising does 1 of 3 things: it increases brand awareness, increases sales, or acquires new potential customers.

If you measure the results from brand awareness, that may have not generated any new sales, but it's getting your audience to know who you are or what your holistic business is all about.

If you measure the results from increased sales and realize it didn't produce any new sales, it could mean that the advertisements need to be redesigned or that your landing page or website are not doing it job correctly and should be revised.

If you measure new potential customers, this might mean you acquired a couple new email subscribers and perhaps none of them purchased from you, but did you have a follow-up system in place?

You see, with advertising as a marketing strategy to growing a profitable holistic business online, it takes time, revisions, and a follow-up system.

EXAMPLE #2:
Analyzing Your Mailing List

Let's say you introduced a couple new products in your e-commerce shop, but you didn't generate any new sales. Your marketing strategy was to send out a newsletter introducing the new products, but no one purchased. Instead of discontinuing sending out a newsletter, why not re-evaluate who is on your list and determine if they are the right people for your business instead. A lot of the people who join our mailing list are usually past customers (customers who have already purchased from you in the past), and the others are usually those who wanted a Free Goodie,  which is how they ended up on your list.

If you look closer, it could be that your Free Goodie on your website doesn't match what problem you solve, and that could result in some confusion. Testing out a new Free Goodie and checking your analytics next month might show you a powerful change in your customer base and hopefully some new sales!

In closing, a profitable brand has to do with TESTING. Testing is the easiest way to find out what is working and what is not, but most importantly as a business owner you must dive deeper to discover what the metrics are really trying to tell you. Was it really that advertising isn't working or was it something that was off on your marketing strategy. Take notes and make some minor adjustments, but never toss a marketing strategy out the window until it has been properly tested. To learn more about how to increase sales online join The Club.

Train Your Brain & Create New Kick-Ass Habits

Create New Kick-Ass Habits

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN & CREATE NEW KICK-ASS HABITS

Article by Jentana Lee Dabbs
Photo Credit: Mike Nguyen
Magazine: Issue #22

Deep down inside (or not so deep down) there is the dream vision of yourself screaming to get out and run free, you know it and you feel it, so why is it so dang difficult to create the new habits and thoughts to unleash that vision?

Triggers.
New habits and thoughts are difficult to improve because we have habitual triggers that are everywhere and the people and surroundings around us influence those triggers.

The “Golden Rule of Habit Change”.
Every habit has three components: a cue (or a trigger for an automatic behavior to start), a routine (the behavior itself) and a reward (“dopamine” which is how our brain learns to remember this pattern for the future.)  The moment you open your eyes in the morning in the same bed you have been in for years, you are automatically triggering your “cue” for your normal thoughts and behaviors to begin before your morning coffee, which really seems unfair if you are working towards positive change.

Reframe triggers.
Reframing is the general change in a person’s mindset, whether it is a positive or negative change.  People who begin a 12 step AA program for drinking, are required to go to 90 meetings in 90 days and they absolutely cannot be around the influences of the people, places and things that would trigger their drinking to relapse, (the cue) and by reframing their minds through supportive repetition and keeping away from old influences, those old triggers will begin to have little power over them in the future.

Reframing your triggers at home.
Waking up to the same bad habit cues everyday can be a challenge and there are simple ways to reframe your trigger cues and influence new success habits to stick everyday while still in your old “bad habit” environment. 

6 steps to reframe your triggers and influence new kickass habits:

• Listen to brain stimulating music everyday, morning and noon 
• Listen to relaxing music before bed that puts you in a Zen state
• Listen to inspiring and motivational audio books everyday
• Read a chapter of an inspirational and motivational book everyday
• Exercise at least 20 minutes everyday to stimulate the oxygen and reward chemical in your brain
• Eat a healthy diet of proteins, veggies, healthy fats and low sugars, which will help your body to create a consistent supply of neurons to your brain that stimulates the reward chemical and focus.

Do these 6 steps everyday for 90 days to consistently stimulate the reward chemical in your brain, as studies have shown that new habits can easily develop and over ride old habits when our brain’s “reward” centers are triggered and attached to new habits for life changing results

What it Means to Be in the Business of Influence

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN THE BUSINESS OF INFLUENCE

Article by Tamisha Ford
Photo Credit: Rose Jane
Magazine: Issue #22

Be in the Business of Influence

Pun intended. The business of influencing people in your life and the actual "business" of influence. 

Really, you can't have one without the other. 

If you're in business, entrepreneurship, startup culture, blogging, etc., you're in the business of influencing others - people are watching you whether you realize it or not or want them to or not. You're a person of influence. You might just feel you're only influencing your dog or your Aunt Candie, but trust me, there's more where that came from. 

I've noticed that the businesses and people who seem to really expand their influence faster and wider are those who have these specific aspects at play.

1| Consistency. The nature of business is change, right? So how do you maintain consistency? Does this mean you can never re-brand, change your color palette or even your ideal clientele? Not always. This form of consistency isn't necessarily always tangible or seen. It's the way you show up, how you respond to your customers, how often you stay in contact with them, and if your brand message is always on point (it always agrees with itself, no matter where it’s communicated). 

2| Energy and Focus. Influence seems to be a by-product of the energy felt from a business, blogger, founder, CEO, etc. People can feel more than we realize online (we are those people too, so just think about it). I've noticed that the more energy I put into my business, the more inertia both I and my peeps seem to feel, and the more involvement we collectively generate. Considering energy means also looking at what you're putting in front of that energy - focus. Tunnel vision, if you will. Not becoming-a-hermit-&-shutting-people-out type of tunnel vision, but the type where you're dedicated to your vision and the big picture in every single decision you make. 

3| Service. This is a culture where people want to know a business is giving back somehow with its services and programs or that it's serving people directly and changing their life in some way through its services, programs, art, products, etc.  Like energy & focus, service is also felt and breeds influence.  If you really sit down to just bring focus to why you started, what is the reason beyond your own personal freedom?  I can share with you that my focus is on helping people be more comfortable in their own skin. I know FOR SURE this is a gift I have that is in direct service to the people who are drawn to me. What is that "thing" for you? What are you “in service” of? 

Influence wants to know.

Pitch Your Next Big Idea in 30 Seconds or Less

PITCH YOUR NEXT BIG IDEA IN 30 SECONDS OR LESS

Article by Marlo Wright
Photo Credit: Mike Nguyen
Magazine: Issue #22

Captivate in 30 Seconds or Less

A 30 second elevator pitch is a brief introduction about you and your business. It should make people want to know more about your services/products. 

It's not about promotion… but it is! There's a way to promote what you're doing without appearing as such. People will forget the first thing you said if you say too much. 

Struggling to stay within in 30seconds means you haven't put much thought on how to be concise in talking about your business. Business is short sound bites that attract attention. 

Once you've considered all these things, and developed your pitch it's time to PRACTICE!!!!! Time yourself. Practice in the mirror, with expression, inflection in your voice, and gestures you make.  

{ If there are multiple things you do, sometimes it can make you sound flighty -- not that there are many people doing multiple things i.e. Richard Branson, but it’s best to use terms like conglomerate, corporation, company etc to talk about the depth of what you do.} 

It's for sure not the time to promote events you have going on. 

Imagine if you bumped into a potential investor, and just before you got on the elevator they asked what you do… but are on their way to a meeting. What would you say? 

Could you captivate them so when the doors open, they hand you a card and say, I want to hear more, call my assistant. Setup a meeting!

Confidence or lack there of, can make or break your business. I recommend a toastmasters group. A lot of people talk to be talking. I learned a lot about concise speaking when I was on the circuit for radio interviews for one of my books. There’s no time to belabor points.  

{When I interviewed for the Michael Baisden radio show - a once nationally syndicated radio show, my interview was 2min 30seconds! Could you have done it???}

Are you able to articulate what you do? Or do you just use a bunch of filler words?? We use twice as many words as men. Think about speaking to a man, get to the point. The more you practice, the easier it will come. 

Speaking intelligibly about your business is nothing more than knowing what you know. Getting to the point of what you know. And allowing others to hear about what you know. A mini showcase. 

Next time the spot light is on you, will you look polished? Or uncertain about your own business? If you're uncertain about your business, then why would I want to do business with you? 

How to Be An Inspirational Mentor

HOW TO BE AN INSPIRATIONAL MENTOR

How to Be An Inspirational Mentor

Article by Darlene Dunn
Photo Credit: Angel Quintana
Magazine: Issue #22

As entrepreneurs we can all point to the one or two main people who we watch to see their business grow, listen to what they say, and gain inspiration. But how many of us actually stop to think that we are ‘those one or two main people’ to someone else?

It doesn’t matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, there will always be someone who looks at you and thinks, ‘wow, I would love to be able to do that’ or ‘she’s so successful’. This is why we should all consider having a mentor- someone who stretches us and inspires us to be ‘more’. And also to be a mentor to someone- to be the one who stretches someone else, who inspires someone else!

I am not just speaking about peer to peer but take a minute to think about the young people who follow you on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Many of them have aspirations and dreams and they gain inspiration from you. You have a unique opportunity to directly and indirectly influence the lives of young people - let them see:

• Someone reaching for their dreams,
• Someone standing with integrity
• Someone who’s words match their actions
• Someone who is a role model

Let them see YOU!

Youth today are so connected via social media that we have many opportunities to encourage and influence them to make a difference, to step out in faith and believe in themselves.