Why does it feel so hard to sell your products and services online? Are you fed up with learning all the little things so you can start making sales? Why can’t it feel easy, or enjoyable? If you’re getting fed up with the complexities of online marketing, then join the club!
Katie’s had enough, and so she created the easiest marketing plan you could ever need. With just six easy-to-follow steps you can sell online in a straightforward way, and even start to enjoy the process. Get ready to throw every marketing strategy you’ve ever had in the bin!
Looking to go into more detail on sorting out your marketing? Everything in this episode, and more, is covered by our 6 Steps training. It’s free and will take just an hour of your time to get to grips with the strategy that took years to streamline.
Why finding an easy marketing plan is the key to success
A few weeks ago on The Whin Big Podcast, Katie shared her new year’s resolutions with us. Her key themes for 2021 are:
- Working less
- Earning more
- Focusing on projects that are enjoyable and scalable
Katie’s been working towards this trio of goals for some time, and has been working hard on pulling her plans together to make sure she stays aligned with her plans.
If your goals look similar to Katie’s this year, then following her six step plan is a great way to move your business in the direction you need it to.
The six step marketing method
Step 1: Listen to your customers
It’s important to find out what motivates people and to work out what people want. As business owners we have to work out why people want what we have to offer.
Follow your customers online, send out a survey or start conversations where you can find out what they need from you, so you can start delivering it to them.
Step 2: Create a page for your product or service
Also known as a landing page, this page should be dedicated to just one product or service and tells people everything they need to know about it. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to create a page like this, Katie recorded an episode of The Whin Big Podcast about everything you need to know about landing pages.
Step 3: Grow your email list with an irresistible incentive
In this next step, you’ll create a free offer (a freebie) which people have to join your email list to access. Katie has a few different examples of her own incentives in the free marketing resources section of her website, and these include:
- Your Instagram MOT is a free downloadable checklist and accompanying training video that takes you through 20 essential items to get your Instagram account set up for business success on the platform.
- Hashtag Research template is an easy-to-follow download and training to help you identify the best hashtags to use in your business
- The six-step marketing webinar is another irresistible incentive. If you want to take part, it’s completely free but to access it you have to register with your email address.
Align your freebie offer with something your customer wants (as you learned in step 1) and that acts as a taster for the results they get if they book into your services through your landing page (step 2).
There are so many ways to create a free incentive. Look around your industry for ideas or see what other related businesses are doing with a similar customer base to you. Step 3 is all about getting your customer warmed up to you and the work you do before they buy into your main offering.
Step 4: Connecting the dots for the sales pitch
Even if you hate selling, or get tongue tied every time you promote yourself, Katie’s sales pitch plan is something you can do easily.
If you’ve been following the steps, you already know:
- What your customers want
- To create your product or service to give them what they want
- Give people a taster for what you do and how you do it, they know you now.
So all that’s left is to tell them what you offer, so they can buy it if they want to. You’ll be able to pitch your work in any conversation you find yourself in. And until then, email is a great way to show your value in a more ‘comfort zone’ kind of way.
“The best thing about this whole Marketing Method is that it takes the pressure off. Once you’ve got really comfortable with the other 5 steps, you’ll be so comfortable with sales pitches that it will be no more stressful than having a cup of tea with your best friend.”
Step 5: Work on your content
This is all the stuff your potential customers will tap into before they sign up for your freebie. This can be social media posts, videos, podcasts. Go all the way back to what you learned in step 1 – what do people want and focus your content around the answers.
Katie’s covered a few podcasts around creating content – which you can access in the resources section below.
The content people access is so important as it’s warming people up to you and the results you offer before signing up for the free incentives.
Step 6: Put together a marketing campaign
A marketing campaign serves 2 purposes:
- Reach new people and introduce them to your content and freebies to grow your audience
- Get your current followers to buy your product or service
So if it’s at the start of the whole process, why is it the last step on the plan? The honest answer is that this step is hard work, but you can make the task worth doing if you work through the other 5 steps first. You need the content from step 5 to build trust. The freebie from step 3 to get people to sign up to your mailing list through your landing page from step 2. You need the sales pitch from step 4 and none of this will fit together if you don’t get to know your customers in step 1.
Working less and earning more is the destination
Now Katie has the system in place she can use it again and again for developing new products and services, and refreshing current or old offers and you can too.
If this sounds like something you would love to have in place for your own business, then don’t forget to join in on the next 6 Steps webinar to learn the six steps in more detail. The webinars are completely free and are very popular with small business owners like you, who want to get savvy with marketing.
Accountability & Support in the All-In-Whin Marketing Method
If all of this sounds great, but you know you need extra support, coaching and accountability to get your marketing running effectively, then grab a spot on the next intake of the All-in-Whin Marketing Method where you get all the training and support you need to make this a reality for your business.
Got questions? Get in touch with Katie
If you’ve got any questions about the All-in-Whin Marketing Method, the Six-Step Marketing Method or anything else around the Whin Big Podcast or The Whin marketing services, then Katie would love to hear from you. DM Katie at The Whin on Instagram or email The Whin
Resources in this week’s Whin Big Podcast
Book your place on the Six Steps Marketing Method webinar.
Podcast: Low key goals for 2021
Podcast: Create a landing page in 5 steps
Free download: Instagram MOT
Free download: Hashtag research template
Podcast: Use insights to strengthen your content
Podcast: Instagram TV beginners guide
Podcast: Using Instagram stories
Podcast: 4 lessons I learned from failing at blogging
Podcast: 12 important lessons from my first year of podcasting
