8. EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER - JAMES BRYANT

12. MY WEBSITE HAS TRAFFIC BUT NO SALES OR LEADS, WHAT’S NEXT? - JAMES BRYANT

INTRODUCTION

You had to pivot your business practices to account for the impacts of COVID-19, the travel restrictions, stay at home orders, and limits on large gatherings. I do not think there was any industry that was untouched by this pandemic. Several companies were accelerated their plans for adding an online/e-commerce function to their business, which may have been the only way those companies survived. The consumer behavior over the past year almost necessitated that companies expand their online presence. One of the primary ways that companies maintain an online presence is through this website. It is easier than ever to purchase a domain name and go live with a website. A website is just a place holding place, a blank canvas, waiting for you to invite your customer into a story. What story do you want to tell? Who are you telling the story to?

Episode Objectives - The Why

The website you have may not be the website that you need to grow you into the future. There are many possible purposes for a website but today we want to focus in on a website designed and built for attracting and converting leads into clients. The objective of this episode is to provide an overview of the elements that must be considered when building a conversion focused website.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• The Purpose of your website drives messaging
• Know Who you are trying to reach
• Noise only gets in the way – Stay Focused and Stay profitable 

 What You Need to Know - The What

1. Why did your build your website?

• Sell Products and Services
• Provide a platform for others to sell their products
• Reduce costs or other expenses related to marketing
• Build and Maintenance an online presence
• Showcase your authority
• Generate leads Nurture Sales
• Express Your Opinions (Blogging/newsletter)
• Build a Relationship with your Audience
• Generate Revenue (Make Money)

2. Know you numbers – Are you achieving your Website WHY? Communication is Key 

• How are you determining if your website is actually achieving what you set out to do?
• You need to pivot if you are not getting the results that you want
• Is your website, based on the response of your target audience, effectively communicating?

3. Focuses on what matters

Time for a website messaging audit

Test to see what your website is actually communicating. 

What You Need to Do - The How

 Focus on What Matters

• The controlling idea that on your website
• Tailoring your message for your audience
• Clearly state the problem that you are solving
• Design your product ladder as part of your customer journey.
• Make it easy for people to do business with you
• Give a glimpse of the transformation that your solution provides
• Make it easy 

Next: Season 4 Review: Putting All the Pieces together

Links and Resources

1. Register for Next Webinar on April 7, 2021 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time

 The Art of Work-Life Balance: https://link.betteryou4u.com/balance

2. How to Become a More Effective Listener (Recording)

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Listening

Dr. James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

James Bryant, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Better You 4U LLC, a boutique leadership training and peak performance coaching firm that serves key executives and business owners. James is a passionate leader that equips business owners with the tools run their business so that their business does not run their life. 

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: https://www.businessmadesimple.com?ref=jamesbryant1

11. CUSTOMER REFERRALS – WHY ARE YOU NOT GETTING THE RESULTS THAT YOU WANT - JAMES BRYANT

INTRODUCTION

Marketing plays a key role in the growth of any business and this is certainly true of your business. Marketing helps to educate your target customer on who you are the products that you have to offer. You can have the best solution to a customer’s problem, only if the customer knows that you exist.  The use of referrals to grow your business is one of the most economical marketing strategies that you can employ.  

 Episode Objectives - The Why

There is a difference between knowing that something can be beneficial and proving its benefits through implementation. Word of mouth is still an effective marketing tool and people rely on the reviews or trusted word of a friend before making a purchase. You want to create a community of customers that are willing to spread the word about your products and services. What is the best way to get referrals for your business? This is one of the many questions that we will explore during our show today. The objective of today’s show is to provide tips for how you can use both customer and business to business referrals to grow your business.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• Referrals are there, but you must ask.
• Referral marketing is a strategy
• Seek first to understand

What You Need to Know - The What

1. What is a referral? - 

A referral is defined as the act of telling someone about the positive features of a person or a business.

• Customer to Customer
• Business to Business
• Qualified Referrals

2. Why Referrals are not working for you? 

B2B

• You are part of a group but expect referrals to just happen automatically.
• Your are not asking the right kind of questions
• You are not clear on who you want referred
• Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up

Customer to Customer

• If You have not integrated a referral program of effort into your customer journey (the journey does not end after the sale of the product).

3. When, Where, and How to drive referrals. 

• Paid Networking Groups
• Networking Groups (If you can’t find one then create one)
• Speaking Engagement
• Community Activities
• Where you can add value. It is not just about who can be referred to you but who you can refer to others.

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Seek to refer and then be referred.

• Think of ways that you can add value to any community of group that you want to serve. 
• Work on understanding the needs and capabilities of businesses in your community.

2. Ask the right questions.

• Why did you start your business?
• What do you love most about it?
• Tell me a business achievement you’re proud of…
• What differentiates you from other that provide the same service?
• How would you like me to describe you to others?
• What goals do you have for your business?
• Tell me an interesting fact about yourself?
• Tell me the type of people that you are looking to be referred to you?

3. Be Clear on:

• What you have to offer and 
• The types of referrals that you are looking for

4. Integrate a referrals program into your post-sell customer journey and nurturing campaign. 

 Previous: Building Your Brand is Just the Start - https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-building-your-brand-is-just-the-start-james-bryant

Next: My website has traffic but no sales or leads, What’s next?

Links and Resources

1. Register for Next Webinar on April 7, 2021 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time

 The Art of Work-Life Balance: https://link.betteryou4u.com/balance

2. How to Become a More Effective Listener (Recording)

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Listening

3. IBGR – Season 5 Survey: https://www.ibgr.network/

James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

https://www.businessmadesimple.com?ref=jamesbryant1

10. BUILDING YOUR BRAND IS JUST THE START - JAMES BRYANT

 Episode Objectives - The Why

Brand management is not reserved for big corporations with large marketing budgets. The size of your marketing budget does not always correspond to the size of the impact of your brand. As a small business owner you want to amplify the impact of your brand to create instant recognition of the problem that you solve and the value that you bring. The objective of this episode is to level the playing field by providing you with budget friendly suggestions for to amplify your brand.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• The power of your brand is experienced through your customers
• Branding is more that style, fonts, colors, pictures but it also includes your actions
• Our brand is not what we do but part of who we are

What You Need to Know - The What

1. You have at least two brands – Your personal brand and your Business Brand

• Personal Brand
• Business Brand

2. Your branding shows up everywhere you are 

• Website
• Emails
• Social Media
• Blog posts
• Reviews
• Comments

3. Your brand is impacted by everything that you do

• Positive Impacts
• Negative Impacts

4. Brand Evaluation

Brand evaluation refers to the measurement of the value of a brand using relevant indicators that assess the impact of the brand on customers/users. Brand evaluation includes both monetary considerations (i.e. brand value) and non-monetary considerations (i.e. brand strength and brand equity).

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Conduct a brand evaluation

• What does your brand stand for? What do you want your company to be known for?
• Talk to the source – Your customers are going to be a key source of information about the perception of your brand.
• Review your web and social media assets
• Review your sales data in the context of the customer journey
• External factors

2. Be consistent (Budget Friendly Solution)

• In your actions
• Do what you say you are going to do, when you said you were going to do it
• In the way you show-up on social media
• In the way you show-up in other venues
• If you have a style guide, then use it consistently
• If you do not have a style guide then develop one

3. Use the power of your community 

• Reviews
• Testimonials
• Referrals

Previous: Your Call To Action - https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/1-your-call-to-action-james-bryant

Next: Customer Referrals – Why You are not getting the results you want

Links and Resources

1. Upcoming Webinar

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars

2. Webinar Recordings

• Defining Your Target Market - https://link.betteryou4u.com/targetmarket
• Identifying Your leadership Language - https://link.betteryou4u.com/LLReplay

3. IBGR – Season 5 Survey

https://www.ibgr.network/facebook-community.html or https://www.ibgr.network/linkedin-community.html):

4. Subscribe to the podcast:  https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

 https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com?ref=jamesbryant1

Small Business Highlight: https://banowetzmarketing.com/

9. YOUR CALL TO ACTION - JAMES W BRYANT

Episode Objectives - The Why

People that show up to your website or receive your emails are looking for the action that you want them to take. Too many Calls to Action (CTAs) confuse your potential customers. Too CTAs will not generate the revenue that you want to grow your business. You have to be clear in the actions that you want people to take or you may lose your opportunity to build the community that you need to create the business or your dreams. The objective of this episode is provide you with the guidance that you need to write better CTAs that will help grow your business. 

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• If you don’t ask they will not take action
• You need to be clear on the actions that you want people to take
• People scan first then read your marketing materials

What You Need to Know - The What

1. What is a call to action (CTA)?

A statement that directs your target customer to do something. 

2. The 2 Types of CTAs

• Indirect (Transitional) and Direct

3. The most common form of CTAs:

• Web page buttons
• Opt-in Campaigns (pop-ups, quizzes, etc)
• Linked Anchor text in blogs, social media posts, and online documents
• Email buttons
• Written Text is hard copy forms/documents

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Before you start, make sure that your CTAs fit in nicely with your customer journey. 

Your CTAs are part of your overall customer journey. You want each CTA to move your prospect into a happy paying repeat customer.

2. Start Your CTA with a Strong Action Verb

You want to get straight to the point. Why should I take action and what action should I take? The CTA has to be able to answer these questions almost immediately.

3. Use words that have an emotional pull

Use words that elicit a strong emotional response and create enthusiasm for your product. You want to excite you customer with the action they are about to take. You can use punctuation marks for added excited. The entire CTA should elicit this response and this pairs well with showing the prospect what is in it for them.

4. Remind them of why they should take action

What is in it for them? This is the question that you CTA has to answer. Your CTA should be tied to your value proposition. This will give your audience an incentive to take action. 

• Save time
• Save money
• Create freedom
• Stress less
• Lose weight
• Gain control of your business

5. Make Your CTA Stand Out

It should be obvious by glancing at your materials where your CTA is. This may be a button on the website or a box on the document that is a different color and really draws the attention of the potential customer. 

6. Test, Refine and Test again

Once you have settled on your CTA start putting it to the test. Review the results and make changes as needed and then test it again. Keep working until you find the CTA that will deliver the desired results.

Links and Resources

1. Webinars: Upcoming Webinar

https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars

2. Webinar Recordings

• Defining Your Target Market - https://link.betteryou4u.com/targetmarket
• Identifying Your leadership Language - https://link.betteryou4u.com/LLReplay

3. IBGR – Profit Radio - DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

4. Subscribe to the podcast:  https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

James W Bryant - Helping you Succeed in Business and in Life

LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

 https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com

8. EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER - JAMES BRYANT

INTRODUCTION

Who is in the best position to talk about your product, your promise, and the transformation that it provides? Are you the best person to talk about your products and services? What if you had people who used your products tell the story of how your product changed their life!  The experiences of the people that use your products and services build a strong narrative about your brand. Today we are going to learn how to unleash your customer stories to talk about your products and services.

Episode Objectives - The Why

Using your real-life customers to tell their story is one of the most powerful tools you can use to connect with new potential customers. The objective of this episode is to equip you with the tools that you need to unleash the power of your customer’s stories. 

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

• Customer engagement takes time and is worth the effort.
• The community that you build provides a foundation for future growth.
• Negative feedback is fuel for innovation.

What You Need to Know - The What

There are many ways to engage your customers. The tools that you use engage your customers will depend heavily on what you are trying to accomplish. 

1. What are you trying to accomplish?

• Product Testing
• Product Review
• Market research for new product
• Increasing sales
• Increasing clicks on website
• Increase traffic to website.
• Get more people into your sales funnel.

2. Sample Customer Engagement Tools

• Surveys
• Reviews
• Referrals
• Testimonials
• Customer Stories

3. The difference between a Testimonial and a Customer’s Story

 4. The elements of a customer’s story

 What You Need to Do - The How

1. Determine what type of customer engagement will work the best for your intended purpose. 

• What issue are you trying to address in your sales process?
• Are you trying to overcome a specific objection that a potential customer may have?
• Do you want to highlight your customer’s real-life transformation because of using your product?
• Feedback for new product development
• Feedback for further market penetration

2. Include points within your process to specifically ask for the type of feedback that you want.

• If you want your customers to provide a review, then you must insert that “ask” into your process. Maybe this is a follow-up email campaign a few days after the product is delivered.
• You can ask for Video reviews and offer some time of incentive for those customers that submit a timely review.
• Just having a reviews section on your website is not enough. You must make the “ask.”

3. Help you customer provide the type of feedback that you are looking for by structuring the right questions.

• If you are looking to build stories, then you must ask more than yes or no questions.
• Examples:

1. Describe how receiving the product in the mail make you feel?
2. What was your initial impression of the product?
3. You have a lot of choices on what you can purchase, why did you purchase this product?
4. Please choose one word to describe how using this product made you feel? Describe why you chose that word.

4. Find ways to use your customer stories in marketing materials.

• Website
• Emails
• Brochures
• Videos

 5. Always look to leverage what your customers have to say into ways to improve.

This is not just applicable to things that are under performing. You may find the feedback useful in identifying those things that you need to start doing more of.

Links and Resources

1. Webinars:

• Upcoming: https://link.betteryou4u.com/Webinars
• Webinar Replay: Your Leadership Language: https://link.betteryou4u.com/LLReplay

2. IBGR – Profit Radio

DOWNLOAD the IBGR Growth App

3. Subscribe to the podcast: 

https://podcast.betteryou4u.com/

 LinkedIn:           https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbryant2/

Business Made Simple: 

 https://www.hireacoach.com/James-Bryant

https://www.businessmadesimple.com