Brew Time

Anthony Cotter’s health-conscious mother and party-friendly father raised him and his older brother in Queens, New York.  After his mother’s passing on Christmas Eve, Anthony and his brother moved in with their drug-addicted father. 

From living in the streets and battling addiction and poverty, to building a successful career and business Anthony has turned his Movement, Meals, Mind & Money philosophy into Whole Life Goals. 

Join me and Anthony as we have a virtual brew and discuss everything around his business and life's journey, plus why he only does the content marketing that brings him joy. 

Links for you: 

Whole Life Goals - https://wholelifegoals.com/search

Anthony on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-cotter-40362720/

FREE 30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany  

When your launch is keeping you awake at night, you need to get organised and get some kick-ass sales content on the go. 

In this episode, I take you through what content you need for the next launch in your vegan and ethical business, how to spot the people who want to buy from you and the big thing that people miss. 

And I give you a checklist of all the practical things you need for launch content. Plus, what you need to do when it's all going a bit wrong. 

All the links: 

Kick-Ass Sales Pages - https://indieessentials.co.uk/kick-ass-sales-pages/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany  

There are five bits of data that you can easily track in your vegan business that will help you make better content decisions. 

Putting data at the heart of your content strategy will help you understand where your clients are coming from, whether your content is attracting the right kind of people and where you can take a step back. 

In this episode, I cover the five things you can track that will help you ask the right questions when it comes to making content for your business. This is true whether you're a vegan and ethical business or if you sell anything else. 

Plus, I take you through some of the ways I think about the data so that you can start analysing it better. And where you can look for more information to make sure your content is leading to sales. 

Links for you: -

30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/

Pimp My Content Programme - https://indieessentials.co.uk/pimp-my-content-programme/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany  

Sales pages - we spend hours slogging over them and then get crickets. 

This week, I talk through some of the sales page pitfalls that could be stopping someone from buying from your vegan business. And what you can do to put it right. 

I'm covering: 

- Why there's a pricing debate when it comes to sales pages and what you should really be thinking about

- How you need to frame the cost so people see the value

- What key elements you might be missing from your sales page

- And the one thing you need to get right to make your sales page convert. 

Give me 20 minutes of your time and I'll give you some real pointers to help you with your next sales page. 

Links for you: 

30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/

Pimp My Content Programme - https://indieessentials.co.uk/pimp-my-content-programme/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany 

Do you prefer plant-based or vegan to describe what you do? Which label is best for your business? 

As someone whose been vegan for coming up to 20 years, I am most bemused by the divisive conversations about using plant-based versus vegan when it comes to describing vegan. 

In this episode, I talk about what plant-based actually means and why that is different to saying you are vegan. 

Plus, when you should use 'plant-based' over 'vegan' and when you shouldn't. And why you need to get this right for your customers. 

Links for you: -

30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/

Pimp My Content Programme - https://indieessentials.co.uk/pimp-my-content-programme/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompan

If you run a vegan business, especially a business that involves food, then the go-to content is often to create recipes. 

But what if by going down this route you’re creating yourself more problems than you’re solving? 

I cover when you should definitely use recipes for your vegan content and when you should probably get creative in this week’s podcast episode. Plus, I share some of the downsides of creating recipes for your content, even when you are a food or cooking-based business. 

Links for you:

30 Days of Vegan Content

Pimp My Content Programme

Thursday Brew

Book a Virtual Brew

Happy Tea Company 

“The internet industry pumps out the same carbon emissions as the aviation industry,” says Kayleigh Nicolaou from Kakadu Creative.

We have a virtual brew and discuss why this is not being discussed as much as it should and what businesses can do about it.

Plus, we chat about the hugely important benefits of being a purpose-led vegan business and how much impact you can make by putting your values front and centre.

Kayleigh has some wonderful insights into how you can check the sustainable performance of your website. And she shares some brilliant tips on how you can make your website greener.

Kayleigh explains the benefits of a sustainable website are:

• Great usability
• Fast site speed
• Light carbon footprint
• Reduced bounce rate
• Improved search.

So, why would you not build a sustainable website? Check out the full episode for everything you need to know about making your website work harder and have a positive impact.

Links for you: -

Connect with Kayleigh on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleighnicolaou/

Kakadu Creative - https://www.kakaducreative.com/

Kakadu on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KakaduCreative/

Kakadu on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kakaducreative/

Kakadu on LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/company/kakaducreative/

30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/

Pimp My Content Programme - https://indieessentials.co.uk/pimp-my-content-programme/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany  

There are some awesome brands out there who create some brilliant vegan content. And how this can help you spread your message and mission as well as sell your product. However, this is not a rule you have to follow. This is all about understanding who you sell to in order to create the right content for your audience. 

For example, if you are selling to people who are on their vegan journey, then you need to make the content resonate with the point that person is at right now - rather than where you’d like them to be. 

People buy for complex reasons. It’s not about buying vegan - people buy for different reasons. People who are vegan will have very much different reasons to buy than someone who is transitioning. 

You’ve got to do your market research and understand what your audience wants. Being vegan is no longer enough of a USP. So before you create content pillars you need to truly understand your audience. This should be done before you build your product or service but also keep checking in with people to make sure your message resonates. 

Customer Journey 

This isn’t the journey they take to buy from you but the journey they are on personally in their values and ethics. When you get to know where they stand right now, you can make a bigger impact. 

This is especially important if you want to bring people along with you to make an impact. 

But you need to meet them halfway rather than broadcast at them. Where they are right now in their vegan journey could need something different from what you are offering. And what they need in 5 or 10 years, might be what you deliver. So you need to make sure you’re either giving people what they need right now or attracting the people who are in that place in their journey. 

Open the conversation 

If you are a values-led business then you need to think about how you can open this conversation with your audience to bring them along with you. It means really nailing your content plan. No one likes being told what to do, so you need to be open to conversations. 

How do you do all this in reality? 

You start with nailing your audience and where they are in their journey. Then understand what their next step needs to be. Even if you don’t outwardly talk about veganism but do put your values front and centre, you will attract those people with the same values. There will be a law of attraction and you will bring the kind of people to you who share your values. 

You will find your group of clients by being yourself. 

And I bet if you reflect on this, you’ll recognise patterns of this happening throughout your life where you find your people. 

When it comes to your business, you bring all of this together with branding and tone of voice. That’s how your content will bring those people in. Get that brand message right and the rest follows. It is the foundation of your message. It is the kind of consistency you need. 

Even if you don’t feel like you need brand or tone of voice guidelines, make a note of how you sound and what you want your brand to say. It’s unique to you. 

Once you do this, you can establish your content pillars. These are the talking points of your business. Veganism might be one of them but it might not be. 

Links for you: 

30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/ 

Pimp My Content Programme - https://indieessentials.co.uk/pimp-my-content-programme/ 

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/ 

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew 

Happy Tea Company - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany

There are two sides to creating sustainable content for your vegan business. The first side is being physically sustainable. What happens is you start with a content plan to create a certain amount of blogs, posts, videos etc. And this works amazingly for a month or so but then it all falls apart.

The reason this happens every time is because you haven’t set a habit in place and that habit is not based on the strategy of your business and marketing. Nor is it taking into account your time and resources. Often it’s completely based on generic online advice.

So you need to make your content strategy and delivery plan sustainable for you.

You need to look at your resources, the outcome you want, and the return on investment of your time. Are you getting the results you want from everything you invest? Is it bringing in sales? If not, that’s time you could be using to bring in sales.

Or more realistically, you need to start creating better content that brings in sales. While at the start of anything you need to put in the time and effort to build momentum. It takes more energy at the start than when you’ve set the foundations in place.

Either way, what you do needs to be sustainable. Do you have the time for everything you want to do every single week? If not, look at what you can do on a consistent basis.

The second side to creating sustainable content is whether it is environmentally sustainable.

Every piece of content we create carries with it a co2 price so is the content you create worth to co2 that it costs? And if so, are there ways you can offset this in your business?

Find out more and how you can create sustainable content in this week’s Brew Time podcast. Listen using the player above.

Links for you: -

30 Days of Vegan Content - https://indieessentials.co.uk/30-days-of-vegan-content/

Pimp My Content Programme - https://indieessentials.co.uk/pimp-my-content-programme/

Thursday Brew - https://brewtime.substack.com/

Book a Virtual Brew - https://bit.ly/virtualbrew

Happy Tea Company -  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HappyTeaCompany  

Cara Melzack is the founder of the vegan and sustainable knitwear brand, Cara & The Sky. With over 10 years of fashion industry experience and knowledge, Cara launched the brand in 2019 and it has grown exponentially to now be selling in boutiques across the UK, Ireland and Canada. All while starting a family and the brand in lockdown.

She joins me for a virtual brew to chat about: 

>> Starting a knitwear business in lockdown while starting a new family

>> The unforeseen difficulties of logistics

>> Why creating a vegan and sustainable business is vital now and in the future

>> The amazing benefits of producing knitwear in the UK

>> Why the provenance of your clothes matters for sustainability

>> What it means to be body positive in your content

>> The power of photography - and the considerations you need to give to communicate with images across cultures

>> The secrets behind building a successful influencer campaign

Plus, Cara tells me about why Instagram has completely changed the direction of her brand. Why she sticks to the platform. And how she leverages her skills to build a brand that stands out in a crowded marketplace. 

Find Cara: 

Cara and the Sky - https://www.caraandthesky.com/

Cara and the Sky Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/caraandthesky/

Get The Thursday Brew here - brewtime.substack.com

This episode is in collaboration with The Happy Tea Company - a fully sustainable herbal tea that's grown in the Worcestershire countryside. 

Check them out here - https://www.happyteacompany.co.uk/