by jessica | Apr 28, 2016
When you’re new to the online biz life, nothing’s better than waking up to a ton of new followers! Not only is it confirmation that you’re making an impact – but it’s an opportunity to convert those followers into buyers!
Here’s the thing – to turn followers into buyers, you need a solid follow up strategy. You know, we don’t do business in Facebook Inboxes (where messages get filtered!), or via twitter (who can pitch in 140 characters?).
The easiest, and most professional, way to keep in contact with your audience is email.
Lean in, cause I’m covering the big deets – when to invest in an email marketing solution, which (ultra cost friendly) email marketing tool I love, and why it takes the guesswork out of sending emails.
When do I drop the coin for an ‘official’ email marketing product?
Back in the day (like 2009, ha!) you collected email addresses from your fans and followers, and then you would copy and paste them to a list or somehow save them in your email address book. From there, when you needed to send updates, you’d copy and paste them into the address line in your email. SUPER Old School. Emphasis on Old.
The copy and paste method is cool when you have 10-20 people on your list, but we’re fancypants entrepreneurs building mega tribes, right? We don’t have time for that! Not to mention the list of other issues:
- Strangers seeing your email addy.
- Who opened what email, and when?
- Manually unsubscribing people who don’t realize your awesomeness.
- And of course, we all know someone who always hits ‘reply all’ – and no one likes that person. Don’t be that person.
So it comes down to this – if you’re operating a business (no matter the size of your email list), and you plan on growing your brand – you need to invest in an email marketing solution.
Okay, I get it, Nicole – but WHICH email marketing system? And it better not be expensive!
Guys, you know I have you covered on the low business overhead! My two favorites – budget friendly, but value packed email marketing systems are MailChimp and ConvertKit. I’ve tried the fancypants guru favorites InfusionSoft and Aweber. They work – but between the cost, ultra basic templates and the 3-hour tutorial to get the most bang for your buck – they’re so not my style. Especially the cost. Ha!
ConvertKit & MailChimp. That’s easy – but what do they DO?
The real question, is what don’t they do! You can:
- Store all the email addresses you collect in a database.
- Create different customer lists i.e. Facebook lead list or Instagram lead list.
- Deliver emails to the people on your list – this is called a ‘broadcast.’
- Delegate your unsubscribe management to your mmail management system.
- Find out who actually opened your email and clicked the links to greatness you share!
Ok, so obviously all email management systems do these things – but what bells and whistles make Mailchimp and ConvertKit the hot stuff? Well…
MailChimp
- Simple pricing structure (basic level is FREE – my favorite price to pay!)
- Super easy to set up.
- VIDEOS! Their help center has tons of easy to follow videos that SHOW you how to do things.
- Dashboard amazingness – it’s so easy to tell how well an email does. You can tell how many people opened it and how many people leave your list – right at login.
Y’all, when I was a newbie, MailChimp stole my heart. I started with them when I had about 109 people on my list (reminder: I had a blog business BEFORE I launched my consulting company). I even stayed with MailChimp for over a year after that. As my list grew, I needed features that served my Richfriends more – features like ‘segmentation,’. Segmentation allows you to send personalized messages to different people on your list based on what they’ve clicked on or emails they’ve loved. Yep, not everyone wants to see all your business all the time. Once I had over 5000 people on my list, I ‘outgrew’ what I wanted from MailChimp…so I graduated to ConvertKit…well sorta.
The thing before, my newest love – ConvertKit!
I heard from industry greats that InfusionSoft was the way to go, so I had my team get on that ASAP (I don’t do tech). I dropped the coin, switched to InfusionSoft, and it was not my thing. Complicated, chock full of awesome features (that I had no idea how to use quickly) and my Richfriends were all waiting to hear from me! I needed a new option, and I needed one fast. 60 days later we found ConvertKit and made the switch.
Guys. Y’all. Richfriends…I’m obsessed.
ConvertKit does everything MailChimp does PLUS segmentation and it’s cheaper!!!!
What does this mean for you, my brilliant Richfriend?
Check it out for yourself, read up on ConvertKit here. If you do decide to opt for ConvertKit, I am a user and affiliate of their product (like I said- OBSESSED) so use my sign up link: http://mbsy.co/convertkit/22272554
If you have questions that I wasn’t able to answer in this post, please leave them below and let’s chat!
Do The Work and Get Your Coin!
by jessica | Apr 26, 2016
Guys, what is it about teenagers that makes them think they can pull the wool over our eyes? Don’t they know that we’ve been there, done that – and DIDN’T get caught?
As an of 3 brilliant (but not slick) foster Tinies (ages 4, 13, and 16), I am constantly learning how to balance compassion for their tough upbringing with some good ol’ “You gon’e get raised today!” parenting ethics.
And the Internet does NOT make it easier.
Here I am, making my coin on the web – changing lives, and paying for dance camp – all at the same time. Just minding my adult business. The next thing I know, here comes Snapchat, Instagram, and WhatsApp sneaking into my Tinies purview. It’s crazy to think – the very tools and apps that I’ve come to know and love are making it tougher to be ‘everywhere’ protecting my babies.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to remind the BigTiny that Mama’s ALWAYS watching – thanks to Instagram.
Here’s the short version – BigTiny thought it would be hilarious (and cute, and worth getting grounded over) to post on Instagram about, “Blah blah boyfriend, blah blah #relationshipgoals.”
Oh really, ma’am?
Sure enough, you can see The Hubbin was ALLLLL over that.
“Nah, this is a good streak, keep it going. #concentrateonyourstudies #testprepnotprimping #alsothedogneedsawalk”
We follow our girls on every social media platform – because whatever you do on the Internet, should make your Mama proud. We also have to stress to them that no matter where you are, what you do, or what deletes after 24 hours – the internet never forgets. Screenshots are totally a thing.
And we know how to use hashtags too.
How do you guys balance letting your kids grow up with social media without going insane over natural parental concerns? Let me know in the comments!
Happy parenting,
-Nicole
Episode 156 from Monetize Thyself on Vimeo.
For the full transcript of this video, click the yellow button below.
Download Transcript
by jessica | Apr 21, 2016
Richfriends.
By now, most of you have heard that Katch.me will be shutting down on May 4th. This is causing some major ripples in the livestreaming world – as people are trying to figure out, “Why?” The company has said they weren’t able to get funding or investors – so despite having 1 million users(!), they have to shut the doors on their popular, and effective platform.
Y’all.
What have I told you about being popular, and not profitable? What have I said about deciding to skip integrating monetization strategies into your platforms AS YOU BUILD? What have I said about the importance of training your growing audience to know how to interact with you financially – while serving in your purpose?
Y’all.
I’m so serious about this – I headed straight to Periscope to give you the details on everything that went wrong here, and how you don’t have to make these mistakes. These are solutions you can use today. Check it out:
Guys, Don’t be Katch. Implement 1K1Day. New Cycle Opens June 2016.
by jessica | Apr 20, 2016
This is a crowd favorite episode of The Monetized Life. I tackled the often avoided conversation of inadequacy. The feeling of chronic self-doubt in the face of successes that can make a person go crazy. It has a name- Imposter Syndrome and in this video I talk about it in detail.
If you enjoyed the video share it with others who can benefit from the message. If you plan to do the homework feel free to post this message to your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or where ever feels right.
Today is the last day:
1. No more second guessing our gifts.
2. No more dismissing our accomplishments.
3. No more letting fear stop us from living in our purpose.
We deserve it all. #IAmWORTHY
Make it a great day Richfriend!
-Nicole
If you liked this video and would like to join my mailing list enter your details below or visit www.richfriendclub.com
by jessica | Apr 5, 2016
If you caught my scope last week, then you know I have three very specific pet peeves when it comes to doing business with folks. If you missed the scope, click here to catch the replay. Fair warning: one of my peeves involves bartering tacos for business advice (don’t do it – even if they let you get extra guac).
Seriously, one of my biggest pet peeves is conducting business via text. And by conducting business via text, I mean texting entire course outlines for me to look over, or breaking down details of your business message by message.
Stop.
Text messages for me, are like Twitter. Quick, to the point, and maybe with an emoji or two. If you can’t get to the core of your communication with me in two lines and a hashtag, then texting is not the way to go! Conducting long-form business via text is one of the easiest ways to get roped into doing free – by allowing folks to circumvent the proper channels of communication and eat up your time.
But Nicooooo-oooole, everybody’s doing it!
I know, I know. Literally everybody is texting – your toddler, your grandma, your dog Tucker. So how do we capitalize on texting for business in a professional manner without dropping coin and burning bridges?
Enter: Mozeo.
If you’ve ever seen stores like Target post signs that say “Text BEAUTY to 12345 for $5 off” or even “Text COIN to 24587 so you’ll never miss my scopes (you can really do that), then you’ve seen what Mozeo can do in action. Mozeo allows you to harness the power of text communication for your business.
With Mozeo, you can collect the cell phone numbers of your clients, fans, followers, and customers, and send them targeted, one-way texts. This is perfect for getting potential customers to opt in (for future sales), sign up for alerts (like my scope alerts), or even receive exclusive discounts on your products and services.
Mozeo allows you to limit the conversation while being of service to your customer base. There’s something very personal about texting, which is why people prefer to text over email. It’s instant. It’s direct. It’s in your pocket. But because Mozeo is a third party application, you’re not roped into long, drawn out textversations about business that are better suited for e-mail or phone.
Mozeo is super affordable, at a rate of 3 cents per outgoing message. You pay as you go, and there are no monthly fees for service or inbound texts. When you sign up for Mozeo I’d love if you use using my referral link, you’ll get 10 free text messages, 100 free e-mail messages, a trial keyword, and a 15-day mobile web trial. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/Mozeo
So is texting OK in business?
Only when you’re controlling the conversation. J
