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  • Your Avatar Can Triple Profits in 30 Days

    Your Avatar Can Triple Profits in 30 Days

    The three biggest problems online marketers face are:

    1: Not getting new people to join your email list, read your blog or join your social media platforms.

    2: Not getting readers to open emails, engage, talk, hang out of social media or share content.

    3: Not getting readers and subscribers to buy stuff.

    All three of these problems can be solved when you get clear on your avatar and your statement of value (SOV). You’ll find that any paid advertising will be more likely to hone in on your target audience and in turn reduce ad spend and increase clicks and conversion. Not only that but you will likely ensure you produce content that your target audience is interested in, resulting in more free search traffic.

    Your avatar is your character profile of the exact person you want on your list, visiting your blog and engaging on social media.

    In any niche, there can be dozens or hundreds of different prospects.

    The mistake online marketers make is not knowing the best prospect to reach who will purchase their offers.

    And the solution is to get clear on your ideal avatar. Find the exact person who wants what you are selling, and selling becomes a breeze.

    What’s more, your statement of value is also essential to your success, which we’ll cover in a moment.

    Spending time to get your avatar can triple profits in 30 Days. Many business take a shotgun approach marketing to who they think their customers are. Use this information to get more insights into who to market to.

    Your Avatar:

    Ideally your goal is to target the exact buyer you seek, talk to them about exactly what they want to talk about and then offer them the exact solution that will fix their problem.

    I see marketers all the time who are trying to target everyone who wants to be happy, or everyone who wants to lose weight, or everyone with an interest in golf. That’s a recipe for disaster.

    If your avatar is too vague – or worse yet, if you don’t have an avatar – then marketing becomes like trying to swim upstream while wearing your collection of bowling balls. It’s way too much work, you’re going to have to be a very strong, expert swimmer and still you’re just not going to make much progress, if any.

    People buy to experience pleasure or to avoid pain. That’s why you should look for a person’s wants, needs, desires, fears, frustrations and problems.

    Creating this avatar is going to get you clear on who to target and what to say to them through your content.

    In fact, when you’re clear on your avatar, your marketing becomes far easier, you make more sales with less effort and your entire business becomes more of a joy than of work.

    Here is an avatar template to use every time you enter a new market or even promote a new product.

    Do your research on the appropriate forums, social media groups and Facebook Groups in particular, wining advertising, Amazon reviews and anyplace your prospects hang out to find this information. Facebook insights can be a great place to start.

    If you must initially take a few guesses, that’s alright. You can refine your avatar as you go. Guessing incorrectly and refining is much better than not having any avatar at all.

    Avatar Template

    Basic Info:

    • Gender
    • Age
    • Relationship status
    • Education level
    • Occupation
    • Job title
    • Location
    • Interests
    • Annual Income

    Digging Deeper – The following 7 items will all have multiple answers inside the realm of your particular niche.

    Wants: What does she want most of all? What is her goal?

    Needs: What does she have to have to make her goal happen?

    Desires: What are her desires on a very personal and emotional level?

    Fears: What is keeping her awake at night?

    Frustrations: What is stopping her from achieving her goal?

    Problems: What are the problems she faces is trying to achieve her goal?

    Desired Outcome: If all goes well, what does her outcome look like?

    Example Avatar for a Paleo Weight Loss Product:

    Paleo Pam; woman; age 50; married with 2 grown, unmarried children; 4 years of college; office manager at a large dental clinic; lives in Cincinnati, Ohio; loves crafts, television and sewing; $65K income.

    Wants:

    1. To know what to eat and what foods to avoid on Paleo.
    2. A plan to lose 50 pounds and keep it off.
    3. Recipes that don’t take a lot of time to prepare, are easy and delicious.

    Needs:

    1. Her paleo questions answered.
    2. Encouragement and motivation for the times she feels like giving up.
    3. To feel like she is not alone on her Paleo weight loss journey.

    Desires:

    1. To be slim and healthy with lots of energy.
    2. To feel confident, to love how she looks in the mirror.
    3. To be proud of herself and to have her husband be proud of her, too.

    Fears:

    1. That this is just another diet failure in the making.
    2. That she is losing her health and her quality of life.
    3. That this is her last chance to finally lose the weight and keep it off.
    4. If she has grandchildren, she might not live to see them grow up.

    Frustrations:

    1. She doesn’t understand paleo, what to eat, when to eat.
    2. She doesn’t know where to begin.
    3. There is conflicting information and she doesn’t know what’s right.

    Problems:

    • She’s unhealthy. She’s had a recent health scare and her doctor says to lose the weight now or face dire consequences.
    • Her weight seems to affect everything about her life negatively.
    • She’s on prescription meds for her medical condition and the side effects are unpleasant.
    • Her husband has lost all interest in being intimate with her and she thinks it’s her fault.
    • Her clothes don’t fit (again) and she can’t bear the thought of once again buying bigger clothes.

    Outcome:

    • Pam has lost the weight.
    • She looks great, feels great, and her confidence is sky high.
    • She loves how she looks in the mirror and in photos.
    • She lost the weight without starving and now she finds it’s easy to keep the weight off, too.
    • Her husband is proud of her and pays more attention to her. Her clothes fit and she has more energy.
    • Her health problems have diminished greatly and she’s no longer on medication.

    Please note, this example avatar is just that – an example. Please do your own research for your own niche or products.

    Do you see how much easier it will be for you to now speak directly to Paleo Pam in all of your content? And can you imagine how much easier it will be for you to sell her the solution she needs now that you understand her better?

    And you can even custom tailor your offers to her to make sure she is getting everything she needs from you. For example, if you look at her needs, you’ll see that all three of them could be taken care of with a bonus private Facebook Group where she can connect with others who are just like her, as well as getting questions answered by you or someone who understands Paleo.

    The biggest mistake I see marketers making on their avatar is not focusing on URGENT problems. You’ll notice that Paleo Pam needed to lose 50 pounds, not 5 pounds. And she’s having health challenges that are serious.

    This is someone who is MOTIVATED to do something about her problem right away. When you show her that you understand her and you have the solution she seeks, she’s not going to balk on price or need time to think about it. She’s going to jump on your offer like her life depends on it, because in this case it probably does.

    When you research your prospect, you’re going to see they have MANY problems – so much so that it can become overwhelming to you. Your best bet is to figure out which problems are urgent, identify the exact prospects who have this urgent problem and then find them the solution.

    People whose backs are to the wall are ready to buy and buy now. They need a solution right away because without it their problem will only get worse.

    But there’s one more step to take:

    Your Statement of Value

    This is a simple statement that gets you clear on the value you must provide to your ideal avatar. This ensures your avatar feels like their needs are being met by you, which in turn ensures they continue to open your emails, read your blogposts and buy your stuff. Without an SOV your prospects may become bored or leave because you are not serving their needs and interests.

    When you couple your SOV with your Avatar, you’ll know how to attract all the right people onto your lists and social media accounts.

    Here’s the SOV formula: Your content (website, emails, videos, social media, etc.) gives your ideal Avatar the ability to enjoy their ultimate desired outcome.

    You can only complete this statement of value after you’ve completed your Avatar.

    For the example Avatar we created earlier, your SOV might be:

    FastPaleoSuccess.com gives Pam an easy plan for losing 50 pounds in 120 days and keeping it off so she can have more energy, be healthier, feel more confident and attractive and make her husband notice her again.

    This is just an example. If I were really putting together a Paleo website I would put a great deal more time and research into this, but you get the idea.

    Your SOV encapsulates and clarifies the mission you are embarking upon with your site, your campaign or whatever it is that you are doing.

    And with your SOV and your Avatar in hand, you’ll know exactly what kind of content to create, what to put in your emails and social media posts and how to sell your products.

    Making the effort to create an Avatar and SOV will save you a ton of time. No longer will you create content that isn’t suited for your audience or build your list with people who aren’t responsive to your offers. You’ll know exactly who your customers are, how to reach them and what to offer them.

    Bottom line: You’ll be able to earn more while doing less because you’ll do a better job of making your customers happy – perhaps more so than anyone else in your niche.

  • Order Bumps vs Upsells. What’s Best?

    Order Bumps vs Upsells. What’s Best?

    Order bumps work best when the offer is a continuation or upgrade of the current product that is about to be purchased.

    For example, if you’re selling software, then the order bump might be an extended license that allows the user to own it for a lifetime rather than renewing it each year. Or it could be a set of videos that help the user to install and use the software, in case this sort of thing is new to them. Or maybe it’s resell or PLR rights to the software.

    On the other hand, 1-click upsells are best when the offer is complementary to the original product.

    Let’s say you sell a course on how to drive traffic using Facebook. An upsell could be another course on how to drive traffic using TikTok or Instagram.

    Examples of Order Bumps vs Upsells. What’s Best?

    When you purchase electronics, you will almost always see an order bump for a warranty plan. For example, when you purchase an iPad you’ll be offered ‘AppleCare’ for two years of tech support and accidental damage coverage.

    Well isn’t that nice of the cashier to ask that? Of course you would like her to do that, and you might even thank her for being so thoughtful.

    Congrats, you’ve just discovered how to increase the size of your orders on your website.

    The most difficult part of marketing is getting the sale. But once someone has committed to making the purchase, it’s relatively easy to get them to upgrade. They’ve already decided to buy. That decision is made. Purchasing more simply reconfirms their commitment to that decision.

    Plus, you’re giving them a great deal, so what’s not to love?

    Your customer has added your $99 course to the cart. You ask if they would like to add 4 weeks of email coaching for just $49 more, making the total sale $148 instead of just $99.

    Just to be clear, an order bump happens before someone clicks, “buy now.” It adds an additional item or upgrade to the shopping cart before the checkout is complete.

    In contrast, an upsell happens after someone has completed the purchase. The upsell is usually on the thank you page, and it can be done with a single click so the customer doesn’t need to enter their credit card details again.

    When Should You Use Order Bumps vs Upsells

    When you purchase from Omaha Steaks, there is an order bump for Filet Mignon at a discount.

    The brand Thirty-One uses a slightly different approach in their order bump, placing it on every product page. The visitor has two choices – “add to cart” or “personalize’. They’re selling more by offering the personalization service to increase the value of each sale and they are also subconsciously making their buyers think of who they can send a personalized gift to.

    The #1 Reason Why Order Bumps are so Effective

    Just as your customer is about to click the buy button, they get a chance to upgrade their order to something even better.

    And because the order bump is personalized to exactly what the customer wants, it can make the original offer even more compelling.

    On top of that, most people are impulsive buyers. Presenting an offer upgrade just as they’re about to buy vastly increases the chance they will accept it.

    Think about what happens at a new car dealership. The customer might agonize over whether or not to make the purchase. But once they become committed to their chosen vehicle, it’s very easy for the dealership to sell all kinds of add-ons that contribute significantly to the sales price and the customer’s satisfaction.

    Once people make a decision, they will reaffirm to themselves that they have made the right decision. And taking the order bump is one more way they show themselves that they’re on the right path.

    10 Order Bumps to Add to Your Offers

    While this list is not comprehensive, it does give you an excellent starting point in figuring out what offers you can make to your customers in the form of order bumps.

    1: An Additional, Different Format

    This one is so simple – for example, if your customer is purchasing a pdf, offer them an audio version or even a physical copy in addition to the pdf.

    2: Related Accessories

    This should be something that enhances the function of the original product. For example, if you’re selling a course on how to approach the right people at companies in a specific niche in order to do deals, the order bump might be the contact info for 100 of these executives.

    Or if you’re selling a course on something, the order bump might be a 20 page pdf on how to learn anything quickly.

    3: Personal Assistance

    This works especially well if you are selling courses and programs. Your order bump could be something like email support for any questions they have, group conference calls to answer questions, or a private Facebook Group.

    4: Community or Partners

    Again, if you are selling courses and programs, the biggest obstacle is getting your customers to take action on the product they’re purchasing. Offering them a private community they can join where they are in touch with others learning the same material can be extremely helpful. It also provides them with a way to make contacts.

    And something I don’t see very often but can be even more effective is assigning accountability partners. When you pair two or more people together to stay in touch with each other and keep each other accountable, the work tends to get done at a much higher rate.

    Why is this important? If your customers are not just buying, but also USING your programs and courses, they are much happier with their purchase and MUCH more likely to purchase more programs and courses from you in the future.

    5: Expedited Shipping

    The company I purchase supplements from offers expedited shipping for just an additional $2.99. It’s a great deal and I get it every time.

    Faster shipping can mean two things: Either it gets shipped faster, or it gets shipped by a faster delivery method, such as USPS Priority Mail instead of Ground.

    6: Auto-Delivery

    If you sell anything that requires repeat purchases, such as foods, supplies, or supplements, you can offer monthly delivery through an order bump. This won’t increase the size of the initial order, but it will increase the number of times something is ordered.

    7: Maintenance or Support

    Does your product require maintenance? Upgrades? Support? Electronics and cars almost always have order bumps for extended warranties. Which of your products needs these things, too?

    Warranties and protection plans are similar and also a great thing to offer as order bumps.

    8: Preferred Members Group

    You could create an insider’s circle or preferred members program that offers discounts, free shipping, exclusive deals and so forth. Amazon Prime is a good example of this. And many companies offer a 10% discount on all purchases made within a year of purchasing a preferred membership.

    9: Upgrades

    This can mean so many different things. For example, if someone purchases a resell license, you can offer a PLR license as an upgrade.

    Or let’s say you offer 2 or 3 different versions of your product, software or service. If they choose one of the lesser versions, on the order page you can present them with a bump up to the next level. Odds are they were on the fence anyway, so asking them if they wouldn’t like to move up one level will often get a yes, especially if you throw in some small incentive.

    10: Bulk Discounts

    If you’re selling tangible products, then this can work really well. Offer them 3 of the item they’re purchasing for a reduced per item unit. Or offer them the second unit for half price.

    In some cases this can work with digital, too. Let’s say you have a series of videos or books. Maybe it’s a series of 5 books, each building on the other but also acting as stand-alone products. Your customer adds one book to the cart, and on the order page you offer a special deal to get all 5 books right now. Because odds are they will be back for more anyway, so why not grab them now?

    Final Notes on Order Bumps vs  Upsells

    The tricky part is to keep the order bump simple while still doing your best to sell it.

    1: Go for a clear and concise message that covers the big benefit of getting the order bump. Use a short headline that grabs attention. Be ultra-specific in what they’re getting. Show how it is useful to the purchase they are already making. Create a sense of urgency that this is THE time to grab the offer – not later. And if applicable, show how it is unique.

    That’s a lot to fit into 2 to 4 sentences. You’ll have to play with this until you get it just right, then test it and adjust accordingly.

    2: Try placing your order bump in a box outlined in a bright contrasting color, such as red or orange.

    3: If the number is over 50%, make a note of what percentage of people take the order bump.

    6: To say yes to the offer, have your customers check a box that says something like, “Yes! Upgrade My Order”. You might highlight these words and the checkbox in pale yellow to make them stand out.

    7: Using a picture in the order bump box can work well, if appropriate. For example, if the order bump is for a book, use a pic of the book cover.

    8: If appropriate to your order page, try placing the order bump box directly in line with the order form itself, with a button underneath that says to ship your order now. This makes it seem a very natural part of the ordering process.

  • 7 Ways to Maximize Zoom Meetings

    7 Ways to Maximize Zoom Meetings

    Maximise the use of this great tool.

     Zoom gives you the capability to hold face-to-face meetings, show what’s on your screen to everyone else on the call, pass control from one person to another and record the call as a video.

    While people are getting better at Zoom meetings, there are still a few things we can do to improve the experience for everyone:

    There are probably a lot more than 7 ways to maximize zoom meetings, but hey this list is a good place to start.

    Here are the 7 Ways to Maximize Zoom Meetings

    1. Know who attended

    To get a report after the meeting is finished listing everyone who attended, go to Zoom Account Management > Reports Section > Usage Reports > Meeting and then select the report type and date range.

    This only works is you’re the meeting host, you’ve enabled Usage Reports or you’re an account administrator or owner. And you also need a paid plan.

    2. Record the call as a video

    Did some people miss the call? Or would you like a record of the meeting?

    To record, choose if you want to use local (store yourself) or cloud option. Cloud option is for paying members only and allows people to stream the video in their web browser when it’s ready.

    To record, it pays to optimize your settings beforehand. If you’re doing broadcast-style where only the host appears, set Zoom to record only the host’s audio and video. If it’s a collaborative meeting, be sure Zoom is recording everyone.

    Zoom gives you the capability to hold face-to-face meetings, show what’s on your screen to everyone else on the call, pass control from one person to another and record the call as a video.

    But did you know Zoom is capable of even more than that?

    Here I’ve created a list of 7 things you can do on Zoom to get you started.

    3. Create recurring meetings with saved settings and one URL

    Okay, you knew about this one, right? When you schedule a meeting, tell Zoom if the meeting is weekly, monthly, etc. You can lock in the settings to have them in place every time the meeting takes place.

    But what if your group regularly meets but not at regular times? Choose the option called “No Fixed Time.” You’ll be able to use the same settings and same URL with the same group, no matter when you get together.

    4. Automatically schedule meetings and let people know about them

    You can connect your scheduling app (such as Zapier) with Zoom and your calendar.

    Then when someone books an appointment in your scheduling app, it automatically creates a new Zoom meeting and adds it to your calendar.

    Do you have a team? Use a chat app like Slack to share the meeting details with your team via the chat app.

    5. Screen share with collaborative annotation

    Screen sharing allows the host to display what’s on their screen to everyone else on the call, and annotation tools let anyone or everyone on the call draw and highlight what’s on the screen.

    If you’re not the host and you want to annotate, select ‘view option’ from the top of the Zoom window and then choose ‘annotate.’ A toolbar will appear with your options for texting, drawing, making arrows and so forth.

    The host can click ‘save’ on the toolbar to capture the completed image with annotations as a screenshot.

    6. Keyboard shortcuts

    “I” is invite. Press Alt + I (Windows) or Cmd + I (macOS) to jump to the invite window. Grab the link to the meeting or send invites to others via email.

    “M” is mute everyone but you. Press Alt + M (Windows) or Cmd + Ctrl + M (macOS) when you’re the meeting host and want to mute everyone else.

    “S” is share. Press Alt + Shift + S (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + S (macOS) to share your screen.

    “R” is record. Press Alt + R (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (macOS) to record, and Press Alt + P (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + P (macOS) to pause or resume recording.

    “A” is to mute and un/mute your own audio. Press Alt + A (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + A (macOS).

    “V” is to turn video off and on. Press Alt + V (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + V (macOS).

    To enable shortcuts outside of Zoom, go to Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts and select ‘enable global shortcut.’ This will allow you to use the keyboard shortcuts regardless of what window you’re in.

    7. Touch Up Your Appearance

    If you want to improve your appearance, go to settings > video and check ‘touch up my appearance.’ Zoom will soften the focus on your camera, making you look 10 years younger. Okay, maybe not 10 years but it’s worth trying.

    And while you’re at it, you can also change your background. If you don’t want others to see your messy house, or maybe you’d like to pretend you’re on a tropical island, just go to settings > virtual background and choose your background.

    We hope you liked the 7 Ways to Maximize Zoom Meetings. Just for good measure here are three extra Zoom meeting tips. Think of any more let me know and I will add to the list!

    1. Don’t use your built-in microphone and speaker.

    They’re designed to pick up as much information as they can, which will include background noises and voices. Instead, use a wired headset, preferably with a boom mic, because it will pick up just what is in front of the mic.

    2. When you are speaking, look a little to the side of your screen.

    When we look directly at the screen or camera, we get easily distracted by the faces and find it more difficult to formulate what we’re trying to say.

    3. Be a little more dramatic and expressive.

    Theater actors are aware that they have to play to the back row seats, meaning they need bigger facial expressions and gestures to get their point across than if they were playing to an audience of one.

    When we’re on Zoom, things like subtle eye cues, nods and chuckles might not be noticed. To give feedback to the speaker that they can see and hear, you’ll want to grin instead of smile, give a thumbs up instead of nodding and laugh instead of chuckling.

    Subtlety does not come across well in online meetings, so play things up a bit and become a little more dramatic and expressive to let others know you’re paying attention and not checking your email or zoning out.