Category: Uncategorized

Why starting a business is like planting a plant

I always think that starting a business is like growing a plant – you have to sow the seed, let the roots develop and bingo one day you’ll see those amazing shoots arrive.

When a farmer plants new seed, he doesn’t turn up in the field the next day and expect to see a full crop of corn – it takes time! He must water, nurture and tend the seeds until they sprout and grow. Starting a business is much the same. If you have an idea, a passion, a will to change the status quo, then you have the drive to stick it out in the long term.

Find that passion and turn it into profit.
If you’ve got that passion for social change, or to drive a product that makes a difference to mainstream market, then you will show up day after day in your business. You’ll take the knocks and the rejections and plod on to other routes of opportunity. This is how a business and a brand grows. We help you to nurture and grow as a business and a brand.

Keep telling your authentic, true story and focus on your ‘WHY’. Your audience want to know what difference buying your product or using your service will make to them. Focus on being transparent, authentic and human and your business will stride forward into the limelight.

“An idea never starts out great – it grows into a great idea” Susan Hay – editor of Thrive Magazine

Why you need to change your PR strategy

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.69″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” border_style=”solid”]

PR is changing! The traditional way of doing PR and submitting releases into journalist’s inboxes simply doesn’t cut the mustard any more. It’s old school. Now you have to stand out more than ever. PR needs to be pro-active and responsive. Tools such as #Journorequest on Twitter are now playing ahead of the old PR game. This hashtag allows you to see any space that journalists need to fill, stories they want and interviews that they are looking for. It’s your opportunity and responsibility as a brand or expert in your field to respond – quickly.

As a magazine editor I get 100’s of pitches each week to claim free editorial space and believe me some of the pitches are simply terrible. You have to stand out, you have to offer help and not talk about yourself. Editors need to fill space – fact! But, they won’t even read your email if the subject line isn’t enticing. Bring your key brand facts and USP’s into the title or at least the first intro paragraph. I delete most of the pitches that come through, mainly because they are boring, poorly written or they simply don’t offer any kind of ‘fill the gap’ incentive.

New ways to do PR
1 – Use media enquiry services such as #Journorequest or ResponseSource
2 – Respond to media requests from an expert point of view; so instead of pushing your brand, push yourself as the expert of the relevant topic that they are looking to cover.
3 – If you are looking to write an email pitch, keep it short, to the point, include the key facts in the first para and then refer back to your website if they need more info, images etc.

Simple ways to stay on top of your own PR.

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Woohoo – Mail Chimp landing pages are here

You’ve gottta love the chimp 🙂

For a long while my favourite of all of the email marketing tools has been Mail Chimp. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I haven’t tried and found positives to other software, but having tried over 15 different platforms, I always get dragged back to the ‘chimp’!

Apart from being super user friendly, Mail Chimp also offers great customer service. And now that they have added the availability of landing pages – and super to setup landing pages too. I want to grab that chimp by the hands and do the happy dance. if you’re thinking – what’s the big fuss about landing pages, then let me help.

What the bananas are landing pages for?
Landing pages are separate pages off your main website, their main aim is to entice your visitor to perform just one action; fill in the email capture form, accept an offer, buy a specific promotional product. etc etc. There’s no other distractions such as social media icons to click, they are focused on one ask.

But, why are they sitting off your main website I hear you cry?
Partly because of what I mentioned above – there are no distractions. If you consider sending traffic to your homepage of your website vs. a standalone landing page – your homepage is designed with a more general purpose in mind and many options for visitors to click and get distracted. Also landing pages help increase your conversion rates. The average conversion rate for a separate landing page is between 3-5.5%.

Always remember to be open with the message match. Nobody likes to be duped into a click!
Message matching, is when for example you are running an enticing Facebook Advert, you’ve worked your socks off on the visual of the ad, included a fantastic offer – 20% off these snazzy Christmas socks, but then your advert clicks through to a page that offers ties, shirts and maybe socks – big no no. This is a mismatch and your visitor will be confused and is likely to leave the page quicker than Usain Bolt!!!

This example shows a comparison of good and bad message match;
An example of bad message match
Ad: Get 30% off an Apple I-pad
Landing page message: Welcome to Apple Store

An example of good message match
Ad: Get 30% off an Apple I-pad
Landing page message: Get 30% off an Apple I-pad 4 only for today

Keep your message consistent, true and authentic – no click bait. Nobody likes being hooked into a dead fish 😉

So, you’re ready to give landing pages a try…

1) Carefully think through your offer and the advert or post that will bring your visitors to the landing page.
2) Remember to include the Call to Action – i.e. the email capture, offer button, purchase option.
3) Keep your main offer details at the top of the page, on the landing page, don’t make the visitor scroll for the offer.

Now, go create, build and fall in love with the ‘Chimp’. 🙂 Sue – Digital Divas X
 P.S I’m not just a Chimp lover! There are other options when it comes to landing pages: Ontraport, Click Funnels, Thrive Themes, Unbounce, Instpage. The list is endless, you’ll find your perfect match.

Why the internet is making everybody an expert

I had an interesting conversation today, well, interesting to me anyway! All be it there were no actual people involved. It started like this; “Has anyone got any advice on which email client to use for my business?”. You guessed it, it was on Facebook, the wonder of the world just now and the place where, wait for it – 2 billion people log in each and every month! That’s more than the population of China – eek!!

I watched the feed with bated breath as everyone and their dog waded in with options, expert advice and routes for this person to take. The problem – not once did I see anyone ask the question “What are you trying to achieve” or “How much time in your working week do you have to use this software?”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for helping people out, in fact that’s exactly why I started Digital Divas, to help lovely ladies like you to overcome the fear of technology and boost their businesses and achieve the lifestyle that you desire. But, and it’s a rather big butt – everybody else’s opinion and solution may not be right for you and your business. Let me say that again because it’s so, so important. Everybody else’s opinion and solution may not be right for you and your business.

Don’t listen to other people unless you know 100% what you want to achieve yourself. I’ve spent far too many hours researching different options of technology, software, programs. It’s not the tool that makes the difference, although it can speed things up for you. It’s your idea, motivation and reason for needing the tool that is key to dig deep into first – then find the correct tool to meet that need.

So, back to that insanely vague question on Facebook. There were a number of suggestions and offers of help on the thread, all of which seemed to be positioning the writer of the post as an expert. An expert in Mailchimp, an expert in marketing, design, cooking, sport blah blah blah Is everybody a darn expert at everything?

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers coined the golden rule: “10 thousand hours is the magic number of greatness, people aren’t born geniuses, they get there through effort”.

Why does Facebook make people want to help too often?

It may be because, posting on Facebook takes little commitment, it’s a quick post, a post that once you’re done writing you forget about, until that red little notification monster pings in the top right corner ‘Someone has responded to your post’ It’s all too easy for anyone to position themselves as experts.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for community solutions and the wisdom of the crowd. But, the internet is a giant WIKI. Read, review, check out the source and overall, the most important thing – remember it’s just one person’s opinion. What’s right for you.