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I am so thrilled to introduce you to Kara Duncan from The Kara Report on today’s podcast. This episode is absolute gold. I just finished listening to it myself and walked away with a to-do list full of important SEO updates I need to make in my own business. I was literally taking notes as I listened. In this episode, Kara is sharing eight SEO blogging strategies most business owners are skipping—or, honestly, may not even be aware of. I personally learned a ton from what she shared. 

These are not the usual SEO tips you hear everywhere; Kara goes deep and gets really specific. She’s someone who has helped me rank better on Google for my website and especially for blog posts related to this podcast so trust me, she knows her stuff.

Fun fact: Kara is actually also on my podcast team. She’s been my podcast manager for about a year and a half now. When I came up with the idea for these guest episodes during my maternity leave, I pitched it to her and added, “By the way, would you also be one of the guests?” I had several topics in mind that I thought she’d be perfect for (and this one especially stood out!).

Kara’s been a long-time listener of the show, a Showit template customer, and she’s also taken my Podcast Success Blueprint course. Like I mentioned, she’s now a vital part of my business and is so sharp when it comes to blogging and SEO.

She also talks about how blogging is changing because of AI, and I really loved her perspective on how we can adapt our strategy as business owners (even if you’re not using AI yourself).

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 314!

Hey there, friends! I am so excited to be coming at you from this side of the mic. I'm Kara, and my business is The Kara Report. We’re a content marketing agency that specializes in done-for-you blogging and Pinterest services for creative business owners just like you!

I also have the absolute privilege and delight of helping Elizabeth behind the scenes with some of her podcast work, so I’m really excited to be chatting with you today. And hey - we already have one thing in common: we both love The Breakthrough Brand podcast.

Today, I’m going to share eight things to consider with your SEO in 2025. These are underrated SEO blogging strategies or things that most business owners tend to skip over. I feel like we’re all trying to diversify our marketing in 2025, right? We’re trying to stop relying so much on algorithms and if you’re not there yet, trust me, it’s only a matter of time. We’re all working on building more authority and creating marketing that lasts. Let’s get started!

1. Introduce yourself at the top of your blog post with a keyword that explains what you do.

This sounds so simple, but you’d be surprised how often I see blog posts where, if I landed on the page without context, I would have no idea that the writer offers a product or service. It might look like just another informational site.

Instead, I start every blog post with a quick intro to the topic, then I introduce myself. For example: “Today I’m sharing X, Y, Z. By the way, I’m [name], and I specialize in [what you do].” Then I move into the main content and end with a clear call to action.

seo blogging tips from a content writer

Including that quick intro does two things: First, it adds another keyword to the page, which is great for SEO. But more importantly, it reminds us that a blog post is often someone’s first interaction with your brand.

A lot of us design our websites with the assumption that visitors will follow a linear path: they’ll land on the homepage, read the about page, check out the services, etc. But that’s not always how it works. If you’re blogging regularly or using SEO strategically, people are often landing on a blog post first (totally bypassing the homepage).

And because we live in a world overflowing with content, a lot of blogs are purely informational. They exist to make money through ads or affiliate links. But that might not be your goal. You might be trying to sell a service, a digital product, or something else, and your blog post might not be doing that effectively if you don’t introduce yourself.

So, that’s the first of the SEO blogging strategies, and honestly, it’s also a human-first tip: Always introduce yourself in every single blog post. Yes, it might feel repetitive to you, but it’s not for your audience. Because again, for many people, this will be their very first touchpoint with your brand.

Read more: 5 Ways to Leverage the Power of SEO to Build Your Email List

2. Clearly Lay Out What You’re Going to Cover At The Beginning

The second thing I recommend doing when you're writing a blog post is to clearly lay out what you’re going to cover right at the beginning. I already mentioned having an introduction, but this goes a step further. Too often, we end up burying the lede.

It kind of reminds me of looking up recipes on Pinterest back in 2016—remember when you'd have to scroll through eight paragraphs about someone’s life story before you even got to the actual recipe? It’s the same thing with blogs today. We're still doing that, and people just don’t have the patience for it.

So, in your first paragraph, make the topic super clear. Then, go one step further and include a little list of what you're going to cover. For example: “In this post, we’ll go over X, Y, and Z.” Make sure those points are keyword-rich and specific (not vague!).

Because here’s the thing: if you write something like “The #1 secret business owners miss,” no one is typing that into Google. It might be catchy, but it’s not helpful for SEO.

If you don’t want to manually list the topics, you can also use a tool like Rank Math’s table of contents plugin (or another one compatible with your platform). It can automatically pull in your headers to generate a table of contents, which helps surface your keywords at the top of the page. 

Read more: 3 Tiny Website Updates to Maximize SEO and User Trust in 2025

Kara from The Kara Report shares tips for seo content writing

3. Optimize Your Images

The third thing I want to talk about is optimizing images. Some of these SEO blogging strategies might sound basic, but they really matter.

I recently read a study that said 78% of SEO issues are image-related. That’s huge! And I think it's because image optimization seems like a small detail—something we either don’t know how to handle or don’t think is that important. But images actually play a big role in helping Google understand what your content is about.

That’s true whether you’re a photographer with tons of images in a blog post, or a business owner who includes just a few. So here are three easy ways to optimize your images:

  1. Rename your image files before uploading.
    Don’t wait until after they’re uploaded—some website platforms let you rename them afterward, but that doesn’t always carry through in a way that Google recognizes. When renaming, use dashes between words, like: website-copywriter-nashville.jpg
     You can use keywords related to your overall niche or the specific topic of the post.
  2. Add alt text that describes the image.
    Alt text is important for accessibility and also gives you an opportunity to naturally include a keyword. If you're a photographer and you have, say, 100 images in a post, don’t overdo it. Maybe aim for around 20% of the images to include keywords. For fewer images, maybe 40%. Keep it natural and descriptive, not just stuffed with keywords.
  3. Resize your images before uploading.
    This keeps your site loading faster and improves user experience. I like to resize based on width—800 pixels wide is usually a good starting point for blog layouts. You can always adjust if things look blurry. A tool I recommend is bulkresizephotos.com—it's free and really fast, especially if you're not using editing software like Lightroom.

So to recap: Rename, add alt text, and resize your images.

4. Add Internal & External Links

The fourth thing that’s often underrated but is super effective when talking about SEO blogging strategies is using links strategically. There are three types of links to think about for every blog post:

  1. External links to high-authority websites.
    If you reference a study or helpful resource, link to it—just make sure it’s a trustworthy site (not spammy). Google sees this as a credibility signal.
  2. External links to your other online platforms.
    Send people to your Instagram, Pinterest board, YouTube channel—wherever else you show up online. These are technically still external links (since they’re not on your domain), but they keep people in your orbit. Pro tip: always set external links to open in a new tab so you’re not sending people away from your site entirely.
  3. Internal links to your own content.
    Link to your services page, your contact page, your email opt-in—anything relevant.
    Also, don’t forget to link to older blog content! If you've been in business for even a year or two, you likely have a lot of helpful posts you can resurface. Link organically when it makes sense. For example, if you mention optimizing images and have a whole blog post about that, link to it right there.

Think of it this way: people reading your blog are likely in different stages of their buyer journey. Some are ready to contact you now, others are just starting to realize they might need your help. Linking in different ways throughout the post helps serve all those readers and keeps them engaged.

5. Add The Most Important Keywords For Your Website To Your Footer

Now, this won’t make sense for every business, and sometimes you’ll make design choices that don’t prioritize SEO—and that’s okay. You don’t want your site to feel robotic or overly optimized.

But if you have a high-value blog post, say, a software review you’re an affiliate for, or a post that explains your unique process, it can be smart to include that in your footer. Even just a short list of key blog posts is helpful.

We see big software companies do this all the time. Their footers are full of links to help with SEO, and while most small business owners don’t need to go that far, you can still apply this strategically.

And while you're editing your footer, it’s also a good idea to include a short, 1–2 sentence description of what you do. This helps both with SEO and with clarity for first-time visitors.

And if you’re a location-based business, definitely make sure your location is included in your footer. The footer is kind of an SEO hotspot because it appears on every single page of your website. That makes it a great place to be intentional. It’s worth investing a little extra time there because it can have a real impact on your overall SEO.

Read more: SEO for Showit Hacks: Optimize Your Site to Be Found in 2023 with Sara Dunn

6. Increase Your Word Count

Now, I’m not saying you need to write a 5,000, 6,000, or 7,000-word blog post—but I do think we need to push ourselves beyond the typical 500 words. A good sweet spot is usually somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 words, depending on how competitive the keyword you're trying to rank for is.

However—and this is important—if you’re using AI to help write your blog posts, there's a good chance the tool (like ChatGPT) may just bulk up your content with fluff to hit a word count. And we don’t want that. Humans don’t want to read it, and search engines are smart enough to see through it.

So, here are three simple ways to add both word count and value to your blog post:

  1. Add a Frequently Asked Questions section at the end.
    With the rise of AI, people are getting very specific in their searches. Instead of just searching “website copywriter,” someone might now search for “website copywriter who’s been in business five years and works with service-based businesses.”
    Including FAQs helps you target these long-tail keywords and answer real questions your audience might be asking.

  2. Introduce the topic more thoroughly.
    For example, if your post is “8 Tips for Better SEO,” don’t just jump in—start by briefly answering, “What is SEO?” It adds useful context, naturally includes keywords, and gives real value to someone who may not be as familiar with the topic.

  3. Explain why the topic matters.
    This helps frame the content and engage the reader. For instance, I could say: SEO is important because I want you to get leads for your business or sales on autopilot. I want you to invest upfront and reap long-term rewards. I want you to build a system that doesn’t rely on constantly fighting the algorithm.
    Adding this kind of "why it matters" context can make your blog post richer and more compelling—and it gives you more space to use relevant keywords naturally.

Read more: Do This ONE THING To Your Website to Increase Bookings, Revenue, and Email Sign Ups (Takes 30 Minutes or Less)

podcast success blueprint course on starting a podcast

7. Pin Your Blogs on Pinterest

Pinterest isn’t exactly a social media platform, it’s more of a search engine, and it’s a fantastic place to build free backlinks to your website.

Even if you don’t want to dive into a full Pinterest marketing strategy, I still recommend creating a few graphics for each blog post and pinning them to relevant boards. Be sure to use keywords in your pin descriptions too.

Doing this sends great signals to Google:

  • People are linking to your content
  • People are clicking on your content
  • Your business is active across platforms

All of that helps your SEO. So even if Pinterest doesn’t feel like a major platform for your business, or if your audience isn’t super active there, it’s still worth using it for the SEO benefits alone.

8. Use Bing Webmaster Tools

And then last but not least, I told you I was going to share something super fresh and relevant to SEO in 2025—and that is: signing up for Bing Webmaster Tools and making sure to submit your site there.

So, as of right now, ChatGPT is actually using Bing’s index instead of Google’s to search the web. If you have Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools is basically their equivalent, just for a different search engine.

A lot of times when we talk about SEO, we’re only talking about ranking on Google. But the reality is, in 2025, we want to rank on multiple platforms. We want to rank on Bing. And more importantly, we want to “rank” on ChatGPT.

There’s more and more evidence that people are heading to ChatGPT first to search for things. And if ChatGPT is searching Bing’s Rolodex, we want to make sure that we’re on Bing’s Rolodex.

And hey—if you’re not using Google Search Console, just as a quick aside—it’s super easy and free to set up. It’s basically like Google Analytics, and you definitely should have it. You’ll be able to see how your website is performing SEO-wise, what keywords you’re ranking for, what pages are showing up, and all of that good stuff.

So definitely worth setting up both Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Also, when you publish a new blog post, you can submit it directly to these search engine tools to get your content indexed faster. Google is pretty good, and I should say Bing is pretty good, at finding your site organically, especially if you’re a regular content creator.

But if you’re not publishing consistently, if you’re new to blogging, or if your content has been a little inconsistent, then submitting your blog posts to these tools manually as you publish them is a great way to make sure your site isn’t getting ignored.

So that’s kind of my last of the SEO blogging strategies (and one that’s super relevant for blogging and SEO in 2025!).

Recapping What You Need To Know About SEO Blogging in 2025

Okay, I don’t know about you, but that just flew by for me! So I’m going to recap really quickly with my eight SEO tips:

  1. Always introduce yourself at the top of a blog post.
  2. Include a list of what you’re going to cover or a table of contents that includes your keywords.
  3. Optimize your images every single time.
  4. Add internal and external links throughout the page.
  5. Put your most relevant blog posts in your footer.
  6. Increase your word count (but make sure it’s valuable).
  7. Get your content on Pinterest.
  8. Submit your site to Bing Webmaster Tools.

That seriously felt like it flew by!

Thank you so much for spending time with me. Again, I’m Kara, and my business is The Kara Report. I also have a podcast, very creatively named, The Kara Report. I’d love for you to come hang out with me there.

If you head to my website, you’ll also find my private podcast called Build It Once, Get Found for Months, where I break down more of how I do this: how I create content that you build and invest in upfront and that can keep working for you over the long term.

I’d love to see you there. Thank you again, and a big thank you to Elizabeth for having me—this was so much fun!

Links Mentioned:

Learn more about working with Kara

Download Kara's private podcast

Follow Kara on Instagram

Shop Showit Website Templates

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

Listen to the Breakthrough Brand Podcast

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

Join Booked Out Designer

SEO blogging strategies that work in 2025
Kara shares seo blogging strategies that work on Google and ChatGPT

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]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/seo-blogging-strategies/feed/ 0 8258 The Beginner’s Guide to Evergreen Marketing (Even If You’ve “Tried It” Before) with Stephanie Kase https://elizabethmccravy.com/guide-to-evergreen-marketing/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/guide-to-evergreen-marketing/#respond Tue, 29 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=8250 Stephanie Kase shares her best advice on getting started with evergreen content (so that you can actually stick with it this time... even if you've tried it before!).

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Evergreen Marketing (Even If You’ve “Tried It” Before) with Stephanie Kase appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

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As you're hearing this, I'm currently on maternity leave, and I've invited some of my talented business friends to share guest trainings on topics they're incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about. Our first guest is my lovely friend Stephanie Kase. She's actually been on the podcast a couple of times before so you might already be familiar with her. She's amazing. We’re talking about evergreen marketing today (something I'm also really passionate about in my own business).

I've known Stephanie for years, and she's someone I truly admire. She's a smart businesswoman, a dedicated mother and wife, and a strong woman of faith. We have a lot in common and have bonded over so many things in both business and life. I just listened to her training, and it's fantastic. I'm so excited for you to hear it.

I love her practical tips for making evergreen products and content work for you, especially her insight on using ChatGPT (make sure to read for that near the end). Stephanie also teaches a lot about YouTube, which complements what I share about podcasting. If you're interested in learning YouTube, she's definitely your go-to. She's incredibly gifted at what she does and teaches it all so well.

So without further ado, here is Stephanie with her training: How to Start Evergreen Marketing That Actually Sticks.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 313!

So, maybe you’ve tried evergreen marketing before, or maybe this is your first time considering it, but how do you actually set yourself up for success? Often, people dive in and, a month or two later, feel overwhelmed or discouraged by slow results. I want to share what I would focus on and what I would do to make evergreen marketing genuinely worth the time and energy, especially if I were starting from scratch.

Stephanie Kase does a training on evergreen marketing

About Stephanie Kase

By the way, I’m Stephanie Kase. I’ve been a longtime fan and customer of Elizabeth’s Showit website template shop. I think I bought my first template back in 2019 or 2020, and I’ve loved staying connected with her ever since. So I’m really excited to be here with you today.

I’m an online marketing coach, specializing in YouTube growth and email list building. I work primarily with entrepreneurs who sell online-based offers. A lot of my students come to me feeling completely burnt out on social media. Maybe you've felt that way too. Even if you enjoy social media, it can start to feel like a never-ending grind. Many of my students are looking for a different way, something more sustainable and meaningful, and that’s where evergreen marketing comes in.

Most of what I teach focuses on long-form content, particularly through YouTube. I help entrepreneurs streamline their content creation, reach their ideal audience through evergreen systems, and generate consistent leads. One of my students, a lactation consultant, is a great example. After launching her YouTube channel and going through my course, she was able to sell multiple eBooks within just a few weeks. It was amazing to see how quickly she gained traction.

My own background is actually in photography, and that’s where my love for evergreen, long-form marketing began nearly ten years ago now. I started by blogging and eventually added YouTube. Today, my YouTube channel has nearly 100,000 subscribers and brings in over 400 trackable leads every month. That channel helped me hit my first multiple six-figure revenue year in 2022, and I’ve sustained that ever since. One of the most rewarding outcomes? My husband was able to leave his job to stay home with our kids, and I now work part-time hours so I can be with them too—something I know Elizabeth values and talks about a lot.

Read more: How I Run a Multiple-Six Figure/Year Business Working Part-Time as a Mom (+ Challenging the 40-Hour Workweek!)

What Evergreen Marketing Is

When I talk about evergreen marketing, I’m referring to platforms like podcasts (like the one you’re listening to now), YouTube, blogs, and Pinterest. These are the key platforms that support evergreen content (content that continues to work for you long after it’s published).

Interestingly, Pinterest is the only one of those platforms that focuses on short-form content. The others (podcasts, YouTube, and blogs) are all long-form, just in different formats. Podcasts are audio, YouTube combines audio and video, and blogs are written content. Of course, you can also embed a podcast or YouTube video into a blog post.

Evergreen marketing tips from Stephanie Kase

The defining trait of evergreen content is that it has a long lifespan. A single piece of content can continue to bring in traffic, leads, and even sales for a year, two years, or even five years down the line. I still get views on blog posts I wrote five years ago, which is wild to think about. That’s why this strategy is so powerful for building a long-term, sustainable business.

Choose ONE Evergreen Platform and Commit to 6 Months

So, here’s the first big tip I want to share: if you’re brand new to evergreen marketing and want to actually see results, choose one evergreen platform and commit to it fully for at least six months. Go all in. That focus and consistency will make a huge difference.

Ideally, you should commit to at least a year. Evergreen marketing is a long game. You're probably not going to see a ton of traction in the first month (or even in the first few months). Yes, there are amazing resources out there. Elizabeth has a fantastic podcasting course, and I offer a lot on YouTube. Those tools can help fast-track your progress, but even then, success takes time.

Think of it like a snowball: it starts small, but the more you roll it, the bigger it gets. And the beauty of evergreen content is that once the snowball gains momentum, it takes a long time to melt. That means you get more breathing room in your marketing. Yes, it takes longer to build, but it also keeps working for you long after you stop publishing or take a break.

Dedication is the biggest factor in whether you'll succeed. When I look at my students or other business owners who are doing well with platforms like podcasts, YouTube, or blogs, it’s clear—they’ve stuck with it for months or even years before seeing major results.

Look for the small wins in the beginning

That’s one of the hardest parts: you start off excited, but a month or two in, the enthusiasm fades and it starts to feel like a lot of work. And yes, creating a podcast or launching a YouTube channel has a steeper learning curve than posting a reel or sending an email. But that learning curve gets easier with time. The key is to go in with a committed mindset. Stick with it even when growth feels slow, and stay focused on where you want to be in six months (or a year).

When I first started on YouTube, I spent a couple of years just throwing up random videos and barely saw any growth. Then I made the decision to go all in and really learn what works—specifically as a business owner, not as an influencer or content creator. After about three months, I started seeing small signs of growth. A few months after that, the growth really took off, and it hasn’t stopped.

Another example: we've recently gone all in on Pinterest. I’ve used Pinterest off and on for years, but we got serious about it this past year, and now we’re finally starting to see traction. It really does take consistency. You need to be committing to show up even when it feels like nothing is happening. And once you see those small signs of growth, lean into what’s working and do more of it.

One important note: if you’re newer in business, evergreen marketing works best when you already have a strong foundation. You need to know your brand, know your audience, and be really clear on your message.

You need to know the offers you ultimately want to sell and make sure your evergreen marketing supports them. You should also have opt-ins for your email list that you can weave into your evergreen content. And it's crucial to know who you're creating content for. If you don’t have clarity on your niche and audience, you risk putting effort into content that won’t serve your long-term goals.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Podcast in 2025 (8 Things You MUST Do!)

Create an Evergreen Marketing Workflow That Works For You

Now, the second key to success is creating a workflow that works for you. There are so many ways to approach this, and I teach a lot about batch creation, especially for YouTube. For me (now as a mom of three girls, including a baby) batching has been a game changer.

Getting ready to film (doing hair and makeup, setting up the space) takes time. It doesn’t make sense for me to do all that just to film one 15-minute video. It’s a much better use of my time to prep outlines for four to six videos and film them all in one session. Sometimes I get through three, sometimes six. It depends on my energy, especially with a newborn. But the goal is always to record multiple videos at once so I don’t have to think about filming again for a few weeks.

Of course, at the beginning, evergreen marketing will take more time because you're still learning and figuring out your rhythm. But batching can help. You might batch all your outlines in one session, then film later, then edit in another session. Staying in one “mode” at a time, rather than switching tasks constantly, helps you use your time more efficiently.

For me, editing multiple videos back to back is tough. I don’t have the brainpower for it. So I typically only edit one video a day. But I can batch film, batch outline, or batch create thumbnails. It’s all about figuring out which parts of the process work best for batching in your life and business.

Maybe you’re in a season where filming one video at a time is more realistic. That’s totally fine. The important part is creating a workflow that fits you. This is one of the biggest things that trips people up. They get overwhelmed by how time-consuming it feels and give up too soon.

Just remember: it might take more time up front, but once you find your rhythm, everything gets easier. And your workflow doesn’t have to look like mine or Elizabeth’s or anyone else's. It just has to be something you’ll actually stick to. That’s what matters most.

Read more: Creating 30 Days of Content in 5 Days: How to Get Out of the Feast or Famine Marketing Cycle You’re Stuck in with Amanda Warfield

podcast success blueprint course on starting a podcast

Repurpose Evergreen Marketing Content

This is something you should start doing from day one. It helps take the pressure off creating new content for every platform. When I started being consistent with YouTube, I took those weekly videos and used them as my weekly email newsletters too. It made everything so much simpler.

Pro tip: you can drop your YouTube transcript into ChatGPT and have it help you write the email. It’s seriously such a time-saver.

I still do this today—it’s one of the easiest ways to work smarter, not harder. If I’ve already spent time making a valuable video, why not turn it into other types of content? And it also gives me a way to point my email subscribers back to the video and get more eyes on it.

Today, we do this at a bigger scale. Each YouTube video becomes a blog post as well.

Each YouTube video I create also becomes content for my email list, Instagram Stories, and Instagram feed. Sometimes we clip the video directly; other times, we simply take the ideas from it. If there’s a point that really resonated or stood out, we’ll rework it into the context of an Instagram Reel or post.

I’ve had a team member help with this in the past, and it's been a game changer. She takes the YouTube content I put my best time and energy into and repurposes it using the outlines, transcripts, or clips. This has taken a huge load off me, especially since I started my business nearly ten years ago. It’s been such a refreshing shift to not feel like I constantly have to generate brand-new content. 

Making an Evergreen Content Calendar

I have a free resource that shows exactly how I manage this. There, you’ll find a visual representation of what I call my Content Stacking System. It shows how I repurpose my YouTube videos into all these other content types. If you're a visual learner or just want some inspiration, I highly recommend checking it out. 

At the end of the day, repurposing is about making the most of what you’ve already created. If you want to step into the CEO and visionary role in your business, you’ll want to stay focused on creating high-value, long-form evergreen content. From there, your team, or even just you, can break it down into smaller pieces. And because the original content is from you, it still feels personal and aligned with your brand.

Read more: Working Less + Reclaiming Your Life: Talking about CRMs, Repurposing Content, and the Power of Automation with Colie James

Finding Evergreen Content Ideas

If you're just getting started with evergreen content or need help figuring out what to create, look at your best-performing short-form content. Think about your Instagram Reels, Stories, or captions that performed well. Use that as a starting point. If you had a great post or a long-form caption that resonated, turn it into an outline for a YouTube video or a podcast episode.

That’s exactly what I did when I first started my YouTube channel. I went back to my old blog posts, after years of blogging, and used those as scripts for my first YouTube videos. It’s a fantastic way to repurpose what you’ve already created and save time.

And if you want to go deeper into evergreen marketing, especially with YouTube, I’d love to invite you to my free private podcast. It’s called Evergreen Pregame. I share more of my story, lessons I’ve learned, and what it really takes to succeed with evergreen strategies. There are several great episodes already waiting for you.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me and letting me fill in for Elizabeth. It’s been so much fun! If you’d like to connect further, you can find me on Instagram at @stephanielynnkase, or visit stephaniekase.com for more resources. I'm also on YouTube at youtube.com/@stephaniekase.

Thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!

Links Mentioned:

Grab Stephanie’s sample evergreen calendar

Download Stephanie’s private podcast

Follow Stephanie on Instagram

Shop Showit Website Templates

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

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]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/guide-to-evergreen-marketing/feed/ 0 8250 YouTube Vs. Podcasting: Should You Start a Youtube Channel or Podcast? 6 Myths Debunked (with Receipts!) https://elizabethmccravy.com/youtube-vs-podcasting/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/youtube-vs-podcasting/#respond Tue, 24 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=8238 In this episode, I'm breaking down 6 myths about youtube vs. podcasting and sharing how to decide which platform is best for you to market your business!

The post YouTube Vs. Podcasting: Should You Start a Youtube Channel or Podcast? 6 Myths Debunked (with Receipts!) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

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Today’s topic (YouTube vs. Podcasting) is a fun one and a question you may have asked yourself: YouTube vs. podcast? Which should you choose? Is YouTube better than podcasting? Or is podcasting better than having a YouTube channel?

As I record this, I’ve been a podcaster for six years and three months, with 311 episodes under my belt. So, I have a lot of experience with podcasting. But I’m also very familiar with YouTube. And honestly, I’ll start by saying this: both are absolutely amazing ways to create content and grow your business.

So let’s begin with that—both platforms are great. I’m not here to throw rocks at YouTube just because I host a podcast. In this episode, I'm going to bust some common myths about podcasting vs. YouTube and I’ll share some statistics and help you figure out which platform might be the best fit for you especially if you're thinking, “This year, I want a new way to create content and grow my business.” 

In this episode, we'll explore which platform aligns better with your personality and business model. Because again, I truly believe both have a place (and they may even work beautifully together in your business).

Whether you're deciding which one to start, or you already have a podcast or a YouTube channel, this episode will give you more data and clarity to support your choice.

I’m really excited about this. Let’s dive in.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 311!

Okay, so—is YouTube better than podcasting, or is podcasting better than YouTube?

The truth is, it really depends on who you ask. And honestly, there’s a lot of content out there bashing one or the other. For example, you’ll easily find people saying, “Don’t start a podcast—it’s a waste of time. It only serves your existing audience and doesn’t help you grow.” Okay... people are going to say that.

On the flip side, there are people who say, “Don’t bother with YouTube. It’s expensive, time-consuming to produce videos, you’re probably not great on camera anyway, and the platform’s oversaturated.”

So yes, there are strong opinions on both sides. But here’s what I want to say:

If you ever hear someone claim there’s only one right way to do something in business, they’re probably trying to sell you something that teaches that “one way.”

And look, I do have a podcasting course, and yes, I’d love for you to join it. But I’m also not going to stand here and say that podcasting is the only way to grow your business. That’s just not true.

That said, I’ve obviously chosen podcasting as my main platform. I also have a YouTube channel where my podcast episodes get uploaded. We’ll talk more about that later. The reason I chose podcasting has a lot to do with my personality, how I like to consume content, the kind of content I create, and where I believe my ideal audience is hanging out—which, in my case, is on podcasts.

But let me be clear: I don’t hate YouTube. You’re not going to hear me throwing shade at YouTube in this episode. I have business friends who’ve seen amazing success on their channels, and when someone tells me they’re starting a YouTube channel, I’m genuinely excited for them. I’m the first to say, “Yes! Go you! I can’t wait to subscribe and cheer you on.”

It doesn't have to be this “us vs. them” situation—like YouTube creators over here and podcasters over there, facing off in some kind of content battle.

I personally use YouTube all the time—just not for business content. I watch workout videos there, and my oldest son’s favorite shows are all on YouTube Kids. In fact, we even subscribe to YouTube Premium so he can watch without ads.

So yeah, I use YouTube—but not for business learning. Still, I know plenty of people do.

So if you’re thinking, “I want to start a podcast or a YouTube channel, but I’m not sure which one is right for me,” this episode is for you.

I’ve got six myths to bust, and then we’ll go over some key factors to help you decide which platform is best for you—your personality, your goals, your business model, and the kind of content you want to create.

Because yes, both are amazing options. But that doesn’t mean they’re both the right fit for you.

Myth #1: Podcasts Aren’t Searchable, But YouTube Is

You’ve probably heard this one before—people saying that it’s hard to get discovered through podcasts, but YouTube? Oh, that’s where the visibility magic happens. And just so you know, every myth I’m sharing in this episode is something I’ve heard, taught, or seen presented as a fact in online business circles—they're not made up. But this one? It’s simply not true anymore.

Let’s bust it: Podcasts are searchable.

Now, to be fair, this used to be more true. I’d say maybe 8 to 10 years ago, podcasts were harder to search and discover. But that’s changed significantly. Podcast searchability has improved even more in just the six years I’ve been podcasting.

Today, when someone searches for keywords in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, the search engines inside those apps are working hard to surface relevant episodes. And it's not just the episode titles that show up in search. Results are also based on your episode transcripts and show notes, which are either auto-generated by the platform or uploaded by the creator.

So you’ve got:

  • Your episode title working for you,
  • Your show notes working for you,
  • And now, literally what you say in your episode is searchable.

That’s a big deal! And again, this is a newer development. Apple and Spotify both now generate transcripts automatically (though you can upload your own if you prefer). Personally, I just let them auto-generate mine—and even that’s working great.

These platforms are improving all the time, because podcasting is huge and continuing to grow. Companies like Apple and Spotify are investing heavily in making podcast discovery better.

Now, it’s hard to find exact numbers on how much they’re spending, but here’s one stat I found while researching: As of October last year, Spotify has spent over $1 billion acquiring shows—like The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy. (We’ll actually talk about how those shows impacted the presidential election later in this episode)

Apple, while not buying shows, is investing in improving their software and adding features like paid subscriptions for podcasts (integrated right into the Apple ecosystem).

So, if someone tells you that podcasting isn’t searchable—they’re just wrong.

Both YouTube and podcasts are searchable. And here’s something else people often overlook: podcast episodes are also searchable on Google and other search engines, even if you don’t blog about them.

Now, I’m a big fan of blogging your podcast episodes—especially for SEO. And if you want to learn how to do that, I teach it in my program Podcast Success Blueprint. But even without blogging, Apple and Spotify can still show up in Google search results.

So, for example, you might Google a business topic and find a specific episode or show from Apple Podcasts or Spotify right there on the first page. That happens all the time.

Of course, you can also blog your episodes for added visibility and search value. But again—podcasts are searchable, period. And so is YouTube. This isn’t about saying podcasting has better search than YouTube. I’m just saying that both platforms have strong and growing search capabilities.

One thing I would love to see in the future—and maybe Apple and Spotify are already working on it—is the ability to search within a specific podcast show. So, for instance, you could go to The Breakthrough Brand Podcast page and search just that library for a certain topic. How great would that be?

Anyway, that’s myth number one:
 “Podcasts aren’t searchable.” Totally false.

Read more: 3 Advanced Podcasting Tips That Will Boost Your Downloads, Save You Time, and Make More Money

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Myth #2: Everyone Has a Podcast So There’s More Room For Growth on YouTube

Alright, let’s move on to myth number two:
 “Everybody has a podcast, but YouTube still has room for growth.”

This one’s fascinating to me. First of all, let’s be clear: both YouTube and podcasting are popular. Neither is some hidden, undiscovered gem—which is why we’re even comparing them in the first place. There are a ton of content creators on both platforms, and they’re both massive in terms of reach and influence.

But here’s the myth-busting truth: podcasting actually has less competition than YouTube.

Now of course, it depends on your specific niche. But generally speaking, research shows that while there are about 2 million podcasts in existence (with around 48 million episodes), there are over 37 million YouTube channels. And those channels are pumping out more than 500 hours of video content every single minute. That’s a huge difference.

So yes, there’s more competition on YouTube. You’re competing for clicks, views, and search results in a much more crowded space. That’s something worth considering as you choose the right platform for you.

Myth #3: Podcasting is Too Expensive

This myth comes up a lot—and it’s one I love busting, because it’s simply not true for most people. In fact, if we’re comparing the two, starting a podcast is often less expensive than starting a YouTube channel.

Of course, it depends somewhat on your situation and what kind of business you have. If you already have video gear for YouTube, great! That might lower your costs. But for most people just starting out, you’ll spend less getting a podcast off the ground.

Here’s an example: You can start a successful podcast for under $100 total in equipment. Not per item—total. And it’s all stuff you can buy on Amazon.

To do well on YouTube, though, especially if you’re planning to be on camera, you’ll typically need:

  • A quality video camera
  • Good lighting
  • A tripod
  • A mic (which you’ll need for podcasting too)


Plus, one of the big advantages of podcasting is that it’s audio-focused—so you can keep things simple. For example, I love that I don’t need to set up lighting or get camera-ready every time I record. Right now, I’m sitting in my office, in my comfy, very-pregnant-girl outfit, feeling relaxed with my notes in front of me. It just works.

Even if you do choose to include video with your podcast—like recording interviews on a tool like Riverside—the expectations for video quality are different. If you're posting a video podcast episode, people are usually more forgiving of lower production value than they would be with a standalone YouTube tutorial.

So again, podcasting doesn’t have to be expensive—and it’s often much simpler to produce.

Read more: 4 REAL Fears You Might Have About Starting a Podcast (+ My Honest Thoughts About Whether Podcasting is Right for You)

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Myth #4: YouTube Content Keeps Working When You Stop Uploading, But Podcast Content Doesn’t

This is another common belief, and it’s just not true.

I recently took a three-month break from releasing new episodes, and I saw firsthand how podcast content continues to deliver value even while you're not actively producing. I’ll share more on that in the next section.

I know three months isn’t a super long break, but during that time, I was still seeing growth in my business and a steady stream of podcast downloads. Of course, not as many as I would see if I were actively publishing new episodes—because a new release typically generates a spike—but even older episodes from two, three, or four years ago were still getting listens.

So yes, podcast content continues to work for you, even when you're not creating anything new. It brings in new listeners, new subscribers, and even new customers long after the episodes first air. For example, during that break, I had a few older episodes getting over 800 downloads in a single week—and those were episodes I hadn’t touched in years.

I think that’s really cool. Sometimes I’ll look at my analytics and see that a totally random episode from three years ago was the most-downloaded that week. And it gets me thinking… how can I create more content like that?

These episodes are still being consumed in a few different ways. Some people are discovering them directly in their podcast app. They see the title, it feels relevant, and they hit play (regardless of the episode’s age). That’s where those 800-download weeks come from.

Other people are finding the episodes through related blog posts. They search something on Google, land on your blog, and read content that’s tied to the episode. That’s another way your podcast keeps working without you lifting a finger.

I want to be fair here and say that YouTube works the same way. Older YouTube videos can absolutely continue to get views and engagement for years after they’re uploaded. So if someone tells you YouTube content has long-term impact but podcasting doesn’t, that’s just not true. Both platforms can keep working for your business even when you're not actively publishing.

And this is something I talk about a lot when people come to me saying,

"Elizabeth, I want to start a podcast, but six years? 300 episodes? That feels overwhelming."

Or maybe even just one year of weekly episodes feels like too much.

Here’s what I tell them: Don’t think about forever.

Just start with six episodes. That’s it.

Commit to six. That’s a solid starting point. And from there, maybe you get to 20 and realize you want a break, or maybe you keep going. Either way, even just six well-made episodes can make a meaningful impact on your business. They can help new people find you, learn from you, and buy from you—long after those episodes are published.

So don’t worry about how long you’ll be podcasting. Just start. Create a small body of work that can grow over time and continue serving your audience, even when you're not creating new content.

Myth #5: YouTube is Better For SEO

So yes, podcasting works. It’s valuable. And you don’t need to treat it like a lifelong commitment in order for it to be worth your time.

Let’s move on to myth number five:

“YouTube is probably just better for SEO, right?”

“Better for SEO” is tricky to define because it really depends on the content. You can create something that never ranks if the content isn’t good or if the SEO isn’t handled correctly. But here’s the truth—both YouTube and podcasts can be excellent for SEO and for getting discovered by new audiences.

Personally, my podcast has landed me on the first page of Google search results for all kinds of keywords. That includes both blog posts based on podcast episodes and the episodes themselves ranking directly on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

For example, someone might search "how to start a book club" and my podcast episode shows up near the top. They click, listen, and that could be the start of them becoming part of my audience. That’s how podcast SEO works when it’s done right.

I teach all of this in Podcast Success Blueprint, my signature podcasting course. I’m really passionate about SEO and we cover a lot of strategies specific to helping your podcast reach the right people.

Now, I do want to acknowledge that Google owns YouTube, which is important. But that doesn’t mean Google only prioritizes YouTube in search. Google also indexes podcast content and knows how valuable it is. So, the takeaway here is that both platforms support strong SEO, and you can succeed with either.

Read more: 3 Easy Hacks To Grow Your Show With Podcast Guests

Myth #6: You Have To Pick Between Youtube and Podcasting

Now, you might want to choose a lead platform, especially if you're repurposing one piece of content across both places. But as a business owner, you're absolutely allowed to do both—many people do.

In fact, one of the biggest trends on YouTube right now is podcasts being uploaded to the platform. YouTube now offers podcast support where your audio episodes can be auto-published from your RSS feed. I personally do this.

Another option is recording video podcasts (where people can watch you and your guest speaking on camera) or you can just upload audio with a visual element.

Either way, it gives your podcast extra discoverability on YouTube, in addition to the podcast apps and Google.

Or maybe you're doing the reverse: YouTube is your main platform, and you upload the audio to a podcast feed. Just keep in mind that if your content is very visual (like tutorials) listeners might miss out without the video. In those cases, you could include a blog post with supporting visuals and link to that from the podcast.

Some creators also choose to create unique content for both platforms. That’s more work, but totally doable. For instance, I have YouTube tutorials around Showit that don’t make sense as podcast episodes because they’re screen shares. But most of my podcast episodes work just fine without visuals.

And if you’re thinking, “Elizabeth, I don’t have the time or bandwidth to do both,” that’s completely okay. You don’t have to. When I first started my podcast, I wasn’t on YouTube either. That came later, and it’s still optional. The point is—you don’t have to pick one and exclude the other forever. There’s room for flexibility and growth.

So that’s the end of the myth busting. Now it’s about figuring out what works for you.

Whether you go all-in on podcasting, choose YouTube as your main platform, or decide to do both, it really comes down to how you prefer to create and consume content, and where your audience spends time.

As you listened to these myths, what stood out to you? Did any point make you lean more in one direction?

Podcasting is incredibly powerful, and I could go on for days about all the reasons I love it. One thing I especially love is the intimacy of the medium. You’re with someone as they go about their day—maybe while they’re driving, working out, folding laundry, or doing tasks in their business. It’s a unique way to build trust. And that kind of connection is much harder to create on YouTube.

Podcasting is Now Considered New Media

Now that we've busted some of the most common Youtube vs. Podcasting myths, I want to go back to something I mentioned briefly earlier: Podcasting is now considered new media. It’s a format that has real influence.

In fact, it played a huge role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Even though I don’t talk politics on my show, I found that fascinating. It really showed how deeply trusted podcasting has become.

Here’s a quote from Steve Johnston, former COO of Flex Point Media:

“2024 will be remembered as the podcast election—not because podcasts are new, but because it was the first time presidential nominees and their running mates leveraged podcasts in a meaningful way.”

No matter where you fall politically, it’s really fascinating to see podcasting become such a major platform in public life. This shift in how media is consumed is important.

If you missed it during the 2024 election season, here’s what happened: Trump appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, and JD Vance, his running mate, did as well. Vice President Harris went on Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper. These are two of the biggest podcasts in the world, both owned by Spotify. Earlier I mentioned Spotify investing over $1 billion into acquiring shows—these are examples of that investment.

Trump also did 14 major podcast interviews and live streams, including appearances on platforms like Twitch. That shows just how seriously political campaigns are taking podcasting as a form of media.

Podcasting is widely considered part of the “new media.” If you Google the term, you’ll see how it’s come to represent a trusted alternative to traditional outlets. In 2024, many voters chose to listen to Harris and Vance on podcasts during their daily routines (on commutes or while running errands) instead of watching scheduled debates on Fox or CNN.

This shift is a big deal. Even now in 2025, you’re seeing podcasters invited to the White House more frequently. It’s a sign that this medium continues to grow in influence and reach.

Now let’s shift to helping you decide which platform is best for you.

Elizabeth McCravy shares 3 ways to make money from your podcast

How To Decide If YouTube vs. Podcasting Is Right For Your Business?

Here are a few key questions to ask yourself:

1. Which platform do you use more personally?

Do you find yourself watching YouTube videos daily, or are you someone who refreshes your podcast app to catch the latest episodes? We tend to create content most effectively on the platforms we consume. If you never use YouTube, for example, it may feel awkward or unfamiliar to create content there. But if you’re a regular podcast listener, starting your own show might come more naturally.

2. Is your content visual?

Take a look at the ideas you’ve been jotting down. Are they highly visual? If your content relies heavily on visuals, YouTube might be a better fit. Podcasting, while powerful, isn’t the best medium for tutorials or content where visuals are essential to the message.

3. Do you enjoy being on camera?

Creating video content often means being face-to-camera. Do you feel confident in that setting? Or does the idea of showing up on video regularly feel like too much? With podcasting, you can record in your closet with messy hair, no makeup, and zero pressure to look polished. YouTube usually requires more setup and time to prepare.

Both platforms take getting used to. Your first podcast episode might be clunky. Your first YouTube video might be awkward. That’s okay. But knowing whether you’re more comfortable speaking on camera versus just using your voice can help you decide where to start.

4. Where is your audience?

This is huge. Who are you trying to reach and where are they spending time?

If your audience is mostly listening to podcasts while commuting or doing chores, podcasting makes sense. If they’re watching tutorials or lifestyle content on YouTube, then that might be your best route. You can even survey your audience directly by posting in Facebook groups or your email list and ask where people consume content.

Different topics and different types of content work better on different platforms.

Why I Chose To Prioritize My Podcast Over My YouTube Channel

Now that we've talked about YouTube vs. Podcasting, here are some personal reasons I love podcasting (and why I’ve stuck with it for years).

First, you can record in complete comfort. Seriously. Messy bun, no bra, sitting in your closet. No lights, no makeup, no set. That makes it so much easier to fit podcasting into your business and your life.

I do what I call “self-editing” while I record. I’ll pause, rephrase, or catch my breath when I need to (especially now that I’m very pregnant and get winded more easily). It’s flexible and forgiving, and that fits my personality well. If that sounds like you too, podcasting might be the better fit.

Second, podcasting is fairly straightforward. You don’t need to learn platform-specific tricks, trends, or video editing to get noticed. There’s less “algorithm hacking” and more focus on creating meaningful content.

Podcasting is more straightforward than learning YouTube, in my opinion. It’s also typically cheaper and easier to record a podcast episode than it is to light, film, produce, and edit a YouTube video. Especially for someone like me who doesn’t have a background in video or photography, podcasting is far more accessible.

Another thing I love—listening to a podcast episode is simply easier for most people than sitting down to watch a YouTube video. Podcast content is on-the-go. People can multitask while they listen, and you’re more likely to see higher listen-through rates, even for episodes where the listener might not be sure they’re fully interested in the topic. If they like your show, they’ll still press play.

That kind of ongoing engagement is powerful. Podcasting is also an extremely intimate form of marketing. Your voice goes with your listener throughout their day (into their car, on their walk, during chores) and that creates a real connection.

A podcast can put new eyes (and ears) on your business and help establish your credibility. Even if you're wondering, "Who am I to start a podcast?" I promise, once you begin and feel that momentum, you’ll see how powerful it is. You'll start building authority and trust with your audience.

Podcasting also opens up new ways to make money. And honestly, that’s something a lot of podcast courses don’t focus enough on. In my course, Podcast Success Blueprint, I have an entire module dedicated to this, called “Make Money Podcasting.” There's even a downloadable PDF called the Make Money Podcasting Playbook, which walks you through creative monetization strategies (many of which you may not have considered!).

In fact, in this one episode you’re listening to right now, I’m using three or four different methods I teach in that module to monetize the show. It's real, it's effective, and it's something I love sharing with my students.

Read more: 3 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Hit Record On My First Podcast Episode

Join Podcast Success Blueprint 

If you’re feeling ready and podcasting seems like the right path for you, I’d love for you to join Podcast Success Blueprint. It’s open for enrollment now, and it’s a course I’m really proud of. I poured so much into creating it, and it’s been such a joy helping students inside the program.

We’ve got an active Facebook community, live Q&A calls, and lots of resources. Whether you're just getting started or already have a podcast that you want to scale and systematize, this course is for you. I cover how to get support, hire a team, streamline your workflow, and how to actually make money with your show.

If you’re still deciding between YouTube and podcasting, I want you to know:

There is no wrong decision.

Both are amazing ways to grow your business. It all comes down to what fits your personality, your audience, your content style, and your season of life.

You all know I’m passionate about building a business that fits your life, not the other way around. So choose what works for you right now. You can always evolve.

Links Mentioned:

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Articles about how podcasting influenced the election here and here

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The post YouTube Vs. Podcasting: Should You Start a Youtube Channel or Podcast? 6 Myths Debunked (with Receipts!) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/youtube-vs-podcasting/feed/ 0 8238 Creating Impactful Video Content in 2025: Tips From a Professional Videographer with Kate Tran https://elizabethmccravy.com/creating-video-content/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/creating-video-content/#respond Tue, 17 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=8229 In this interview, Kate shares tips for creating better video content for marketing your business (from her perspective as a working mom and professional videographer for creative business owners).

The post Creating Impactful Video Content in 2025: Tips From a Professional Videographer with Kate Tran appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

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Today, I’m introducing you to Kate Tran — my neighbor and a videographer I’ve personally worked with. If you’ve taken any of my courses, you’ve already seen Kate’s incredible work. She’s the owner of a Nashville-based video production company, and has worked with major brands like CMA, Like to Know It, Tractor Supply, Make-A-Wish, and many more. But what really shines through in this episode is her passion for helping smaller, lesser-known brands find their voice through video content.

We’re diving into how to create amazing video content as a small business owner — especially when you're wearing many hats and doing it all yourself. The focus is primarily on video content for social media, especially Instagram, but we also touch on other uses for video as well.

In our conversation, we cover topics like:

  • Building confidence on camera
  • Testing your video content with Reels trials
  • Avoiding common mistakes business owners make with video
  • And so much more!

Plus, I also encourage you to listen all the way through to the end — my favorite part of the conversation happens in the last 15 minutes. Kate and I talk about working mom life. She’s a mom of three and was a stay-at-home mom until COVID hit in 2020. When her youngest was about a year old, she started freelancing, not even sure she could call it a business yet. She shares so much wisdom about starting a business as a mom and balancing motherhood while building something meaningful.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 310!

Kate Tran shares tips for creating video content

About Kate Tran

First off, I just want to say how honored I am to be here and to be talking with you. I admire you so much — everything you’ve built, everything you’ve done, and the person you are — so thank you again for having me.

My name is Kate Tran. I own a video production company called KTVP Studio, where we help entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even big brands create video content that’s authentic to them and beautifully tells their story. I absolutely love what I do — it’s so much fun.

On the personal side, I have a wonderful husband and three fun, rambunctious kids who definitely keep me busy as well. I’m so excited to be here today!

What would you say makes for successful video content?

To me, successful content starts with being really focused and clear about the intent of what you want that video to do for you. It’s not necessarily about getting tons of engagement or going viral — although, of course, that’s always a nice bonus.

The real goal is to create focused content that’s specifically for your audience — content that truly connects with them right where they are. That’s what I believe makes content successful: when you’re strategically positioning yourself to help the person you once were or to serve your future clients.

What video content is most important for small business owners to create? And what are we skipping over (that we shouldn’t be)?

Yeah, so I think a lot of the most successful content I’m seeing right now is founder-led content — where the business owner is personally involved in creating it. This can definitely be time-consuming for some people, but if you have a system in place, it works really, really well.

Most people are on social media to connect. So when they see a founder they can relate to and support, they’re more likely to want to join in and be part of your mission. Anytime you can show up and share your passion, your "why" behind the business, the impact you want to make, and your personal story — that’s huge. Founder stories are so powerful, and honestly, I feel like they’re still pretty underrated.

Even on my own Instagram, one of the videos that consistently gets engagement is my founder story — just a simple video where I introduce myself, share a little about my family, why I started my company, and my mission. People watch it, like it, and then follow.

At the end of the day, people want to know you and why you’re doing what you’re doing. They don’t just want to be sold something.

What should you include in a founder video?

I think it's great to start with a little bit about who you are, and if you feel comfortable, you can share a bit about your family too — just to give people a sense of who you are personally. Then, talk about how you got started and really highlight the mission that's driving your business.

For me, for example, I wanted to advocate for people who can’t afford the big marketing companies with full production teams and massive budgets. My goal was to come alongside business owners and be a true partner — someone who can help tell your story without the huge price tag of a big agency. That kind of genuine support and partnership connects so much more deeply with people than just saying, “Let’s make a video and hope it turns out great.”

Kate Tran

What tips do you have for someone to help them feel more confident on camera?

There are so many things, but the number one tip I would give is: talk to the camera. I know it can feel uncomfortable at first, but getting used to talking to the camera like you're talking to your best friend is key. That’s what helps the most authentic version of you come through.

If you can connect to that mindset — like, I’m just talking to Elizabeth right now, sharing something I’m excited about — that energy and authenticity will really come across on camera. But if you’re trying to be overly polished or present yourself as something you’re not, it’s going to feel awkward, both for you and for the viewer. It just won’t feel natural.

Another thing I would say is: don’t get discouraged. Even just recording this podcast, we’ve had to pause, go back, and re-record a few parts. That’s totally normal. So if you're recording and have to stop and start a few times, that’s just part of the process.

If you're working with someone else, don’t apologize every time you need to pause. Just take a second, reset, stay in that positive mindset, and pick up where you left off. If you let yourself get into a “I’m so bad at this” headspace, it really affects the content — and it ends up taking much longer, too.

So just keep going, keep practicing. The more you flex that muscle, the easier and more natural it’s going to feel over time.

Read more: How to Create Engaging and Viral Instagram Reels with Stephanie Kase

What advice do you have for business owners on what to wear in videos?

Oh, yeah! So usually what I recommend is: start with your brand colors. You really can’t go wrong with them — they’ll look great on your page, whether it’s your website, Instagram, or anywhere else. Sticking to those colors helps everything feel cohesive and really makes your brand pop and stand out.

I also suggest avoiding pinstripes or thin-lined patterns, because they can create a moiré effect on camera, which is that weird wavy distortion. Instead, go for solid colors or larger patterns that show your personality.

And when it comes to your background, don’t stress about perfection. You can see even now — my tree’s kind of leaning behind me — and that’s totally fine. It doesn’t have to be perfect. What matters most is your messaging and what you’re trying to communicate to your audience.

Even as a videographer, I’ll say: it doesn’t have to be the highest quality, most perfectly produced video. It’s really about the content itself — the value you're providing, the message you’re sharing, and how you’re showing up to serve the people you want to help.

Can you walk us through your creative process for video content?

What I would say here is: don’t try to tackle one video at a time. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but batching content is huge right now, and it’s incredibly helpful — not just for content creators like me, but also for business owners.

If you can break the process into stages and focus on one stage at a time, your brain stays in that mode, and it ends up taking a lot less time overall. For example, our process usually starts by collecting content ideas first. we’re not trying to come up with them on the spot if we can avoid it. Of course, sometimes ideas just come to you in the moment and you roll with it, but most of the time we plan ahead.

That prep work allows you to come up with better hooks, better scripting, and you walk into filming feeling so much more confident and prepared. You’re excited about the ideas you’ve already brainstormed, rather than sitting there thinking, Okay, I have to film this one Reel… now what text should I put over it?

When you’ve done that strategic pre-work, the whole process flows much more smoothly.

So for pre-production, you’re:

  • Collecting your content ideas
  • Writing out potential hooks for each video
  • Jotting down key talking points you want to coveR

I usually suggest not scripting everything word-for-word because that can come across robotic — and you don’t want that. You want to sound genuine and authentic. So just having clear bullet points or notes for each topic works really well.

During this pre-production stage, you can also think about:

  • What props you might need
  • Outfits you want to wear for each video
  • Any backgrounds or locations you want to use

Once that’s all ready, then you move on to filming day. Maybe you dedicate one day a week for filming, where you’ve already done all your prep — you’ve gathered your ideas, you know your talking points — and you can sit down and film 10 to 12 videos in one session.

The key here is: don’t edit on filming day. Keep filming and save editing for a separate time. You definitely don’t have to edit everything the same day you film. The goal is to create a system that’s sustainable, so you don’t burn yourself out trying to do it all at once. When you try to cram everything into one sitting, it can start to feel overwhelming and unmanageable.

Instead, break the process into stages that you can consistently repeat without burning out.

After filming comes the editing phase. You’ll go through all your videos and edit them in batches. When you’re focused just on editing, it becomes a much more streamlined process — you’re in the zone, cutting them up, adding text, and getting them ready to go.

Once your videos are edited, you move on to scheduling and posting. But — and this is the part a lot of people forget — you’re not done after you post. You need to go back and review how the content performs. Look at what worked, what resonated, and what didn’t. Ask yourself: Why did this one do well? What can I improve?

We call this process CR²: Create, Refine, Repeat. Don’t skip the refinement phase. Pay attention to the content that’s connecting with your audience, and be willing to let go of the stuff that didn’t work as well. That way, your content keeps improving and you’re always building on what’s most effective.

Do you think people should plan video content that they can repurpose? Or should content be created platform-specific?

I would say — it depends. Podcasts are great because you can repurpose that content in so many different ways. You can use it for long-form content, splice it into smaller clips, and share those across various platforms.

But you do need to tailor the content for each platform, based on what works best there. For example, YouTube is typically more long-form, unless you're doing Shorts. With long-form, people are showing up because they want the full context — they want to get to know you, follow your brand, and really invest in what you’re sharing.

On the other hand, with short-form content like Shorts, Reels, or TikToks, you don’t have as much time to dive deep. You need to focus on one clear concept at a time. Ideally, you're creating enough curiosity in that short snippet that viewers feel pulled in and want to check out the full episode or follow your brand.

So even if you're filming everything at once, the messaging needs to be thoughtfully crafted for each platform. It’s really about asking: How can I take this content and present it in a way that will perform best on each specific platform? That strategic approach makes a huge difference.

haute-stock-photography-subscription-solopreneur-collection-final-25

What advice do you have on making evergreen video content?

Focus on evergreen content—material that stays relevant throughout your journey as a business owner. While viral trends can boost visibility in the short term, evergreen content reflects your core message: who you are, what your brand stands for, and how you serve your audience.

The best evergreen content addresses the problems your clients face and demonstrates how you can solve them. Ask yourself, "How can I be so valuable to my clients that they can't ignore me?" That's the kind of content that remains effective and impactful over time. Create content built on those lasting ideas—concepts that will stay true no matter how your business evolves.

What are some common mistakes you see with video content?

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is not refining their content—or being willing to repeat it. Repetition is not a bad thing. In fact, successful creators revisit and analyze their content: What worked? Why did this one go viral? Why did this one resonate? Draw some conclusions. Make hypotheses. Learn from what connects.

Too often, people just check the box: “Okay, I’ll post three times a week at this time. Done.” And yes, consistency matters—I don't want to discourage anyone who's just starting out. If you're showing up, that’s a great first step.

But the next level is analyzing your performance. Look at what's working—and what isn't—and adjust accordingly. Don’t be afraid to explore outside your industry either. If you see a viral video from a completely different space, ask yourself: How can I apply this to my business?

Whether you're selling a product or a service, there’s always a way to adapt creative concepts. It’s all about experimenting and learning. Tools like trial reels are perfect for this. If you're unsure about a video’s potential, post it as a trial reel. It takes the pressure off—and you get valuable feedback on what works.

Read more: Viral on Instagram: 7 Million Plays Later! What I’ve Learned From My Viral Baby Reel

What is a trial reel?

When you're about to post a video on Instagram, there's a toggle option labeled Trial Reel. Now, the catch is that you can’t schedule trial reels—you have to post them manually and immediately—but the feature is a great way to A/B test your content.

I’ve used it to post videos just to see how they perform. The key thing is: trial reels only go out to non-followers. That means your current audience won't see them, so there’s less pressure if the video doesn’t perform well.

But if it does perform—if it gets thousands of views or even goes viral—you can then post it to your main feed so your audience sees it. It’s a really effective way to test different versions of a video. You might try one with a certain hook at 2 p.m. and another version with a different hook at 4 p.m., and then compare the results.

Honestly, it's a game changer. You get real-time insights without risking engagement from your core audience. It's awesome.

What should you do if a reel goes viral? Should you repost the same thing later?

I’ve definitely reposted the same content before—but I always try to make it better each time. Think of it like a science experiment. You form a hypothesis: “This video performed well because of the hook,” or “People stayed engaged through the first 3–5 seconds.” Then you look at the watch time data to see where viewers dropped off. Maybe the video was too long. Maybe there was a moment where interest faded.

Sometimes, creators give away too much value too early—like putting everything in the text overlay right at the start. If viewers feel like they’ve already gotten the message, there’s no reason for them to keep watching. So it’s important to create a curiosity gap and hold the key value until later in the video.

And when you do repost, always aim to improve it—tighten the edit, tweak the hook, or shift the timing. I’ve even reposted videos from a few years ago, and they performed just as well, if not better, the second time around. The truth is, most of your audience probably didn’t see the original post. Even if it had solid engagement, chances are a large portion of your followers missed it entirely.

Think about the people you follow—you’re not seeing all their content unless they’re a close friend or you’re actively checking their page. So don’t worry about over-posting, especially if you’re promoting something important like an event. Sure, you might lose a few followers, but most people will appreciate the reminders—and that’s how you get the visibility and turnout you’re aiming for.

When you look at the data, what do you look for?

The more data you can gather, the better. One of the most important metrics to track is watch time, because it shows how long people are staying engaged with your content. Shares are also a strong indicator that people find the content relatable or valuable enough to pass along.

Another key signal I pay attention to is the comments. When I see things like, “Oh my gosh, this is so me,” or “I totally identify with this,” that tells me I’m on the right track. It means the content is resonating with my ideal audience—and that’s exactly where I want to be.

haute-stock-photography-subscription-money-shot-collection-final-2

What was it like starting your business as a mom with three kids?

So I was freelancing and had worked for a few production companies before that. But when I had my second daughter—Peyton—I decided to stay home and be a full-time mom. And honestly, that’s a full-time job in itself. There's so much you do for those little ones, and I just didn’t want to miss those moments. I’m incredibly grateful for that season of life; it was really special.

Then COVID hit and everything shifted. My husband and I had conversations about adding some extra income to make sure all the kids' needs were covered. He said, “Kate, you’re an amazing videographer. You’ve been freelancing for years—why not start your own business so you can work when you want to?” Of course, now I know that’s not exactly how owning a business works—but back then, I went for it.

At the time, I didn’t see myself as a business owner. I had no background in finance, no formal business training. I came from a loving home, but financial freedom or entrepreneurship just wasn’t something we talked about. So I felt really intimidated. But I prayed. I asked God to make it clear—and decided to follow my husband’s encouragement and just try. And then… it took off. Fast. God opened doors I never expected. It was clear this was the path I was supposed to be on.

Balancing being a mom while running a business

It’s been a wild ride, and such a rewarding one. Building a business brings so much personal growth—you’re constantly learning and talking to all kinds of people. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that when you genuinely care about your clients and their success, your business naturally grows. Right now, we have about an 85% return rate, which blows my mind. So many clients come back because they feel seen and supported.

A lot of that care comes from being a mom. When you're raising babies, you’re constantly tuning in to their needs, trying to be the best version of yourself. I brought that same mindset into my business: How can I serve you better? What do you need? How can we grow together? That attentiveness and empathy have been huge for me.

At the time, my youngest, Gavin,was just one, so it was a brand-new world for me. I was constantly learning, consuming information, and growing. I’ve always loved to learn—I was the straight-A student who genuinely enjoyed school—so that love of learning really helped me as I built my business.

Read more: Juggling too much? 4 Keys to Maintaining Your Sanity as a Mom and Business Owner with Ashley Freehan

Feeling like you’ve “made it”

And I never felt like, “I’ve made it.” Especially in the content space, you have to stay open to feedback, stay flexible, and be willing to grow. That’s hard at first—especially as a creative—because you can get emotionally attached to your work. When someone says, “I don’t like this,” or “Can we change that?” it can feel personal. But it’s not. It’s about making it better for the client. And when you shift your mindset from failure to growth, everything changes.

How did you find the time to work on your business? What was your childcare/help like?

The best advice I can give is: just try to get 1% better every day. That might mean finding a little more time in your day or being more intentional with how you use it. I really had to look at my schedule and ask, “Where can I be more effective?”—especially when it came to managing the kids.

Sometimes it meant making sure their needs were met more efficiently, or asking for help: “Can you pick up so-and-so and bring them here?” Those small adjustments—getting an extra 30 to 45 minutes—add up and make a big difference, especially in the early days.

And I have to say, my husband was a huge support through it all. Honestly, if it hadn’t been his idea, I probably wouldn’t have even tried. It felt so daunting at the time. But his belief in me gave me the courage to step out and try something new. That kind of support is invaluable.

So my advice is to surround yourself with people who believe in you—people who won’t feed into the negative self-talk. You know, those voices that say “I’m too late,” “I’m too old,” “I’m just a mom, I can’t do this.” You need people who help silence that noise and push you forward.

For me, my husband was that person, and I’m incredibly grateful and blessed to have his support.

Are there any boundaries or systems you put into place to protect your time and energy as a working mom?

One of the most impactful things someone told me—another business owner friend—was this: “When you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to something else.” That really stuck with me. It made me start evaluating my decisions more carefully. I began asking myself, “Is this yes really worth it? Or is this a no I need to make?”

At the beginning, it was hard. When you're just starting out, you're in hustle mode—you say yes to everything. You want to get out there, meet people, take every opportunity. But over time, I realized the importance of weighing those choices. Is this opportunity worth my time, or is being present for my child at their event more important?

More often than not, I found that showing up for my kids mattered most. That’s a role only I can fill. So yes, maybe it’s a few thousand dollars on the table—but my priority is to be there, to let my kids know they matter more than any business win.

That kind of clarity takes communication too—talking things through with my spouse, making sure we’re aligned and on the same page as a family. And honestly, I learned this the hard way. I’m naturally a people pleaser, so my default was always to say yes—trying to take care of everyone and meet every need.

But I’ve trained myself to pause and ask: “What am I really saying yes to here? And what am I saying no to?” That reflection helps guide me to make better decisions—ones that support both my family and my long-term vision.

Read more: Celebrating my Business Anniversary: The Biggest Lessons & Highlights from My 7 Years in Business

creating-video-content-kate-tran-breakthrough-brand (1)

Defining what success looks like

Another big part of this journey is really defining what success means to you. It’s so easy—especially as a business owner—to equate success with money or visibility. But for me, I had to take a step back and really think about what matters most.

Now, my spouse and I do this every year—we sit down and write out our goals. We cover everything: personal goals, spiritual goals, business goals, and family goals. And over time, I’ve realized that no amount of fame or financial success could ever replace the success I already have with my family.

I don’t want to get so focused on achieving a certain level of professional success that I lose what truly matters. I don’t want to look up one day and realize my family isn’t happy—or worse, that they don’t even know me.

So defining what success means for you—not just what the world tells you it should mean—is incredibly powerful. Because for me, if I become the most well-known videographer out there but my family feels disconnected or overlooked, that’s not success at all.

Any final advice for moms thinking about starting their own business?

I would say—don’t feel like it has to be done a certain way or on a specific timeline. There’s so much pressure out there, and it’s easy to feel like you’re starting too late. I know I felt that way. I thought, “I’m this age—am I too late to begin?” But then I looked it up, and the average age of the most successful entrepreneurs is actually around 43.

So no, you're not late. Start where you are. The important thing is to surround yourself with people who will support you through the journey—whether that's other business owners or friends who can give you honest feedback. I have people I send my content to, just to ask, “Is this cringey or does it connect? Should I post this or leave it in the drafts?” Having that kind of sounding board is incredibly helpful.

But more than anything, remember: there's no right way to do this. There’s no rush. Take your time. Move forward with peace, not pressure. You don’t have to have it all figured out right now. You’ll hit your milestones when the time is right.

Just focus on getting 1% better each day. That’s the mindset I repeat to myself constantly: “What can I do 1% better today?” Because after 100 days, that’s 100% growth. And that kind of steady, intentional progress adds up to something amazing.

Links Mentioned:

Work with Kate Tran Video Production

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Listen to the Breakthrough Brand Podcast

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Kate Tran shares tips to create video content
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The post Creating Impactful Video Content in 2025: Tips From a Professional Videographer with Kate Tran appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/creating-video-content/feed/ 0 8229 Do This ONE THING To Your Website to Increase Bookings, Revenue, and Email Sign Ups (Takes 30 Minutes or Less) https://elizabethmccravy.com/do-this-to-your-website-to-increase-bookings/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/do-this-to-your-website-to-increase-bookings/#respond Tue, 29 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7987 A big part of why I'm able to run my business on very part-time hours is that I focus on making what's already working, work better. In this episode, I'm sharing ONE THING you can do to your website to increase bookings, sales, email sign-ups, and more!

The post Do This ONE THING To Your Website to Increase Bookings, Revenue, and Email Sign Ups (Takes 30 Minutes or Less) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 8 minutes

In this short episode, I’m spilling ONE thing you need to do to your website this week that will help you increase bookings, increase sales, increase your email sign ups, increase affiliate revenue — ALL OF IT. And the best part? Is that it will take you around 30 minutes (or LESS) to do. Sounds too good to be true? It’s not. I promise. But this is something I literally have never heard anyone else talk about YET is something I do regularly to improve my content. Let’s get into it!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

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Search for episode 291!

As this episode airs, I'm actually speaking today at Showit’s Spark conference about affiliate marketing! And this episode is actually a tip taken from that presentation. This tip, although shared in an affiliate marketing context today at Spark, really applies to ALL parts of your business. Here are the steps!

Here’s what you should do to your website to increase bookings, revenue, and email signups: Sign onto Google Search Console to find out which blog posts on your website are ranking well on Google and then improve those blogs drastically in some really specific revenue generating ways! 

So, that’s the overview of what you’re doing. But I’m going to jump into the “how” for the rest of this episode but first, I just want to remind you that we want to work with what’s already working for you. Too often with content creation, it’s always “write a new blog”, “make a new Instagram post”, “record a new podcast episode”, etc. Most of the time though, we ignore the content that is already out there in the world working for us!

One of my best secrets to having a profitable business while working part time hours right now is THIS. Make what’s working, work better. 

How To Do This to Your Website to Increase Bookings

First of all, use Google Search Console! It’s a great free tool by Google. Similar to analytics, but different. If you don’t have it set up, make sure to do that now!

Login to Google Search Console, and on the sidebar go to “Performance” > “Search Results” > then “Pages”.

google search console

Now, you’ll see your top ranking pages. For our purposes, you want to focus on the pages that are BLOG POSTS. 

You can sort this to be top ranking blogs in whatever time period you want. I like to look at a longer timeframe, like over 3 months for example. You’ll see the clicks and impressions for each post, then you can click straight over to your blog post from there! 

Now for how to update them.

Update Those Blogs On Your Website to Increase Bookings

Next, it’s time to choose which blog posts you're going to update. You can update all of them or just start with the first one. I get that updating them ALL starts to sound like a bigger undertaking.

I’d recommend starting with the one that relates most to actual things about your business. For example, you might have a post that ranks the BEST but isn’t going to be traffic that wants to buy from you at all, and that could be one to skip. Not always though, because I have a lot of motherhood/personal posts that rank well that I do make money from with affiliate links!

As you do updates, think about cold traffic versus warm traffic. 

updating old blog posts on your website to increase bookings

Here Is a List of Things You May Want To Update

1. Look at the images

Do you have more up-to-date or better photos you can add to the blog post since when you first published it? Look through the images, whether it's the featured images or just images that are in the blog post itself. Can you update any of them to make them better and more compelling? 

Read more: How to Use Paid Stock Photography to Completely Up Level Your Brand

2. Affiliate links 

So this was a huge part of what I talked about in my Spark presentation, but update any relevant mentions of companies you're an affiliate for with affiliate links. So maybe in this well-ranking blog post you're writing about Showit versus Wix and you actually did not use your Showit affiliate link or Wix affiliate link anywhere in the blog post. That's a great opportunity. Hyperlink the text for whichever company you're an affiliate for (or if you're an affiliate for both) to that through your affiliate link. And you can also add a blurb about whatever your discount code is for it. 

Read more: My Top 3 Hacks for Making It EASY to Make Affiliate Income

3. Add a Call To Action To Work With You

Add a call to action to work with you somewhere in the blog post. Maybe it's at the end, maybe it's at the very beginning, maybe it's mid post and you do a little call out. Add in a call to action to go to whatever page makes sense for working with you.

4. Add a Call To Action To Your Relevant Paid Offer 

This one is similar, but add a call to action to your relevant paid offer. So for me, it might be a blog post that relates to stuff for designers where I say, “Hey, you're a designer looking to build an in-demand branded website design business, check out my course Booked Out Designer.” Maybe it's through a graphic, or maybe it's just text.

5. Add An Email Form Directly Into The Blog Post For An Opt-in That’s Relevant To This Post

The next tip for your website to increase bookings is to add an email form, like an email opt-in form directly into the blog post, ideally towards the top. So basically, look at your posts and see if you have a freebie already that is relevant, even if it's not a perfect match. Do you have anything that someone coming from Google might want? I bet you do!

Another thing you could even consider is whether or not you could make a freebie that compliments this well ranking blog post. Maybe you look at your freebie list and you're like, “wait, that would be awesome but I don't have any freebies that relate whatsoever to this blog post.” Maybe you could make one that compliments it (like a checklist or a workbook that goes with whatever the content is). 

Adding the email form directly into the blog post has been one one website tweak that has just skyrocketed email opt-ins for me. And again, it's just making what is already working work better for you. I literally just add the opt-in and then you can literally see that web traffic and email opt-ins are coming from those blog posts. 

6. Add An Exit Intent Pop Up Using a Tool Like BDOW! 

An “exit intent pop up” would be when someone comes from Google and starts reading the blog, and then they go to leave for whatever reason, and then you have a pop up that's super specific to your blog post that encourages them to read something else or opt-in for something. BDOW! is a great tool for doing this (and not just this, like you can set something to pop up once they've scrolled to a certain percentage on a post, for example).

Real quick, I am an affiliate for BDOW!, and if you want to use my code, ELIZABETH, you can get 20% off your subscription. PLUS, I created a new form template for BDOW!. So if you're interested in trying this awesome email marketing tool, I made a form template so you can just add it to your account and customize it and have your first form. This could literally be the base for your exit intent popup. Head here to get it!

Read more: Do You Really Need BDOW!? How Smart Website Pop-Ups Can Change the Way You Grow Your Email List with Davey Jones

7. Add a Graphic To Promote An Offer

Graphics just embedded within the blog post can be really huge for making people take action towards something else. So again, this would open a new window, but maybe it's for an affiliate of yours, and the graphic is saying, “Hey, get 20% off,” you could embed that in the blog post. This could promote anything! But the idea is, the graphic stops the scroll and gets people’s attention.

showit website templates

8. Link to other relevant and more updated blog posts 

Link to other relevant and more updated blog posts. So maybe this blog post that's getting a lot of traffic is not your most recent thing on this particular topic. You can link within your blog post “if you want to read more click here.” Encourage people to go other places and then maybe those blog posts better sell your services and things like that. 

9. Update The Words 

So first, I would encourage you to read this blog post. And then maybe as you read it, you realize like, wait, I have things to say on this topic that I didn't have to say back then. And again, this will vary depending on the post itself. But read it and decide what you could shift within your writing without hurting the SEO. So likely you'd want to avoid updating any major headings, but within your paragraph copy, see if there's something you can add or update. 

This has actually been one of the biggest things I've done when I've gone and updated my old blogs that are ranking. Sometimes I will feel like, “Wait, I have a new perspective on this because I've changed as a person because my business has grown and I'm different than when I first wrote this thing that's ranking.” That’s normal and encouraged!

10. Add a Blurb About You 

Add a little blurb about you to your blog posts on your website to increase bookings. So this could again be an interrupter within the copy or be something that happens at the very end of the post, but just add some information about you. Even something simple like, “Hey, thanks for reading this blog. My name's Elizabeth. Here's a bit about what I do. Click here to work with me,” with a photo of you. I think that can be really powerful. 

To take it up a notch, you can also think about linking out to your social media. Or link to your About page or work with you page. But just adding some information to encourage this new “cold traffic reader” that came from Google to get to know you and your business better.

11. Link to Your Podcast or YouTube Channel 

Next, link to your podcast or YouTube channel if you have one to encourage people to go over there too. So again, this could be at the end, this could be a button, this could be an interrupter in the middle of the post that says, “Hey, enjoying this blog post. You'd love my YouTube channel.” That sort of thing could be really, really awesome (and so easy to do!).

Read more: 4 REAL Fears You Might Have About Starting a Podcast (+ My Honest Thoughts About Whether Podcasting is Right for You)

12. Add Images To It That Someone Could Easily Pin to Pinterest 

Last but not least, add images for someone to pin to Pinterest. So this could be something you add just at the very end of the post (like one or two long vertical images) that are meant for someone to pin to Pinterest. Because again, if this post is ranking well, this might also be something where people are wanting to save it and pin over to Pinterest. So that can just be another way to optimize it. 

update your website to increase bookings

Ready to Improve Your Website to Increase Bookings?

Finally, I want to just encourage you that you do not need to do all of those. In fact, if you actually did ALL of this in one post, your blog post would probably start to look kind of crazy. For me, I do have a wide variety of things that I do to update well-performing blog posts and what I do depends on the content that does rank well in my business. 

Also know that this list isn't extensive. You might, as you start looking at your blog posts, think of something that I should have had on that list. I just want to encourage you to try this, set a timer for yourself and go update the content piece and then count it as done for now.

Links Mentioned:

Shop Showit Website Templates

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tiny changes to your website to increase bookings
make your website convert more

Thanks to our sponsor, Christian Heathcare Ministries! CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry and is a faith-based alternative to traditional health insurance. My family has been using CHM for our healthcare for 4+ years now, and we couldn’t be more pleased. As a business owner we all know healthcare is outrageously expensive with CHM you can save money on your budget and know if a medical situation ever arises CHM will be there to take care of you and share 100% of your eligible bills. Learn more here!

The post Do This ONE THING To Your Website to Increase Bookings, Revenue, and Email Sign Ups (Takes 30 Minutes or Less) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/do-this-to-your-website-to-increase-bookings/feed/ 0 7987 7 Expert Strategies for Record-Breaking Black Friday Sales (Lessons from My 5 Years of Black Friday Promotions!) https://elizabethmccravy.com/black-friday-promotions/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/black-friday-promotions/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7976 I'm sharing 7 strategies to help you make more money (and stay sane) throughout your Black Friday promotions. After 5 years of Black Fridays in my website design business, I honestly love Black Friday sales and I hope these strategies will help you enjoy your sale too!

The post 7 Expert Strategies for Record-Breaking Black Friday Sales (Lessons from My 5 Years of Black Friday Promotions!) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 8 minutes

It’s nearing Black Friday time and whether you’re planning on doing a sale for YOUR business, or are planning to just simply promote other people’s products as an affiliate this year, this episode is for YOU. I've been doing Black Friday promotions since 2019 (since right after I launched my template shop!). What I did then, was much simpler than what I do today. Back then it was $75 off my templates and some fun bonuses!

Even though my sales have evolved over the years, it's always been a big week in my business! To give you some perspective, I’ve had Black Fridays that have:

  • Made over $200,000 (over the 5 years within that one week period)
  • Ran Black Friday WITHOUT ads, so that’s mostly profit
  • Been done without a huge team
  • PLUS, I have also enjoyed Thanksgiving every year

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays so I don’t like to be working a lot. Last year, I didn't even bring my laptop with me on our trip to visit extended family. I do all the work ahead of time and then execute it! So I think these tips are really going to help you whether you’re a first-time Black Friday sales person or you’ve done this many times before like me and you want some fresh thoughts/tips to make things better!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 290!

1. Be careful that you don't have too much to talk about in your messaging. 

It can be easy with Black Friday to layer on… and on… and on. You can keep adding bonuses and freebies, and even just changing what’s on sale. You don’t want it to be like, “this day this thing is 30% off, but then the next day it’s 20% off but you get a free gift with purchase, and this day you’re entered to win this prize. OH and, this company I’m an affiliate for is having a sale too, did ya know?”

You don’t want your message to sound like that! It is messy and confusing. Make what you have on sale CLEAR. 

I’m also a huge fan of doing the same deal the whole time versus changing deals throughout the launch. That’s just me though! I think changing deals when you’re not solid e-commerce with tons and tons of products just confuses people. I did that one year and really did not like it. 

But overall, I’ve also learned over the years that that simple messaging goes a lot farther than having too many things you’re promoting. 

So I’d encourage you to make a list of exactly what your sale is and if it feels like more than you could comfortably mention over two emails to your audience (or if it feels like the BIG THING isn’t big enough), then cut some things. 

Read more: Behind the Scenes of My Multi-Five Figure Beta Course Launch (that Sold Out in Less Than An Hour!)

2. Start Early If You’re B2B! 

I know the joke is that “Black Friday gets earlier and earlier every year”, and I think there’s some truth to that. Although personally, I noticed last year that a lot of bigger retailers did NOT start early. Or if they did it was a worse deal (like the “pre-black friday sale” was 20% off, and then it was 30% off later, which I didn’t like as a shopper).

What once was a thing where some people woke up early on Friday after Thanksgiving to camp OUTSIDE Walmart for and fight over TVs has now become a mainly virtual thing. There’s not a huge difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday like there once was.

black friday promotions ideas

Personally, for me, I’ve found starting sooner is nice because it allows fellow business owners to start sooner and then unplug (or run their own Black Friday sale during Black Friday) but they can shop with me EARLY and then be done! 

Read more: Strategies and Trends for Creating (and Selling) Successful Online Courses in 2024 with Mara Kucirek

3. Make Your Black Friday Promotions Work For Your Life

This is the most important tip I could honestly give you about Black Friday promotions. Black Friday falls at a very inconvenient time for business owners and a really nice time for consumers. For example, I travel for thanksgiving and it is a special time with my extended family that I cherish so much. I don't want to be working while I'm there so I automate as much as possible. 

This is why I’m so big on making business work for YOUR LIFE. Perhaps for you doing a huge Black Friday sale this year would actually just mean that you’re not present with your family for the thanksgiving holiday and you’re stressed out and filming Instagram stories when you’d rather be eating pie and chatting with your grandmother. 

Instead, think about what you want your holiday to look like this year, and it may be different from past years, and plan with that. Know that each year of your life is different and you’re allowed to change up Black Friday things to suit that. Then, start to schedule things out.

Lastly, I would just try to know yourself when it comes to “in the moment” content. Do you think that realistically when you are driving, say the day before Thanksgiving and your Black Friday sale is happening, are you going to want to post a bunch of Instagram stories on the car ride there about your sale? Or are you going to feel like I don't want to do any of that? Are you going to feel like making a reel at the moment? Are you going to feel like releasing that bonus podcast episode? Or being really in tune with your customer support inbox? Think about all those things and plan accordingly, knowing your own personality and your own working style. 

showit-website-coupon-code

4. Use The Same Coupon Code Every Year! 

This one is short, but important! Using the same coupon code every year allows you to reuse some things like graphics that maybe worked well or even facebook ads if you do ads. This helps make sure that you do not have to reinvent everything every time, even if the deal itself is changing, the code does not have to. 

I’ve learned this the hard way when I randomly changed my usual code one year, and I was like… why did I do that?! I created more work for myself. 

5. Do a Solid Debrief For Yourself. 

I have debriefed every Black Friday in my business except my first one. And I have all of those docs privately for myself in one place on my Drive. 

So, what’s a debrief? A Debrief is just an analysis of how something went in your business. Just for you or you and your team! With the goal of improving it next time. 

Perhaps next time you’re trying to improve the way you felt during the sale, how organized it was, maybe you had an idea during the sale that you wish you had done but it’s too late so you’re saving it for the next year… whatever it is, you put it in your debrief! 

I don't read over every single one before doing the next sale, but I do always go through my last one and reference highlighted content in past years. I’ll also look over revenue and conversion numbers year over year to see how I’m doing. 

Grab My Launch Debrief Template To Make It Easier

On episode 254, I talk about how I do a debrief every single launch. If you haven’t listened yet, that episode is soooo solid, and I share about my launch and debrief template there, which I’ll talk about in a minute! It’s delivered as a Google doc, but you can copy and paste it to other formats. It really is perfect for debriefing new digital product launches, e-commerce sales/promos, new service offering launches, membership or mastermind launches, and more!

launch debrief template

6. It's a Crowded Time So Know That This May Not Be Your "End All Be All" Sale. 

While we talk about Black Friday, know that Black Friday is a very crowded time, both in competitors of yours but also just in the world as a whole. I mean, people are shopping for their personal life, they are shopping for their business, they're shopping for Christmas gifts. So many things.

So know that Black Friday may not be your end all be all sale or your best sale of the year, and another time of the year when the environment's less crowded could actually be better than Black Friday for you.

So I personally did a sale in the summer last year that did better than my Black Friday sale last year. It was a higher revenue time and I did it at a non crowded time for that reason. So maybe you do decide this year that like, “Hey, I'm going to go more chill for Black Friday.” You're just going to put up a coupon code or message your current service-based clients about a deal you're going to do, and that's it. And then you're doing a sale at another time of year that you're putting more effort and energy into when it's not as crowded and when things are different in your personal life. That’s OK!

Read more: The Major Mindset Tips I’ve Learned from Launching Products and Services

7. Think Beyond Just Discounts

Okay, last tip for you that I think is really important. Think beyond just discounts when you think about your offer. Think beyond discounts, think creatively. 

I truly do just love Black Friday so much. I can even sense that just now watching that video of myself from last year as I was debriefing that sale. I love Black Friday, and I always have. I ran my first Black Friday sale, like I said, with $75 off and some bonuses, and that was just a few month after I'd launched my template shop for the first time.

Personally, I find Black Friday to be an opportunity to challenge myself creatively as a marketer and to just have fun and come up with something cool that will get your current audience excited and then bring in new customers as well. You can do that by thinking beyond discounts.

So maybe it's that nothing's discounted, but things are bundled. Maybe there's bonuses if people shop with you during Black Friday. Maybe you're just promoting other people's sales as an affiliate and you're not doing anything on your own, but you're just saying, “okay, there's all these companies that I'm an affiliate for.” Maybe for your service business, it's that you create a special offer that you don't normally offer. 

The point is, there's so many different things you can do beyond just saying, “I'm putting everything 50% off and that's it.” So just allow yourself to think creatively. And I would also say, in addition to debriefing, that as you shop Black Friday this year, just observe other people's sales in the world and what's happening, I would challenge you to also look at other people's stuff. Competitors and people in completely other industries. Some of my best Black Friday sales have come from random stuff like J Crew that I've shopped during Black Friday in my personal life, and then I apply those strategies to my own business. Look for things you like and make note of them!

Elizabeth McCravy shares tips for Black Friday Promotions

Bonus: Have Fun With Your Black Friday Promotions

Like I just said, Black Friday is an opportunity to challenge yourself creatively and just to have fun as a marketer. I would say try to, if you can, show up with the energy of “this is fun, and it’s not stressful because I'm not trying to make the most money ever.” Instead, focus on trying to show up and serve your audience well with a really good offer and do better than you did last year in some capacity. 

I know for me, even when I look at my debriefs over years, there are so many other measurements of success besides just every year getting bigger, which by the way, that's not been the case for me. For example, my 2020 Black Friday was huge, and the one after was less than that. So it's not always like every Black Friday just gets better and better financially. But then I've had things like last year, where I had more customers shop with me than the year before. 

On top of that, there’s other wins too. Maybe your email list grows more, or maybe your social following grows more. Maybe you had one offer that just really sold super well, and that's something that you can learn from and pay attention to.

My Black Friday Sale is Coming Up!

As we talk about Black Friday, I want to let you know that my sale is coming up and I wanted to give you a special offer as a podcast listener around my Black Friday sale. Head here to get on the Black Friday Shop Early Waitlist! If you get on that wait list, you'll get the information when the secret sale starts, and you'll have an opportunity to shop my sale a day early and get a special offer that is only for YOU as a podcast listener. Sign up here!

Links Mentioned:

Get on the waitlist for my Black Friday launch

Grab my launch debrief template

Tune into episode #254 to get better results from your launch

Shop Showit Website Templates

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

Listen to the Breakthrough Brand Podcast

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

Join Booked Out Designer

Black Friday Promotions Ideas
Black Friday hacks to use in 2024

Thanks to our sponsor, Christian Heathcare Ministries! CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry and is a faith-based alternative to traditional health insurance. My family has been using CHM for our healthcare for 4+ years now, and we couldn’t be more pleased. As a business owner we all know healthcare is outrageously expensive with CHM you can save money on your budget and know if a medical situation ever arises CHM will be there to take care of you and share 100% of your eligible bills. Learn more here!

The post 7 Expert Strategies for Record-Breaking Black Friday Sales (Lessons from My 5 Years of Black Friday Promotions!) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/black-friday-promotions/feed/ 0 7976 Do You Really Need BDOW!? How Smart Website Pop-Ups Can Change the Way You Grow Your Email List with Davey Jones https://elizabethmccravy.com/do-you-need-bdow-website-pop-ups/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/do-you-need-bdow-website-pop-ups/#respond Tue, 08 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7952 Want to grow your email list? Wondering how to use website pop-ups without being annoying? In this interview, Davey Jones shares great tips on using BDOW! to grow your email list. Use BDOW! Coupon Code ELIZABETH for 20% off to try it yourself!

The post Do You Really Need BDOW!? How Smart Website Pop-Ups Can Change the Way You Grow Your Email List with Davey Jones appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 13 minutes

This week, I'm chatting with Davey Jones, who is the CEO of the popular email lead generation tool, BDOW!, formerly called Sumo. You might be most familiar with Davey because he and his wife, Krista co-founded the branding and web design agency, Davey and Krista, and I've known them both for many years now because we all exist in the Showit designer world together. We actually first met in person back in 2020 pre-pandemic on a trip to Cabo that Showit took their top designers on, which is still like a pinch me dream trip I've done in my business.

Anyway—in this episode, Davey is going to teach how how you can optimize your website for more conversions and ultimately make more sales online by really just thinking about email marketing in a more strategic way. 

We also talk about how you can use BDOW! To help grow your list, and so if you want to give that a try, you can use code ELIZABETH for 20% off. 

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 288!

Who is Davey Jones of BDOW!? 

I helped build a brand + website design agency—creatively named ‘Davey & Krista’—with my wife, Krista. A few years into that, I built an advertising agency, Till Agency, with two good friends of mine. That started because after you build somebody a website, the next question we would typically get would be, “Well, how do I drive traffic to this website? How do I get leads?”

And driving traffic and leads, doing the marketing and sales, was essentially what I did for ‘Davey & Krista,’ so usually those questions would be directed toward me. I took on a few clients under Davey & Krista helping them run Facebook ads and really enjoyed it. I had run into a few friends who had similar experience and both wanted to start an agency, so that’s what we did.

Davey Joneys shares how using BDOW! can help you grow your email list

Fast forward a few later and here I am running BDOW!, which was formerly an app called Sumo. Some people might know it as Sumome. It's a form and pop-up tool that helps people build their email list.

Could you give us a behind-the-scenes look into what it was like purchasing Sumo, renaming it BDOW!, and becoming CEO?

Todd and I had been trying to do something together for a few years now. Todd’s been a friend for a long time now and someone I also consider a mentor. You talk about Showit a lot so I’m pretty sure your audience is familiar with what makes that such a special company.

An opportunity came up a few years ago and it took me a little while to decide that I wanted in. By the time I did, that opportunity had basically fallen through. Fast forward a year or two and another opportunity came across Todd’s desk. This time I knew right away that I wanted in, and fortunately, it worked out.

The process is wild. It’s like buying a house, but the deal feels more fragile and so many things can cause it to fall through. And it’s a bit more difficult in a number of ways because with a house, you can typically spend some time in it. A home inspection takes a few hours tops usually. Due diligence took 6+ months. With SAAS or software, you only get access to so much. Then there’s the added challenge of combing through a codebase that’s been built for over a decade. 

I definitely learned a lot along the way throughout the process. As with anything there are probably a few things I would have done differently and a few questions I would have asked.

Choosing to Name BDOW!

I think many people wouldn’t recommend rebranding—or changing the name—after acquiring a product. Part of the reason you would acquire a product is for it’s brand recognition, and Sumo definitely had that. But we knew going into it that it would have to change. The Sumo Group, who owned Sumo, also owns AppSumo and KingSumo… so to avoid confusion, we thought it would be wise to rebrand.

We went through a lot of different name options, but eventually settled on BDOW! Which is a funny story on its own! The short version is: we had settled on a name, Todd (CEO of Showit) found Badow on an auction site, and it was so memorable that it just stuck. We did change the spelling but that was it!

Let’s be honest, everyone has an opinion when it comes to naming a product.

Here’s what we knew we wanted in a name:

  • Memorable
  • Easy domain / URL
  • Room to grow

Sumo isn’t exactly a name that suggests what the app does, so we didn’t feel the pressure to choose another one that did. For instance, if it was originally called something like lead capture pro and then we changed the name to BDOW!, that would likely cause some unnecessary confusion.

How is BDOW! different from using traditional email opt-in forms? 

BDOW! is specifically focused on getting more people on your email list, whereas an email marketing platform is a bit more focused on communicating with a list. We don’t see ourselves as competitors with email marketing platforms. We do have some built-in email features, but we also have integrations with dozens of other email platforms.

We want to help people build a big list, faster.

Helping Your Affiliates Sell

We offer a lot of advanced functionality. So our form and popup tools, you can set targeting rules that get really granular and there are so many different options. You can target people based on what website they're coming from. So for instance, after this episode airs, and so you have a code that people can use for BDOW! People can use your link and code ELIZABETH to get 20% off BDOW! Then, let's say somebody clicks on that link in the show notes and they come to the BDOW! website. We could show them a pop-up that maybe has your face on it and is like, “Hey, use Elizabeth Link right now to sign up and save 20%” and start drawing that connection between our two companies. 

Running Ads and Promos

Another example is: sometimes you want to run maybe just a Facebook or Instagram specific campaign, so you want to show people a pop-up just for that set of visitors that can be helpful. Maybe you're running a Facebook ad campaign and you're running it to cold traffic, so people who have never heard of you before, you don't want to display a discount code all across your website, but you want to remind them on this Facebook ad they just clicked on and you want to remind them of that discount code. BDOW! Can help you with that very specific kind of pop-up.

Targeting Specific Pages or Visits

Beyond that, you could target people based on the number of times they've been to your site. So maybe somebody's new and you want to put up a popup that has a couple different links to your greatest hits or something similar. You could target people based on what page they're on, and then you can mix and match all of these targeting options to get, again, even more granular just to make sure that you're showing the right popup to the right person. 

A/B Testing and Integrations

We also offer things like A/B testing and have dozens of integrations, so this is something that’s really easy to use too. For example, oftentimes when you collect a lead, you might want to do more with that lead than just send it to your email marketing list. So you could set up multiple integrations to send that lead to different places wherever you may want to send it. We also have Zapier integration, so you really can do whatever you want with that data. 

Hidden Fields

We also have hidden fields, and hidden fields are awesome because you can collect information about your subscribers that your subscribers can't see. So for instance, let's say you have a popup that appears across your whole website, but you want to know on what page does that pop up most convert. You could use a hidden field that would grab the URL of the page a popup is filled out on, and then you could run a report and say, okay, this is the page that this popup is mostly completed on.

Read more: Email List Building Tactics That Actually Work

Where is a good place to start when it comes to lead generation and growing our email list to make more sales?

I think that businesses that are growing and consistently making sales are always doing some sort of lead generation. So we always encourage people to have something on their website, some sort of freebie that people are going to get in exchange for their email address. So that's a good place to start. Just standard having a popup that appears, that sends people to a landing page where they can complete a form and get that freebie. You always want to be building your email list, and you can always market to those people down the road. 

Plus, if you're selling something like templates or a course, you could always offer new visitors a one-time discount code that they could use. This is one of the easiest things to set up, especially if you use WooCommerce or Shopify. So you can integrate with WooCommerce or Shopify using BDOW! for instance. We use WooCommerce, and when you connect that integration, you can create a discount campaign. When you create the discount campaign, you set up your discount, so whatever you want it to be, whether it's $20 off or 20% off or whatnot, you set up the code and anytime somebody completes that popup, they will be generated a code that's unique to them. 

From there, what you can do, again with that hidden field functionality, is you can send not only the subscriber information to your email marketing platform, but the discount code as well. So then when you follow with people, you can say, “Hey, Elizabeth, thanks for expressing interest in (whatever product it is). Remember you have 48 hours to use this code, and then you can dynamically insert the code in the email”. 

I think those are one of the most effective campaigns. It's so simple to set up and then it's so effective.

How do we use pop-ups in a way that’s not annoying?

Yes, exactly, so with Showit, of course, we all love Showit and it’s definitely our recommended website platform, but there's additional controls as well. I mean people get annoyed popups because it seems like something that's often interrupts us, but really a pop-up should meet a visitor where they're at. So for instance, with a lot of just website platforms, you can set it to trigger on a certain scroll depth, so somebody scrolls 50% of the page and the pop-up appears. But what happens is if they scroll up the page and then back down the page, it appears again, even if they opted out. In BDOW!, there's more granular settings so that if you don't want to show a pop-up again to somebody who has opted out of that pop-up, like they've clicked the X, then you can set it not to appear or you can set it not to appear for two days so that there's some space between that. 

Another one of my favorite features lately of BDOW! is our show a tab feature. And so the way this works is you can create a popup that when somebody clicks out of it, it minimizes to the bottom of the screen. So there's a little bar that shows up at the bottom of the screen, and it'll have some sort of title. So let's say it's a discount campaign, save 15% or whatnot. If they click it or if they click out of it, it goes to the bottom and it'll just save 15%. And so if people want to return to it, all they have to do is click it and it pops back up. So it's a way to have the power of a popup getting a message in front of somebody, but at the same time not being as obtrusive.

What are some stats we should be aware of when evaluating whether or not our form/lead magnet is working? 

Here are some general benchmarks:

  • Landing page or squeeze page with a free offer: 30-50%
  • Blog Post w/ a form or pop-up: It’s going to vary wildly.

The easier to consume the freebie = the more people are going to sign up. For an ebook, a landing page might see closer to 50%. For a webinar, around 30% might be more common. 

One of the reasons pop-ups vary so wildly is that you really need the right kind of pop-up for the job. For example, something like a “click trigger pop-up” appears really high-converting because people essentially have to click it in order for it to appear. So of course that’s going to convert higher than something else where someone didn’t ask by “clicking for it.”

The more dialed in and relevant the freebie, the higher the conversion.

If you’re building an email list and relying solely on a form in your footer that says “join my newsletter,” you’re probably seeing very low conversion rates. My guess would be well under 2%. It’s not that you shouldn’t have a form field in your footer; it just shouldn’t be the primary way you’re building your list.

How can we target the most relevant blog posts with the best freebie?

So this is one of the neat things about BDOW! is that it's really easy to target multiple pages. So maybe for instance, every time you write about brand design in the URL, you're going to mention brand design in the URL. From there, you can target slugs that contain specific words, and then that way you're targeting more than one blog post at a time, and you don't have to go and grab every single specific link that you want to target.

You don’t need to have a different lead magnet for every single blog post. I’m a big believer that you only need one really effective lead magnet to be successful. Focus on placing popups and forms on your most-visited pages, as those are likely to generate the highest conversions. This approach helps you leverage your existing traffic and ensures your popups are seen by the right audience without getting overly complicated.

Read more: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Quiz Lead Magnet in 2024 (Using Interact and Showit)

a podcast interview on bdow and growing an email list

What are some common mistakes you see business owners making with lead generation?

One of the biggest mistakes is creating something new instead of leveraging what already works. New content is always unproven content. Instead of creating a brand-new piece of content, look at tools you already use and templatize them. For example, I turned an existing SEO brief we used in all my businesses into a lead magnet. It took 15 minutes to create and was effective because it was something we regularly used to get results.

Another mistake is not solving specific problems for specific people. You need to know your ideal customer well; otherwise, you end up offering broad solutions that don’t appeal. People want quick wins from solving specific issues. For example, a product that says, "This protects your tree trunks from weed eaters" stands out more than a broad solution.

Thinking that providing a lot of information is the same as providing a quick win is another common mistake. I once created a 50-page eBook, but it would’ve been more effective to cut it down to a single page that focused on solving one specific problem. The same goes for courses—people want answers, not lengthy content. If you can solve a problem in two lessons, don't stretch it to five.

Not sharing your lead magnet enough is also a big issue. Many create a lead magnet, add it to their website, and then rarely mention it. You need to talk about your lead magnet regularly—almost every day. Whenever you discuss a related topic, find an opportunity to mention it.

Overcomplicating things is another mistake. Many believe they need complex funnels with multiple sequences and automation, but simplicity sells. You don’t even need a lead magnet to start building your list. Offer valuable content consistently without overcomplicating the process. Even something like “I’m emailing about XYZ tomorrow” can give people a reason to sign up.

Lastly, thinking you’ll "give away too much" in your lead magnet is a misconception. It’s nearly impossible to overshare, and being transparent builds trust. Make sure your lead magnet provides real value and is relevant to what you offer. Ensure it’s aligned with your business to attract the right audience. For example, I once created a blogging template that went viral with college students, but they weren’t my target audience, so they never bought from me. Always make sure your lead magnet speaks to your ideal customer.

Read more: How to Write Emails That *Actually* Get Opens, Clicks, and Replies With Emily Conley

What should someone check first if their email list isn’t growing, even though they have a way for people to sign up on their website?

Start with simple solutions before diving into more complicated, time-consuming ones. First, make sure everything is working correctly—sometimes a form isn’t connected properly, or there’s a technical issue. Next, review the copy on your landing page or popup. Is it benefit-focused? Is it easily skimmable with a clear headline and bullet points? Also, make sure it’s clear what the visitor will get from your lead magnet.

Then, check where you’re sharing the opt-in. It should be on high-traffic pages, like your homepage, or in your Instagram bio. Make sure it’s easy to find and doesn’t take multiple clicks to reach. Consistency is key—are you sharing about it regularly?

If your lead magnet isn’t performing well, try changing its title. For example, on our website, we changed a set of graphics from "Website Launch Graphics" to "Free Social Share Graphics," and the leads increased significantly without changing the content. Sometimes, a small tweak like that can make all the difference.

Lastly, keep things simple. We often start with a Google Doc for our lead magnets because it’s easy to use and quick to create. If it performs well, we might later design it into something more polished. This approach lets us test ideas without spending too much time upfront.

How can popups be effectively used on a website beyond just growing your email list?

Popups are incredibly versatile and one of the best ways to start a conversation with your website visitors. Have as many conversations as possible. 

Another idea is that you can promote sales by using sticky bars across your website—these are horizontal bars that sit at the top or bottom of your site, displaying messages like "Save 25% today," and can include countdown timers to create urgency.

Another tool is the scroll box, which slides in from the bottom or corner of your website and can provide links like, "Hey, it looks like you're new here. Check out these links." Scroll boxes can also be used for social proof, showcasing testimonials on your sales page as visitors read through, which builds credibility.

One of the most effective ways we’ve used popups is for webinar funnels. For example, you can set up an exit intent popup on your webinar registration page. When someone tries to leave the page, the popup appears saying, "Wait, if you register now, you'll get a free bonus." This tactic helped one of our clients gain an extra 175 webinar registrations, which can translate into thousands of dollars in sales. The beauty of BDOW! is that you can set this up in about 10 minutes.

Popups can also be personalized and controlled to enhance the user experience. For example, if someone exits a popup, you can have it minimize into a small bar at the bottom of the screen instead of disappearing entirely, making it less obtrusive. Unlike traditional popups that can be annoying, BDOW! lets you tailor them to be helpful, like an in-store associate asking if you need assistance. This ensures your popups enhance the user's journey rather than disrupt it.

How does BDOW! address common concerns about popups being annoying or intrusive?

Popups only become annoying when they're irrelevant, hard to close, or appear at the wrong time. BDOW! gives you a lot of control over how and when your popups appear. For example, you can set popups not to show on mobile devices or limit their frequency, ensuring they don't disrupt the user experience.

I compare it to walking into a store—if no one asks if you need help, it feels like poor customer service. Similarly, a well-placed popup should feel like a friendly assistant asking if there's something you need. It’s all about relevance and timing, and BDOW! makes it easy to achieve this. The goal is to provide assistance and guide users in a way that feels natural, not intrusive.

smart website pop-ups with bdow

How can people connect with you and learn more about BDOW!?

You can find out more about BDOW! at BDOW.com, and you can follow us on social media @bdowleads. You can also connect with me personally on Instagram @DaveyTJonesy.

Links Mentioned:

Watch the Episode on Youtube

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

Connect with BDOW! on Instagram

Check Out BDOW! and use code ELIZABETH for 20% Off

Shop Elizabeth McCravy Templates

Not Sure Which Template is Right For You? Take the Quiz

Join me inside Podcast Success Blueprint

Join me inside Booked Out Designer

grow your email list with bdow website pop-ups
grow your email list with bdow website pop-ups

Thanks to our sponsor, Christian Heathcare Ministries! CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry and is a faith-based alternative to traditional health insurance. My family has been using CHM for our healthcare for 4+ years now, and we couldn’t be more pleased. As a business owner we all know healthcare is outrageously expensive with CHM you can save money on your budget and know if a medical situation ever arises CHM will be there to take care of you and share 100% of your eligible bills. Learn more here!

The post Do You Really Need BDOW!? How Smart Website Pop-Ups Can Change the Way You Grow Your Email List with Davey Jones appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/do-you-need-bdow-website-pop-ups/feed/ 0 7952 Why Flodesk Is The Best Email Platform For Creative Entrepreneurs (+ How To Use It Well) https://elizabethmccravy.com/best-email-platform-for-creative-entrepreneurs/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/best-email-platform-for-creative-entrepreneurs/#respond Fri, 04 Oct 2024 14:39:02 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7939 Do you want to learn more about email marketing for your creative business? I'm sharing why I think Flodesk is the best email platform for creative entrepreneurs (and email marketing tips to help you get started!)

The post Why Flodesk Is The Best Email Platform For Creative Entrepreneurs (+ How To Use It Well) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

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Today, I want to talk all about the best email platform for creative entrepreneurs. As someone who's been in business for almost a decade now, I have a lot of opinions about email marketing. To be honest, email marketing is one of the things that has made the biggest impact in my business (despite the fact that it has not taken the most work—not by a long shot). And, since starting my business in 2016, I’ve explored most of the email marketing tools out there! 

With that in mind, not all platforms are created equally, and today I specifically want to talk about what I consider to be the best email platform for creative entrepreneurs: Flodesk. PLUS, I'm also giving you an incredible discount code 🎉

Get 50% off your first YEAR using the code ELIZABETH

In this post, we're going to be talking about:

  • What email marketing even is
  • Why I love Flodesk for creative entrepreneurs 
  • Flodesk features I love (and think everyone should use)
  • Tips to actually email your list effectively

Ready? Let’s jump in. 

What is email marketing anyway?

Email marketing can be something that feels kind of jargony or maybe it even feels like a bigger deal than it is. You hear a lot of people talk about it, but few people actually talk about how to do it. You might even already have feelings about email marketing because you’ve seen people do it really poorly (and doing shady practices like blowing up your inbox without you opting in).

At the end of the day, email marketing is just growing a list of email addresses with real humans and emailing them to sell your products or services. That’s it!

When someone talks about email marketing, they could be talking about:

  • Setting up a lead magnet and writing a “welcome sequence” that welcomes new subscribers to their list
  • Setting up an evergreen funnel which works similarly but ultimately the goal of the email sequence is to sell them something from your business
  • Weekly or monthly emails you send out to your people (keep reading for more ideas on what to write about!). For example, we do this for the Breakthrough Brand Podcast! I share about the episode to my list every single Tuesday.

Does your business really “need” email marketing?

I’m coming in hot with an unpopular opinion here and saying NO, your business doesn’t need email marketing. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t think it’s a really great idea. If you ever want to scale your business, you'll be happier you started growing your email list sooner rather than later.. 

And by scale your business, I mean if you ever want to serve more clients, sell products, or have a more automated lead generation process, having an email list is a really great way to do that. But, any “guru” who tells you that any particular business thing is a “must-have for all businesses no matter what”... is probably just trying to sell you something. 

I think you should start building your email list even if you aren’t ready to start emailing people regularly yet.

I’m going to get into why Flodesk can make emailing your people a lot easier in a second, but first I also want to say that you don’t need to email people regularly before you start trying to grow an email list. I’m a big believer that we should “start before we are ready” most of the time.

How do I know? Because I felt the exact same way when I started my email list. I knew when I set up my first email opt-in form that I was not going to be able to email those people weekly. NO WAY would I have the time, and I didn't have the audience to justify the time anyway. Besides, what would I even email them about?! 

However, as I was writing my regular blog posts, I did create freebies or “content upgrades” where people could get more information and I grew my list that way. 

I collected the email addresses of people who signed up for my freebies, and just SAT ON THEM. Then, when I WAS ready, I was starting with about 200 people on my list instead of zero. I started emailing those people more consistently, and it was a great jumping off point as I grew my business into things like websites templates and courses.

Enter: Flodesk (Why I Think It’s The Best Email Marketing Platform For Creative Entrepreneurs)

Flodesk is an email marketing platform that has literally been built for creatives with both function and aesthetics in mind. It is so user-friendly and design friendly (even if you aren’t a designer). If you love Showit as much as I do, it kind of reminds me of that because of the easy drag-and-drop nature. It's also similar to using Canva in that way! 

When I think about the best email marketing platform for creative entrepreneurs, I also think of the “best one” as being the one that actually gets used. There are a lot of fancy funnel tools out there, but most are overly complicated for what the average solopreneur or small business owner really needs. When you sign up for Flodesk, you can have an email that you’re actually excited to send up within the hour. That’s not even the best part though…

With Flodesk, you can add as many subscribers as you like, at no extra cost.

I don’t know any other email marketing platform that doesn’t increase their pricing as your list grows. Honestly, this is one of the biggest advantages to Flodesk for me (especially if you’re just starting to grow your list and don’t want to have to move everything over once you actually build a list). 

When I look at competitors, I would be paying 3-4x the amount that Flodesk charges for the size of my list. In that way, other platforms that charge you by subscriber almost encourage you to constantly be trimming your list and getting rid of inactive subscribers. But the reality is those subscribers do sometimes come back to you. And I have also personally experimented with over-trimming my list and ended up seriously regretting it. If I wasn’t paying for the number of subscribers I had, I wouldn’t have done that!  

So needless to say, this is one of my favorite reasons to choose Flodesk as the best email marketing platform for creative entrepreneurs. And, I’d say it’s the most affordable email marketing platform too! 

3 Email Marketing Features Creative Entrepreneurs Love

Spinner Forms

Who doesn't love to spin to win? The gamified nature of spinner forms makes signing up for your list more exciting, which then gets more and more people to opt in. We all love the idea of winning things and using a spinner form is a great way to get people engaged from the moment they land on your website. PLUS, they actually even convert up to 30% more visitors than your standard popup form. I’d argue that they're more memorable and set your brand apart too. 

This is something I see commonly with e-commerce brands I love, but rarely with small businesses. BUT, what if you could use a spinner to give your audience different discount percentages on your template shop? Or, let them “win” a different freebie? So many options with this! 

spinner forms with flodesk

Countdown Forms

I love any piece of software that allows me to cut something else I’m paying (I run a Profit First business over here!). For creative entrepreneurs that launch products especially, you’re going to love the countdown forms that Flodesk has. They’ve made it easier than ever to encourage you to get users to act quickly before time runs out—without you needing to use fancy code or another piece of software. Plus, you don’t need to “remember to turn it off” because the form will automatically turn to a waitlist once the timer goes off (which means you can STILL collect email addresses from those who might miss the deadline). These countdown forms have been proven to increase conversions by up to 200%.

Flodesk countdown form example

Video Forms

We have all gotten a lot better at making video over the last couple of years, haven't we? Flodesk recently launched video forms, which are kind of a game-changer in the email marketing space. The truth is, I think that we’ve also all gotten a little more discerning over who we give our email too. Video forms help you create a personal connection with your audience, show off your brand personality and voice, get people warmed up to you, and capture a new user’s attention.

Plus, not only have video forms been shown to increase your conversion rate up to 80%, they also ultimately deepen the experience someone might have on your website. Video is one of the best mediums we have as entrepreneurs for taking new people in our audience from cold traffic to ready to buy. 

example of video forms with flodesk

Bonus: Flodesk has great checkout options!

Remember how I said I’m always happy to cut extra software? One of the coolest things about Flodesk is their checkout pages and options—they actually look so good! If you’re just getting started selling digital products and don’t want to purchase something like Thrivecart to help people checkout, Flodesk Checkout is a GREAT option!!

flodesk checkout

The Best Flodesk Discount Code in 2024

While price is definitely not the only reason to choose a software, the truth is that Flodesk is also one of the most affordable email marketing platforms for creative entrepreneurs. And like I said, you lock in the price that you pay when you sign up and you don't have to pay more for growing your list. 

Add as many subscribers as you want and they'll just cheer you on as your list grows. Use code ELIZABETH for 50% off!

Email Marketing Ideas for Creative Entrepreneurs

I hope that this has inspired you to take action and get started with email marketing. If this is something that has been on your to-do list, I want to just say this: it's not as intimidating as you think to get started. Especially with something like Flodesk because like I said before, it's so easy to make your emails so pretty and so strategic. 

Here are some ideas to get you started.

First, what you're working on behind the scenes can be a really great thing to start emailing people about. People love a behind the scenes look and oftentimes email can feel like a more intimate space. 

With that said, I also think sharing what you are working on publicly is a good idea. This can look like the emails I send weekly about my podcast episodes. It can also look like a roundup of content, like your favorite reels that went live or favorite things you read on the internet this week. 

I also love the idea of sharing an industry hot take that you don't necessarily want every single person's opinion on. It can feel really intimidating to post something on Instagram or threads when you're not sure how it's received. Email can feel like a safer spot to do that and it feels authentic which in turn deepens your connection with your people. 

Lastly, and honestly it probably goes without saying, but sell your products and services. Your email subscribers should be getting your best stuff, so make sure to add value to your emails, but don’t be afraid to sell to them too!

Email Marketing Resources for Creative Entrepreneurs

As you get started with Flodesk, here are a few resources to help make email marketing a little easier! 

Don't forget to use Flodesk coupon code ELIZABETH for 50% off your first year!

The post Why Flodesk Is The Best Email Platform For Creative Entrepreneurs (+ How To Use It Well) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/best-email-platform-for-creative-entrepreneurs/feed/ 0 7939 Don’t Niche Down As a New Business Owner — Do This Instead https://elizabethmccravy.com/dont-niche-down-as-a-new-business-owner/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/dont-niche-down-as-a-new-business-owner/#respond Tue, 11 Jun 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7598 You've probably heard it said "the riches are in the niches" — here's why that's advice you need to ignore (somewhat!) in those early days of business.

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You will often hear the business advice, “the riches are in the niches”. And while that's sometimes true, what I like to say is there's no money where there are no clients. So if you niche down and specialize too fast, you ultimately risk not actually having a business if you cannot get clients after doing that. So today, I’m going to tell you DON’T niche down as a new business owner (and then I’m going to tell you what to do instead!).

If you want to start a business and you're trying to get all your ducks in a row, or perhaps you already have started and you're in those early months of finding clients, this episode is for you. Today, we are talking all about niching and specializing in the early days of entrepreneurship. 

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 271!

First of all, I want to say congratulations on your plans and desire to start a business. This is so huge and exciting, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll actually look back super fondly on these early days years and years later after your business has grown and changed a ton. 

I’m actually 9 years into this business thing and I often look back on those early days (that felt so hard and confusing at the moment) with just such fondness over how I put myself out there, took chances, was super scrappy, and it’s AMAZING. And you’re doing it now too, so GO YOU. Whether you’re starting this thing straight out of college, after leaving a long time 9 to 5, or as a stay-at-home mom starting something on the side, you’re crushing it. And I hope the advice I have for you here is helpful today!

Read More: 5 Shifts I Made To Go From Freelancer To CEO When I Started My Business

Don’t Niche Down - It’s OK To Start Wide!

What I've learned from my business (and from teaching and consulting with other people in their business) is that you don't actually need to specialize or niche down from month one of your business to day one of your business. 

When you start, I would argue that it’s actually smarter to start with a wide range at first (when it comes to your niche and your specialization). While I agree with the phrase, “the riches are in the niches” long-term, I don’t think it’s necessarily true on day one. One thing that we have to think about during the early days of starting our business is that in order to get clients at first, you really need to cast that wider net. 

I teach them this extensively inside my course Booked Out Designer, so if you've taken that course, some of this might sound a little bit familiar even, but that course has helped hundreds of designers get started in the starting phase to actually get clients.

A short version of this is that there are two ways that you can get more specific with who you're marketing to in your business. One way is through your niche (the type of client/business), and one way is through your specialty (the specific service you provide).

So for example, you could be “a designer that works exclusively with online course creators” OR you could be “a designer that works exclusively with Showit”. Again, I would say don’t niche like this in the beginning!

 

 

3 Reasons Why I Recommend You Don’t Niche in the Beginning

 

1. You probably don’t know who exactly you want to work with yet (or what services you prefer) 

If you’re anything like I was (and like the other women I’ve coached around this stuff), you probably don’t know exactly who you want to work with and what you want to do yet anyway. You know what skills you have and what interests you have, but you need REAL PROJECTS to get more detailed than that. This is the figuring out time - so enjoy it! Often having pressure to niche will cause you to feel like you have to commit to something before you even have all the information you need to make a decision.

 

2. You don’t have a business without clients

Like I said earlier, you don’t have a business without clients. So, you can be as niche as you want, but if you’re new and super niched, there might be no one “knocking on your contact page”. 

As an example, when I started my business, I was offering a TON of different services that fell under the category of “design and marketing”. I’d manage your social media, design your website, design your brand, or even make your brochure, restaurant menu, or billboard. I even did some email copywriting. 

I did a TON, and it was all things I had experience with and interest in. 

Eventually, I got to a point where I had tons of social media clients on retainer and was booking some design work too. But I realized I didn’t love social media as much as I loved the design work. I also wasn’t as good at it and it didn’t go as well with the lifestyle I wanted. With social media management, you’re ON all the time with so many clients. So I slowly pivoted away from that work, and specialized more to brand and website design.

But here’s the point I’m trying to make: IF I didn’t start with all those social media retainer clients, I wouldn't have had enough money to do this thing. Those consistent clients were what paid the bills. 

Those clients gave me testimonials, experience, and helped me work through errors in my workflows for projects and all the things! 

 

3. The time you spend doing other types of work will benefit your business and future clients overall because you’re growing in your skills

Let me use my husband Adam as an example for this one. He’s a therapist, and he’s been practicing for around one year now. He took on ALL types of clients to start, which led to him discovering what types of issues he wanted to specialize in. It also helped him immediately bring in income (going back to my last point!). 

My point here is that all of this variety will certainly help him in the long run. If he specializes in marriage counseling, for example, he has still gained so many skills from working with teenage males. Or a single adult woman. The skills and experience you have are growing you, and this is true of your business too. 

Read more: 6 Crushing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Early on in Their Business (AND How You Can Avoid Them!)

Don’t Niche Down Because You Feel Like You “Have To” 

Basically, what I want to say is that you should not feel bad for going wider in your offerings to start. We hear the term like “Jack of all trades and master of none” but that’s not what we are talking about here. You will over time remove services and get more and more specific in what you're offering, but this is a smart way to start your business. 

Don't feel bad or like you're going in the wrong direction. If you take on a project and realize it's less than ideal, it's all learning and growing. The only mistake you can make, I would say, is not casting a wider net to start so that you can learn quickly, get clients quickly, and all of that. 

Another mistake would be not to eventually specialize somewhat. But I truly believe that I would not be where I am today in my business if I had not started off being that girl who was like, “give me your billboard design, give me your restaurant menu, I'll do your website, I'll do your copywriting”. All those things brought me to where I am today and helped me learn what I was best at and what I wanted to focus on more. So I truly would not be here without offering so many services in the beginning.

Elizabeth-McCravy-Maternity-Studio-Shoot-1

Starting a new business

So I hope this short little episode gives you some good ideas and helps you have more clarity around who you're marketing to in your messaging as you start your business. I also wanted to throw out, I have a free guide all about choosing a NAME for your business: Grab that here! 

Plus, if you’re a new business owner, here are a few ways I can help you as you get started:

I’d love to support you however I can! Congratulations!

Links Mentioned:

Grab your free guide to naming your new business

Shop our Showit Website Templates (use code BBPODCAST for 10% off!)

Join me inside Booked Out Designer

Sign up for the Podcast Success Blueprint!

Want the insider scoop? Join my Free Facebook community!

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

The post Don’t Niche Down As a New Business Owner — Do This Instead appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/dont-niche-down-as-a-new-business-owner/feed/ 0 7598 Business Growth is NOT Linear: Lessons From Starting a Business Young, Growing it as a Mom, and Learning to Trust God https://elizabethmccravy.com/business-growth/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/business-growth/#respond Tue, 07 May 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7561 Get a behind-the-scenes look into the early days of growing my business as a young entrepreneur in this fun interview on the BEYOND Podcast.

The post Business Growth is NOT Linear: Lessons From Starting a Business Young, Growing it as a Mom, and Learning to Trust God appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

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Today, I have a special episode in store! This is an interview I did with Becky Hoschek on her podcast Beyond, which is a show for moms called to business. Becky and I have known each other for ages because she was actually one of my first template customers and then I was one of her first life coaching clients. She also has done mindset coaching inside of Booked Out Designer before for my students inside the program! I loved this interview about business growth so much, that I knew I wanted to share it with you all. 

We talk about motherhood and business stuff a lot, although we talk about plenty of other things as well if that doesn't interest you. We covered things like:

  • How I make money online
  • The time I felt like throwing in the towel (despite business growth)
  • How I merge having a more systems-related brain and a creative brain
  • Being okay with failure
  • Mom life and work schedules 
  • How my faith impacts my business 

And honestly - so much more. As you tune in, this episode originally aired at the end of 2023 so I shared about having only one child and being pregnant at the time. It was also before I had my course Podcast Success Blueprint which is why it’s not mentioned in the episode. 

If you love this episode, stay tuned. Becky will be back on the podcast in a few short weeks where I'm interviewing her! Now, let’s get into it.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 266!

4 Takeaways to Add to Your Notebook:

There is so much gold in this episode that it’s DEFINITELY worth the listen, but here are three quick takeaways to give you a little teaser (and something to add to your notebook).

You Don’t Need to Have An Offer For Everyone

In this interview, I share how one of the recent “failures” in my business was closing my membership. I share 8 lessons here, but one of the biggest lessons is that you don’t have to have an offer for everyone. There are a lot of people who will tell you that you need to have an offer for everyone and you don’t. You don’t need to have an ascension suite or something for every person in your audience at every stage to buy. You don’t need to fill every gap.

While the membership closing might be considered a “failure”, the truth is that most people who are successful are going to experience things that don’t go perfectly. One question I like to ask myself is: is there a way I can win from trying even if it fails?

Read More: Why I Closed My 170-Member Paid Membership (+ My 3 Biggest Membership Mistakes!)

Share Your Vision With Your Team

I like to think of this as “being in it for the long haul” with them. It can be so easy to see a graphic they made, for example, and just quickly “fix it” so it’s more to your liking, to give an example. But that’s not a good long-term solution. Instead, tell them what they need to change and let them do it. Or if you really want to change it yourself, I'll do something like recording a loom and saying like, “Hey, this is great, but this is the stuff I'm changing so you know”.

I think sometimes as a solopreneur/contractor situation, it can feel like it’s mostly you. But I think it’s really important to “cast a vision” and share that with your team. Most of the time, they care more than you think and it helps put everyone on the same page and give them direction.

When you tune in: In this interview, Becky asked me about the Profit Sheet I created and we laughed at the idea that I’m a creative who likes spreadsheets and systems. I definitely bridge the right brain and the left brain side of myself.

Read More: How To Host A Team Vision Meeting To Kick Off The Year (Or Quarter!)

2024-Blog-Promo-Graphics-Statics-Ads

Your Business Growth Will Go Through Seasons (With Your Life!)

So right now (at the time this was recorded), I'm in a growth season, but right before that I was in a maintenance season. Then, right before that, I was in a rest season where I took a five-month maternity leave when my son was born. And right before that I was in a growth season (hustling during that pregnancy creating Booked Out Designer).

So I’ve definitely had different seasons but right now I've gotten into a good work pace and a good childcare situation to where it has been like, okay, I have a good vision for my business. I'm focused on these things that I'm focused on, but also, as I'm anticipating having another baby, I'm going to be heading into a rest and then a maintenance season and then a growth season again. So it feels like it'll kind of have that same ebb and flow, which is so helpful to think about so that I’m not feeling the pressure of being in the same season as someone else and seeing what they're doing.

In some ways, I'm grateful to know business without having a child and having a business with because I feel like I have so much more empathy for women who are starting their businesses and having kids already. I thought I was productive before, but I feel like I'm more productive now. But also, I'm less productive in some ways. My mind is more split between things. Sometimes when I have childcare I do things around the house I wouldn’t usually get to do when taking care of my son. 

I also feel like in terms of values, I value time away from work more than ever because before work and life were so connected. I feel like I value the time spent with Colin more, and feel like I have more goals to work less and be like: how can I be more intentional with my time to work fewer hours than before? How can I spend more time not working at home?

You Don’t Need to Run a Ministry Style Business to Talk About Being a Christian

I think that a lot of people who are Christian business owners get in the mindset that if you're not doing one of those things, then you shouldn't talk about your faith because you're not targeting “only Christians” and things like that. I guess my perspective is like God's called me to this work and I truly believe that, and I also think that as Christians, we all are called to minister to people, not just people who are literal ministers and our businesses are a great way to do that.

Then also when I think about other ways of integrating faith that are not as direct, I try to show up ethically as a business owner and also showing, it sounds so cheesy, but showing God's love to people through providing a really great customer experience, serving people well, and being a brand you can trust. Praying for customers and clients has always been a big thing for me.

Read more: 4 Ways to Bring God into Your Business as a Christian Business Owner

podcast-success-blueprint

Links Mentioned:

Check Out Becky’s Podcast Beyond

Shop our Showit Website Templates (use code BBPODCAST for 10% off!)

Join me inside Booked Out Designer

Sign up for the Podcast Success Blueprint!

Want the insider scoop? Join my Free Facebook community!

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

The post Business Growth is NOT Linear: Lessons From Starting a Business Young, Growing it as a Mom, and Learning to Trust God appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/business-growth/feed/ 0 7561 Behind the Scenes of Building a Multi-Six-Figure Signature Online Course https://elizabethmccravy.com/building-a-signature-online-course/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/building-a-signature-online-course/#respond Tue, 23 Apr 2024 06:00:40 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7537 Learn the behind-the-scenes of my top course, Booked Out Designer, in this fun interview on the "Create a Better Course Podcast"!

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Today, I’m doing something NEW on the podcast. I don’t think I’ve ever shared an interview from another person’s podcast with you, but this episode from Mara Kucirek’s podcast (Create a Better Course) was so good that I knew I wanted to share it with you today. If you want to see the nitty-gritty behind the scenes of launching a signature online course, this is one episode you do not want to miss.

If you haven’t yet, make sure to also listen to episode 261 where I interviewed Mara about all the things “online courses”, from creating them to selling them well. 

This interview was especially fun because Mara is a STUDENT of Booked Out Designer (and Podcast Success Blueprint which wasn’t done at the time of this recording). She asked really good questions because NOT ONLY is she brilliant and so strategic when it comes to online courses, but she also has that insider student perspective.

 

Here’s just a glimpse of what we talked about:

  • How to get your course off your to-do list and into the world
  • How to beta launch your course
  • Live launching vs. Evergreen models 

 

I've also just shared a lot of behind-the-scenes on how (and why) I’ve made some of the decisions that have led me to make multi-six figures off of my online course (and enrolled 200+ students without running ads).

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 264!

3 Takeaways to Add to Your Notebook:

There is so much gold in this episode that it’s DEFINITELY worth the listen, but here are three quick takeaways to give you a little teaser (and something to add to your notebook).

I Got to Teach Better Because I Choose to Be More Specific

Originally, I was wondering when I was creating my first signature online course: should I make this course just for designers? Or should I make it for service providers in general? There is a lot in the course that can apply to both. I knew there was potentially more reach and more to be made out of marketing to more people. For me though, I ultimately am glad that I niched the content down to just designers. I got to teach better because I got more specific. If I were to be like, “Okay, this is for copywriters, photographers, every single person”, I feel like I would have had to back up so much in the lessons and take out a lot of the meat that makes it special for designers. Sometimes signature online courses that are so overgeneralized miss a lot of the deep stuff that's going to help your students get results. 

Read more: How To Get Paid To Teach What You Know With Laylee Emadi Smith

 

booked-out-designer

I Didn’t Want to Beta Launch a Course… But Then I Never Got Around to Making It

I had the idea and even started a waitlist for a LONG time before creating my course (over a year). I think I was frozen at the idea of how big of a course it felt like, plus  I was feeling imposter syndrome, and I was very stuck on the idea that I did not want to beta launch this. Even though I knew about beta launching, and I understood the logic behind doing that, I had decided that it was not for me. I wanted to make it and then sell it. But the problem was, I never got around to making it. I was busy, I had clients, I had a podcast. So it took a really long time to get going with it. 

Something that finally had me get going, was when I got friendly with the idea of beta launching. What that means, is that you're selling it before it's made. Even to me when I heard that, it felt so sleazy to me. I want people to have so much high value. I didn’t want to sell something I hadn’t made yet. I had all these mental ideas that by doing that I was getting the best deal and they were getting the short end of the stick as a student. 

When I started thinking about beta launching more, I really knew people wanted this from me, so I didn’t need to “beta launch to see if the course was wanted or needed”. I didn’t need the cash flow because I had my template shop. But then I also started looking at myself being like, what I do need is the motivation and to set time aside and people affirming that this is what I want. When I thought about it that way, I decided beta launching was the right move and I have the sales page up a few weeks later. 

Once I decide something, I’m pretty quick to take action! And as you’ll hear in the episode - it sold out within just an hour and a half. So it was definitely worth it!

Read more: Behind The Scenes Of My Multi-Five Figure Beta Course Launch (That Sold Out In Less Than An Hour!)

 

Just Because You Turn Your Signature Online Course Evergreen Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Have to Sell It Anymore

A mistake I see a lot of people make when they go evergreen, is that they stop selling it. And when you don't sell anymore, that means you don't make any sales anymore. What I've done is: the course is evergreen, but I’ve also molded live launching into it. So since taking it evergreen, which again was only last year, so not that long ago, I've done a promotional period that I've called Booked Out Week twice, where I put the course on sale. I treat it like a launch, with a discount and special bonuses. I also create pre-launch content around it to get people ready to buy too.

In my opinion, I think it's worked really well. I like that balance of “it's always for sale and it does make sales consistently every month”, and then when I do one of these promos, it's like, “Hey, if you've been thinking about buying now, I'm going to give you all these reasons to buy now, from hearing people talk about it, giving you a discount, and some limited time bonuses” 

I think of this the same way e-commerce stores do like a “Black Friday” sale. Sometimes you need to have a push to promote your signature onine course and that can work really well.

podcast-success-blueprint

Want to Sell Out YOUR Courses?

I hope you're enjoyed this flipped type of episode with Mara interviewing me. Remember how I said in the intro that I've had over 200 students inside Booked Out Designer and have generated multiple six figures in revenue all without ads? Are you wondering how I did that? There's a lot to it honestly, but one BIG way is actually through this podcast that you are reading about right now. I use my podcast to drive traffic to my paid offers, and I would love to teach you how to use your podcast or start a podcast to do the same. 

In my course Podcast Success Blueprint, I teach how to make real money from podcasting and so many other things. With 77 lessons total, I teach you everything from how to get started (naming your podcast, doing your artwork, deciding on the direction of your show) and more advanced strategies like monetizing it, hiring team members, staying organized, and creating strong systems so that your show does not take over your life. Sign up here!

Links Mentioned:

Tune into Episode #261 when I interview Mara all about online course trends

Listen to Mara's Podcast: Create a Better Course

Shop our Showit Website Templates (use code BBPODCAST for 10% off!)

Join me inside Booked Out Designer

Sign up for the Podcast Success Blueprint!

Want the insider scoop? Join my Free Facebook community!

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

The post Behind the Scenes of Building a Multi-Six-Figure Signature Online Course appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/building-a-signature-online-course/feed/ 0 7537 Podcast Equipment Guide: The 5 Pieces of Equipment You Need + How to Start Your Podcast for $90! https://elizabethmccravy.com/best-podcast-equipment/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/best-podcast-equipment/#respond Tue, 16 Apr 2024 06:00:40 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7528 Starting a podcast does not have to be expensive and the tech is way less confusing than you'd think. I'm sharing exactly what you need to get your show up and running!

The post Podcast Equipment Guide: The 5 Pieces of Equipment You Need + How to Start Your Podcast for $90! appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 8 minutes

I've been producing The Breakthrough Brand podcast for over 5 years now, and let me tell you, it's become one of my absolute favorite parts of my business! Funny enough, I  was re-listening to an old podcast episode to prepare myself for a speaking engagement earlier this week (at the time of recording), and I literally talked about how much JOY podcasting was bringing me 20 episodes in. Now 260 episodes later? That’s STILL true for me. 

If you're even remotely considering starting a podcast this year, I cannot recommend it enough! But something that often hangs people up when starting a podcast is: what do I really need? What equipment should I buy? 

Then you hear about things like audio equalizers, mixers, audio interfaces, headphone amplifiers, acoustic treatments, and cables, and it becomes harder and harder to figure out what you need. But here’s the truth: I do not use fancy equipment! So if you want someone to just TELL YOU what to use (instead of sharing all about the  1,000+ options there are out there), then this is the episode for you!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 263!

Like I said, I am not a fancy equipment girlie on this podcast. I use the same exact podcast equipment today as I did when I started my show in early 2019. I haven’t even replaced anything, it all just still works great! 

I use the world’s cheapest headphones that I love. And my mic is incredible, but also really affordable (and no it’s not a blue Yeti everyone else recommends). And I’d say I have pretty great audio quality on this show! So let’s talk about the podcast equipment I recommend and use today! 

And guess what? You can grab all the exact links (with some discounts!) and see my recommendations for recording your show in this FREE guide right here.

1. The Best Podcast Equipment Microphone

You need a microphone, for obvious reasons. Yes, you could record your show with your airpods or something, but the truth is that audio quality greatly impacts the success of a show. You don’t want to have great content that people can’t comfortably listen to. 

That being said, good does not mean it has to have a high cost. The mic I am using right now to record I have used for all 5 YEARS of my show is just $49 on Amazon. It’s very affordable (and no - it’s not a blue Yeti… in my opinion they pick up way too much background noise). The brand I use is Audio-Technica and you can get the exact link in my guide here.

Read More: 4 REAL Fears You Might Have About Starting a Podcast (+ My Honest Thoughts About Whether Podcasting is Right for You)

 

2. Microphone Stand or Boom Arm

Next, you need either a mic stand or a boom arm that attaches to your desk! You don’t need both, and lots of mics already come with a simple stand, but sometimes a boom arm is helpful! A boom arm is what attaches to your desk and they look really cool. You see a lot of people, especially if you watch YouTube, people doing just face to camera, with these. It looks like an arm extending off of your desk. Boom arms are nice because you can adjust very specifically where the mic is without your desk needing to change height (or needing to put a book under your microphone or anything like that). We don't want to have to hold our mic like we're singing in front of an audience.

But you can also just choose to use your mic stand. So most microphones come with a simple stand that is just included. My $50 mic actually comes with a stand, and ironically, I have never bought a boom arm even at this point. I'm so used to just using my mic stand. It works really well. That said, most mic stands are not an adjustable height, so that’s something to keep in mind too.

 

My Adjustable Desk Set Up

In case you are curious about my desk set up, I have an adjustable sit stand desk. I wish I could say I stood at it a lot more than I do, but I do adjust it multiple times a day. I have pre-programmed heights, and I have one height that's my podcasting height. I also have one height that's my laptop typing height, and I have another one that's my video recording and zoom meeting coaching calls height. This makes it really easy to get myself set up and my mic stand ends up being the perfect height when I’m ready to record.

 

the best podcast equipment for new podcasters

3. Pop filter or Windscreen

Next, you need a pop filter or windscreen. This is something that covers your mic and improves audio quality. Again, you need one or the other, not both. The reason you need one of these is because most podcast microphones pick up too much background noise without using one.

I personally use a windscreen, which covers your mic completely. Alternatively, a pop filter is what sits in front of the microphone. Windscreens are what we think of with a microphone a celebrity might use in a concert… while pop filters sit in front of your microphone without actually being directly on it. I feel like pop filters are more commonly associated with podcasting, but I’d argue windscreens can be better for video so that your face isn’t blocked. EITHER will work though! 

 

4. Headphones 

You need headphones to hear yourself as you record, which might sound weird. That's something I teach inside the Podcast Success Blueprint. You need to hear yourself as you record, but also to hear your guest as you are interviewing them. This is going to improve interview audio quality for sure, because it ensures your mic is not picking up what's coming out of your computer hearing them. So I would say it's a must for interviews. 

That said, a lot of people would say it's not a must for solo episodes but I disagree. Again, I go deep into this in Podcast Success Blueprint when I teach how to establish your podcasting voice, but hearing yourself on solo episodes improves your own skills as a podcaster because it changes the way you literally speak when you're hearing that direct feedback through audio monitoring.

AirPods do not work well for this because there's often a delay when it's Bluetooth. At least that's been my experience.

Anyway, I do all my solo episodes this way and I teach you exactly how to do this. There's actually a behind the scenes video in Podcast Success Blueprint that I just love where I hired a videographer, and we filmed me recording a solo episode, start to finish. I show you the exact tech setup (from plugging everything in, bringing my notes up, bringing my recording software up, all of that good stuff). Then I show you how I pause and self edit while listening to myself. 

The headphones I use are $18 from Amazon. So you can see again, some of the best podcast equipment is not that expensive. 

 

best podcast equipment guide

5. Computer with Video Capabilities (or a webcam)

I almost didn’t include this, because again, this is the one that I said that you already have, but you need a computer. Your computer does not have to be a desktop computer or any specific brand of computer. I’ve used my MacBook to record my podcast and have the entire time I've had my business. 

Plus, if you are doing video interviews or you are using video for your solo episodes to put somewhere like YouTube or to create clips from, you need your computer to have video capabilities, which is funny to say because most computers have a webcam now and a great one at that. But if yours doesn’t, you can also purchase a webcam or additional video equipment that you plug into your computer and connect. I don't do any of that. I just use the built-in webcam that comes with my laptop. 

I have a lot of podcast friends that are way more into video than me though, and are using really cool technology with that that can get more expensive. And if you do feel like your computer's video quality is not that great, again, buying a webcam can help a lot with improving that. 

 

6. USB Converter for Computer (maybe) 

If you go with a USB mic, which is what mine is, and you have a newer computer,  you may not have a specific USB drive anymore. So you’ll need to buy an adapter. The adapter I use is $18, and I actually use that adapter for lots of other things because I do have a lot of USB things, like my external hard drive, for example, that I use to store extra course videos on and family photos and things like that. My particular USB adapter also has a spot for a camera memory card (so make sure to get my free best podcast equipment guide for the link!).

Choosing Your Best Podcast Equipment

As you just heard, I don't use a mixer, I don't use audio interface, headphone amplifiers, acoustic treatments, cables, and things like that. I'm not saying this is the only way to podcast. So if you're listening to this and you're like, wait, I heard this other person say XYZ and I want to buy that way, do it. 

What I'm trying to show you is that you CAN have fabulous audio quality and a great show that is fulfilling to you and earns you money in your business without having to buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment. You don’t have to record in a studio. I didn't even say this, but I actually record my podcast in my home office and have the whole time. I don't go to a studio or anything like that. 

I actually cover how to improve your audio quality based on the room you're in inside Podcast Success Blueprint, because that is something that can be really challenging, right? Things like hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings and stuff like that can actually make your audio quality worse. I cover all that in the course, but you're in charge of it. 

But if you do want a simple setup that'll cost you around $100 or less (minus things like the computer that you already have), you can get the links of everything I use inside my best podcasting equipment guide here. 

Read More: 3 Real Ways to *Actually* Make Money from Your Podcast

Are You Looking to Start a Podcast in 2024?

Now that you know exactly what equipment you might need, you might be wondering: 

  • What do I do with the equipment?
  • How do I make strategic solo episodes? 
  • How do I make strategic interviews? 
  • How do I organize my podcast? 
  • How do I ultimately make money for my podcast so that it's not an expensive hobby of my business?

 

If you're wondering any of those kinds of things, you need my course Podcast Success Blueprint. It covers a TON, from helping you start your show and also exactly how you can scale it. Inside, I have podcasters in all different stages, from brand new to established podcast hosts inside. Plus, there is my “Idea to Launch Roadmap”, which is going to guide you through starting your podcast in just FOUR weeks, okay? It's a super detailed PDF guide that you can print out, but it gives you stuff to do every single day for four weeks (don’t worry - I give you a few catch up days!). 

If you need some more encouragement, I actually got a really sweet DM a few days ago from someone who just joined Podcast Success Blueprint that I want to read to you guys because she actually was on the fence about joining because she was worried it was just the stuff you can Google and just the step-by-step of like, okay, buy this thing, do this thing, record this way. I told her that that is NOT what it id, it's really strategic, and it's not just stuff you're going to find at Google. It's not your average podcast course. Here's what she said when she got inside:

This isn't just a how to podcast course. This is a full on simplify and streamline your business content marketing course. That's why I want a podcast. I'm so happy I bought this. And yes, please screenshot this testimonial and use it because I mean it.

That's what my goal is with this course. It's going to help you streamline your business, simplify your content marketing using podcasting, and ultimately make more money in your business, create more impact, all of that kind of good stuff. Sign up now!

Links Mentioned:

Grab my Free Podcast Equipment Guide

Sign up for the Podcast Success Blueprint!

Shop our Showit Website Templates (use code BBPODCAST for 10% off!)

Join me inside Booked Out Designer

Want the insider scoop? Join my Free Facebook community!

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

The post Podcast Equipment Guide: The 5 Pieces of Equipment You Need + How to Start Your Podcast for $90! appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/best-podcast-equipment/feed/ 0 7528 Strategies and Trends for Creating (and Selling) Successful Online Courses in 2024 with Mara Kucirek https://elizabethmccravy.com/online-courses-in-2024/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/online-courses-in-2024/#respond Tue, 02 Apr 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7515 Ready to learn what is really working in online courses in 2024? Whether you're a brand new course creator or you've had lots of success in selling online courses already, this episode has something for you. I'm chatting with Mara Kucirek about all things online courses. Mara is an online course designer, launch strategist and […]

The post Strategies and Trends for Creating (and Selling) Successful Online Courses in 2024 with Mara Kucirek appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 19 minutes

Ready to learn what is really working in online courses in 2024? Whether you're a brand new course creator or you've had lots of success in selling online courses already, this episode has something for you. I'm chatting with Mara Kucirek about all things online courses. Mara is an online course designer, launch strategist and the host of the Create a Better Course podcast.

I've personally known Mara online for quite a few years now actually because she's a long time listener of this podcast and ironically, she's actually been in both of my courses (Booked Out Designer and Podcast Success Blueprint) and even my website template course because she's a website template customer as well. 

Mara really knows all the things about creating quality courses that give your students wins and help you ultimately grow your business. I actually learned a lot from this interview (as someone who's made courses already and has had success with online courses). So let me just say, regardless of where you are in the “courses stage” of your business, you'll get a lot from this conversation as well. 

We talk about things like:

  • Are courses oversaturated? Are there too many? Is there room for yours? 
  • Online course trends for 2024
  • How to help people actually finish your course 
  • Launch strategies for online courses
  • Evergreen selling versus live launching (and which one is right for you!)
  • How to turn around a failed launch
  • Refund policies for online courses
  • Common mistakes people make when selling their courses

And so much more! We really do just do a true deep dive into everything online courses in 2024. So you are going to love this one again, I certainly did.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 261!

Who is Mara Kucirek?

Mara Kucirek is an online course designer, launch strategist and host of the Create a Better Course Podcast. She’s helped over 150+ entrepreneurs launch online courses and digital products. Mara lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, two dogs and brand new baby girl!

online course strategist

First, do you think the online course market is oversaturated? 

So, yes it's absolutely true that there are way more online courses in 2024 than there were five years ago. Five years ago when I was setting up online courses, in the launch materials for courses, we used to have to explain what an online course was and how it worked. You no longer have to explain that to people. People know what online courses are. Buyers understand it a lot more, so you don't have to sell yourself in that way where you're explaining what it is. Instead, you're explaining the benefit and the RESULTS that your course will have. 

Also, you can get way more specific about your niche now. When I think back even three years ago, if you wanted to create a course, your course had to be super long and there was this idea that it has to cover every “single thing about email marketing”, for example,  which is enormous. Now, you could make a course that's about something more like “how do you make fun custom gifs in your email”. So I think it's really cool that people are creating more niche courses now, which leads to much more interesting courses. 

So is the market saturated? Yes, but with saturation comes a lot of opportunities. It's also so much easier to make a course nowadays. The advancements in software and technology are so much better. You don't have to be piecing together a bunch of things. I always tell people “it's kind of like if you were a doctor or a lawyer, no one would ever tell you you can't do that. People are already doing that. There's enough of them”. I don't know why in the online course world we do this weird thing where we're like, “oh, that person has a course that's kind of related to what I want to do, so I'm not allowed to do it”. There's space for so many people out there. 

What are some online course trends you are seeing now?

I'm such a nerd about this stuff. I had a business friend who was making fun of me about my spreadsheets because I always track different launch results and then things I see people doing. I also am always talking to other business owners and I'm like, “What's working in your business? What's not working?”

In general, I think a BIG online courses in 2024 trend is that everything is shorter. We seem to all not have as much of an attention span or maybe we're just all busier. I don't know exactly what it is, but something I've been seeing a trend of is firstly, shorter launches. It used to be that a 10-day launch was really normal, and then I would say for the last couple of years, a seven-day launch was pretty typical and now I'm seeing three to four-day launches. Sometimes even a 48-hour launch performs a lot better than doing that really big launch where people forget what you're talking about and you're adding a bonus every day. 

Then on the flip side of that, shorter courses are more popular. People want the shortcut when you create a course, so while it feels like you should put everything in the course, that honestly overwhelms people. Most people, if you have a course, probably at some point have told you “This looks amazing, but I don't have time to take it”. So you need to address that objection head on. 

 

For a 48 hour launch, would you let people in if they miss the launch?

I'm glad you're asking this because most people do not think this through. You do need a policy in your business for what you're going to do because on the one hand, people want to join your thing and that's amazing. You want the money, you want to help them. But on the other hand, sometimes it is kind of like your mom saying, “oh, if you don't finish your plate, you're not getting dessert”, and then she held that for you, but then your brother didn't eat dinner and got dessert.

I think you need to have a balance of, “it's not fair sometimes to your other customers.” In general, I say stick to your deadline. BUT, recognize that life happens. I've seen emails where someone was in a car accident and couldn't join or their electricity went out. So there's going to be things that come up and I would decide ahead of time what you want to do. Maybe you let them join but they don't get access to a certain bonus. 

I do think there's an amount of integrity if you say that there's a deadline, you want to stick to it. Otherwise, you become that person where people are like, “oh, well, they never do the deadlines so I don't need to buy their thing anyway.” Deadlines are very powerful for all of us. 

For people who do have courses that are really big (like me!), what are ways that we could help people actually finish it? And then still market the course well and not overwhelm people when it is a bigger course? 

I think all of us feel a little bit of online course burnout. I think every business owner has purchased probably multiple courses that they did not finish. First of all, not finishing a course is fine. You probably got the value you needed out of it with the part that you did. I've been on the backend of so many courses. You don't always need to do every single lesson to get the results that you want. So right now, I am giving you permission to give up the shame of all of the courses you didn't finish. 

But as a course creator, you do want to encourage and empower your students. We all want a little accountability coach and you cannot personally be there for every single student (that’s unrealistic). But you CAN do things that help make the course easier to consume. Plus, a lot of them are really easy.

Here are some ideas:

  • If you have video lessons for everything, add handouts to go with them. 
  • Have a way for them to listen to the lessons. So, if your courses are on Kajabi for example, they have an app where your students can just listen to the lessons on the go.
  • Make sure you have a transcript uploaded because people use that and sometimes don't watch the video. 

You also want to think through accessibility. There might be people joining your course where English, for example, is not their first language, a transcript can be really helpful. 

Basically, having multiple ways for people to consume the same content is really helpful. People learn in really different ways. 

Do you think there is an ideal video length for course lessons? Do you think it's better to do “slides only”, “face to camera”, or “slides with your face down in the corner”? 

I usually tell people 10-15 minutes per video with the caveat that it's okay to have some lessons that are longer, especially if it's something in-depth. If you are doing a screen recording of you literally doing something and saying, “Hey, I'm going to record my screen and I'm going to show you exactly how I do the thing that I am teaching you inside of the course” that can be really powerful. 

But in general, if your video for a lesson is longer than 15 minutes, I would take a look and just make sure everything in it needs to be in that lesson. Because when I say, “Hey, let's watch a 15 minute video”, most people are like, “okay, yeah, I have 15 minutes”. Once you get to 20-25 minutes, that's when all of our brains just shut off and we feel like we don’t have time for it. 

Then, I've looked at research on this and have also seen inside people's actual courses, and have found that people think they need a professional recording studio and that they need to be on camera the entire time and have this amazing set, but the truth is that almost nobody does that. 

People don't really learn the best like that either. It's really distracting to watch someone on camera, honestly, and it's really hard to be on camera as the course creator. So my preference is that you come on camera to introduce yourself, and you come on camera every few modules, but you don't stay on camera. 

Then yes, you have slides, and you speak over them because then people are paying attention to the content. This way, they also feel like they're not missing something if they look away. If you survey your audience, they're going to be doing something else while they're listening to your course. They're washing the dishes or they're doing their bookkeeping because realistically multitasking is how most of us get things done. 

It's also way easier to record when you're not on camera. If you can make a course and you don't need makeup, you don't need to do your hair, you can record any time of the day, it’s going to be easier to get it done. But if you think that you have to look perfect to record a lesson, you're never going to finish your course. 

Should we put the length of the video into the title of the lesson?

I always tell people to put the length of the lesson in the lesson. I like to put that everywhere (like also in the email that talks about it or sometimes on the sales page if it makes sense). You can also remind people that you can watch on two times or three times speed. Sometimes people forget that and then they don't realize it's actually not going to take as long as they think. 

Read more: How to Combat the Overwhelm of Creating an Online Course

What are some other online course trends you are seeing now?

I think accountability is a really big one for online courses in 2024. People want some sort of support. There are multiple ways to do this too: you could have coaching calls, a live cohort where you're doing the lessons together, or you could pair up people in your course and have accountability buddies. That could even just be a Facebook thread in your Facebook group that's like, “Hey, do you need an accountability buddy? Post where you're at and what time zone you're in” and then let people match up themselves. But anything like that, that feels like it's going to help people take action, is definitely a good idea. 

online-courses-in-2024-5

Silent Coworking for Accountability

One thing that we recently added to one of my client's courses, it's so simple, but it's been so effective, is silent coworking sessions. In these sessions, you can come on Zoom, and no one talks. These aren’t the same as a training, because as a course creator, a lot of people do monthly coaching calls, which is great, but they can be really exhausting to actually execute. If you have to show up and teach a bunch of people every month and then answer all of their questions, that's not always realistic. But if you say, I'm going to be on Zoom for an hour, I'm not going to say anything, we're just going to play music and all we're going to do is work on the course, that’s actually really valuable for people.  

It also doesn’t have to be the course creator leading these Zoom calls. It can be a team member. In fact, sometimes that even works better because sometimes your team members are a little more “in the thick of it” than the course creator. You might not remember where every lesson is, but whoever is responding to your customer service emails about your course, probably off the top of their head knows where that template you mentioned is or where something else is. 

It's also kind of cool and fun behind the scenes to see someone else's team. I've done that for some clients where I led the coworking session and people just thought it was fun and different. So either way, again, it's not always sustainable as a course creator to be the one. It's more important to create valuable ways to support your students than be the one doing everything.

 

Adding DFY Templates to Your Course

Finally, and this one has always been popular but even more so now for online courses in 2024, is including some sort of done-for-you template(s). Ideally, something that is like two clicks of a button and they can use it. For example, think of any software that's related to your course. So maybe if you were a photographer, you have a Dubsado invoice or proposal that comes with your course. That way, people are learning the thing, but then they actually have something tangible to go use and implement. 

A lot of the times when I do “why did you buy” surveys, which are so powerful by the way, people will often say something weirdly specific like one line on the sales page or one bonus. A lot of them will say the Canva templates that came with the course pushed me over the edge or the Dubsado proposal or the scripts that you use to pitch potential sponsors. Anything like that is so valuable to people because it helps them implement it right away. I recommend asking people “why they bought” later on when you are asking them for a testimonial. You don’t want to ask them to fill out a long survey before they’ve even started the course because that could lead to overwhelm.

You talk about the importance of learning WHY they bought, do you recommend sending out those surveys asking people why they did NOT buy?

I am into that although sometimes it extends your launch period, so be careful you're not annoying people. If it's a shorter launch, I think it's better. If you did a 10 day launch and then you have a down sell and then you ask them to fill out the survey and then maybe there's something else, people honestly get annoyed. So at the very least, maybe give them an option at the top of the email saying “hey, this is still about my course, I hope I’m not bothering you but click here if you don’t want to hear about it anymore.” I do think it’s nice because the answers can be really powerful. Most of the time, people say two things: they don’t have the money right now, or they don’t have the time.

updating my website for 2024

Switching to selling now, do you prefer a live launch or evergreen model for selling online courses in 2024?

So in general, I think deadlines are very helpful. Live launches, where there's a cart open and you can't join anytime, seem to perform better. Now that is not to say you have to launch. I have also seen people who do only evergreen funnels because live launching totally stresses them out and they also make very good money (we're talking six figures to a million dollars). So whatever you want to do is totally okay. I think the reason live launches seem to do better is a lot of people who are on evergreen don't remember how to talk about their course. It feels weird to keep talking about your course. It can feel braggy. But remember, people in your audience genuinely do not always know about your course. 

I've had people come to me and be like, “Mara, my course is not selling in evergreen”. Then, I go to their website and I'm like, “what is your course? I don't see anything about it on social media. I don't see a link at the top of your website”. And then they're like, “oh, well it's mentioned one time in the welcome email”. And I'm like, “why did you think anyone was going to buy based off of that?” 

So both live launching and evergreen models work with online courses in 2024, but if you're on evergreen, I just think that you need to be very mindful that novelty is huge. Our brains love new and exciting things. So if you're on evergreen, do things like adding new bonuses and talking about your course regularly (like before you hop on a coaching call or when you’re updating a lesson).

Read more: Behind the Scenes of My Multi-Five Figure Beta Course Launch (that Sold Out in Less Than An Hour!)

One of my hesitations with a live launch model is the idea that someone could find my course at the time they are ready to go “all in” on their design business or start a podcast, and if I’m on a waitlist until the next launch, they might just buy from someone else. Do you have any advice around that?

This is a huge thing you have to think through because it does matter what your course is about. The last thing you want is to have someone find your course and have it not be open so they just go and join someone else’s. So I do think it’s important to ask yourself how people are going to be finding you. If you are on the live launch model, something you can do to prevent this is to create really good freebies So make sure you have ways to help people for free so that when they find you, you have enough content that'll help them. Ideally, that helps them enough to where they can wait for your course. 

Read more: The Ultimate Web Design Course For Business Owners

What other mistakes do you see people make when trying to sell their course?

A big live launch mistake that I see all the time is people changing what they're doing to launch when they're launching. So you'll be in the middle of a launch, you wrote all your emails, you have them scheduled, and then there's this crazy thing that happens where at night your brain is going to go crazy and it's going to tell you to change the price of your course, to add a new bonus, to rewrite all of your emails. I see so many people fall into this trap, and then what happens is they make this crazy Frankenstein launch that starts to not make sense because you added a new bonus or you said something weird in the email that didn't make sense because you wrote it at 12:00 AM. Don't fall into the launch craziness. I think it's better to work your plan and then any fancy stuff you want to do, put it on your shiny object list for the next launch and you can try it. 

I see so many people who mess with their launch during the launch and then they're like, “well, no one bought”. I've seen people change the name of their course in the middle of the launch, which is just wild. How do people know what they're buying? 

I've also seen people who have just made up a bonus and emailed it out. If you think of a bonus and it is genuinely helpful to your audience, add it, that is totally okay, but don't just be making up stuff at 5:00 PM at night and then your team is mad behind the scenes because they got some random email about something that they didn't know was going to exist. 

Next, I've seen people also extend the cart five times. It's okay to let your cart close, take the lessons that you need to take from the launch, and try again. I'm going to tell you, as someone who has launched so many courses, the first launch is kind of painful. I think every course creator has some story at some point in their career, so do not be intimidated by that because having a course is about exponential growth. It compounds over time, but it's really hard to see that when you're in the beginning of the course creation process. 

What are some ways that you could turn a launch around when it’s going poorly? Or even set expectations before a launch so that you're not on that hamster wheel of disappointment and/or excitement? 

It is a total hamster wheel. Launching is kind of crazy, which is why evergreen is a thing, because live launching will drive some people absolutely crazy. If that's your personality type, I'm giving you permission to never live launch. You can still be successful.

But if you are launching and you're like, “okay, we're not seeing sales, we need to do some sort of pivot”, I like to think through small changes you can make. Could you add something around money like a different type of payment plan? That's usually something that's really easy to tweak. 

Another thing you can do, and this depends on the size of your list, but go back to basics. Can you look at who clicked on your sales page? Can you record them a really short loom video that's like, “Hey, Elizabeth, I noticed you clicked. I've got some extra time after dinner. I just wanted to see if you had any questions”. Literally a 30-second video. You don't even have to do that to everyone. You could do that to five people that you randomly picked off of your sales page clickers list. 

It's really powerful. It reminds them that you are a real person, paying attention to them. Then, whatever they say, if they do ask a question, it might be really helpful. They might tell you, “I was going to buy, but then I clicked the checkout button and it was kind of weird and I wasn't sure if this was a real checkout”. 

I see a lot where people are on the fence and they're like, “well, I want to try it, but you didn't say, if I get a refund, if I don't like it”, and you didn't say anything about a refund on the sales page. So little tweaks like that, instead of trying to blow up your entire launch, can be great. You can even just get on Instagram and do an AMA (ask me anything). And then you can just ask questions and be a real human to people. 

Read more: Repurposing Content + Marketing Your Course in 2023 with Angie McPherson

How do we use the refund policy as a selling point for the course if we do have a strong refund policy? 

First of all, you want to think through if you are giving refunds or not in general for a course. I think having a refund period, which usually I say 14 days, is the sweet spot (but it does depend). I've seen a lot of people who do three days but that usually is too short and creates a bunch of customer service issues where people feel like they barely had time to login, nevermind make a decision. Whereas if they haven’t logged in within 14 days, they probably were never going to. Compare that with people who give a month, which feels very long. I think if you want to leverage your refund policy, let people know that this is a trial run. 

I also think that it’s important to think through when someone asks you for a refund, are you going to make them jump through any hoops? I don't know if you've ever been a part of a course where if someone asks for a refund, they have to submit their homework or even record a loom video on why they didn’t like the course. It’s wild.

If you have an online course, getting asked for a refund IS going to happen. I am telling you, if it hasn't happened already, it's going to happen and most likely it will have nothing to do with you or just it wasn't the right time for the person (like they didn’t have time to log in or they’re stressed about money). Don't freak out about it. 

I think it's very important to be very clear on what the refund policy is. Is it truly a “no questions asked” refund policy or is it like you're going to have to show your work (or have watched all of module one). 

And then when they do ask for the refund, just say, absolutely. I am more than happy to give you the refund (if that’s your policy) and say something like, “I'm so sorry it wasn't a good fit. Can you just tell me a little more about what your goals in joining were?” And just be curious. Sometimes responding as a real person or someone on your team is all they need. Or they might have feedback like “I couldn’t find this thing” and when you show them where it is, they might not need a refund. 

Yeah, that's all such great advice. I always like to tell people with digital products in general that if you never get a refund request, it's because you're not reaching enough people who are actually willing to take the risk and buy. So it's a negative thing. If you never have a lot of sales and you've never gotten a refund request, it means you're probably not making as many sales as you could potentially.

Do you think it’s okay to ask people to fill out a form to get a refund?

A form is 100% the way to go because it does streamline the refund process. So what we're talking about here is if someone requests a refund (either there's a way inside of the course or when they email customer service), they just fill out a form that asks a few questions like what their name is and what their experience was because that data is really helpful. So I do think ask questions.

I've just seen people make it so challenging to get a refund. They basically made it impossible and then it made the person really mad, which as a business owner, sometimes the best answer is to let someone go.

online-courses-in-2024-1

Switching gears, you started your podcast in 2023, what made you decide to join Podcast Success Blueprint?

Yes, I already had a podcast when I joined. If Elizabeth had a course about how to start a podcast, when I launched my podcast, I would've purchased it. But you didn't have it quite yet. I wanted to grow my podcast because truly it has been such an amazing thing for my business (I didn't realize all of the benefits of having a podcast that goes beyond just the clout of having a podcast, but when people listen to you, they connect with you). People want to know that you’re a real human and having a podcast and sharing that with people is really helpful.

Back to your question, there are a lot of podcast courses out there, but pretty much all of them are about how to launch your podcast and then they just stop. Your course is not like that at all. It has all of the launching stuff, which is super helpful. I've listened to some of it thinking, “I should have done some of it that way back before, but it's okay”.

But when I decided to join your course, I was thinking about how it really was a long-term decision. Your course walks through all of the kind of messy stuff that happens later on like: how you schedule interviews, how you deal with the 10 million tasks that come with having a podcast, how you promote it on social media, how you write all of the graphics, etc. 

I have a four-month-old. I do not have time to figure this out on my own. So I just wanted a course that I could basically copy and paste (as an example, I completely bootlegged your garage band settings). And the next day I had an episode go live with the new settings, I had someone comment on it. I can’t believe they noticed!

Rapid Questions with Mara Kucirek

What is an unpopular opinion you have about the online course industry?

So I have a lot, but one that came to mind is expiring courses. I don't like them. I personally prefer lifetime access, but there are people out there who really push that when you have a course, you need to give people 3-6 months to do it, and then their access expires and then they need to rebuy it. People say that this pushes people to have more accountability to finish the course. For example, when I bought Podcast Success Blueprint, I think I was like 39 weeks pregnant the first time you launched it. So I did not watch a lot of lessons then, but over Christmas, I went and I binged a bunch of stuff. So I think it's totally normal that when people buy your course, they're not going to do all of the things right away. I think expiring access is overhyped. 

You write really great email subject lines. Do you have a tip for people on how you do that?

I'm going to give one that's really actionable. Sometimes with subject lines, people say something that's confusing or more abstract. Something I actually do is when I am writing the email is I send myself a test email. I “rapid fire style” send myself at least three test emails. All of them are different subject lines. I change maybe what word is capitalized, or the emoji, or say something completely different. Then I go look in my super ridiculously crowded inbox and I see which one of those three I noticed first. Seeing your email in ConvertKit or Active Campaign is totally different than a crowded inbox. So I look and I see, oh, my eye was drawn to that really weird subject line where I had four dots in a row compared to the one with an exploding head emoji.

As for ideas, I have a folder in my Gmail and when I open an email, I move it to that folder. So I have a folder of just interesting things I open. I look in there a lot. If I think of something, I will write it down. Another weird thing I do is sometimes I think about what I wish someone else's subject line would be. I love reading your emails too, Elizabeth, so using you as an example I would think, “what do I wish you would write an email about, and then what would the subject line be?”’

list of strategies for online courses in 2024

Connect with Mara Kucirek 

Yes. So probably the best spot is to subscribe to my podcast. I have a ton of episodes about online course stuff, and I also have done a bunch of episodes about running a business as a service provider who sets up online courses for people. So I do a bunch of money episodes, income reports, and then I've been talking a lot about being a new mom because that's a whole new thing for me this year where I’m learning how to have a business and also have a tiny baby who's super adorable but wants all of my time. You can also find me on my website here! 

Links Mentioned:

Watch the Episode on Youtube

Check out Thrivecart

Get a Free Trial of Kajabi

Sign up for ConvertKit

Check Out Podcast Success Blueprint

Join me inside Booked Out Designer

Listen to the Create a Better Course Podcast with Mara (here's Elizabeth's episode!)

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

Connect with Mara on Instagram

Check Out Mara’s Website

Shop Elizabeth McCravy Templates

Not Sure Which Template is Right For You? Take the Quiz

The post Strategies and Trends for Creating (and Selling) Successful Online Courses in 2024 with Mara Kucirek appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/online-courses-in-2024/feed/ 0 7515 3 Things I WISH More People Understood About Their Website (From a Designer’s Perspective!) https://elizabethmccravy.com/what-makes-a-great-website/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/what-makes-a-great-website/#respond Tue, 05 Mar 2024 05:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=5952 What makes a great website? What makes a dud? Besides all the obvious things like don’t make your text too small, don’t use 1,000 fonts at once and things like that… What are the major keys?! No matter what you do in your work, if you have a website, you should ask these questions. Today […]

The post 3 Things I WISH More People Understood About Their Website (From a Designer’s Perspective!) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 5 minutes

What makes a great website? What makes a dud? Besides all the obvious things like don’t make your text too small, don’t use 1,000 fonts at once and things like that… What are the major keys?! No matter what you do in your work, if you have a website, you should ask these questions. Today I’m sharing 3 things that I consider top things to making a successful website, and people often miss them. I’m calling these “strong opinions”, but this could also be called “unpopular opinions” because these aren’t said enough. I hope this short and sweet episode gives you some business and website ideas to run with!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 257!

Strong Opinion #1: Copying an influencer's website will not give you their success; it will just give you a website that everyone obviously sees looks like "so and so's" website.

How many times have you been looking at someone’s website and thought to yourself “Wow this looks like Marie Forleo’s website!” or “Interesting… this is the same fonts and colors that Jenna Kutcher uses”, or “Lewis Howes site looks like this one.” As a designer, I see it all the time where the big-time entrepreneurs’ sites are everyone’s #1 inspiration. 

And guess what? People have been loving their websites since early iterations that weren’t so beautiful and amazing because they love these people’s BRANDS. You may love the business they built, the success they have, the things they teach you, so you say “I want a website similar to theirs”! 

Here's the thing: You're cutting your own brand short when you copy someone else's website. You have something special and unique to offer the world too, and it doesn’t look the same as their sites. (Whoever “their” is to you!). I've even had this with my own brand quite a few times where people reach out asking what fonts I'm using and I don't tell them because I really believe that you should figure out what fonts you want to use for your brand. Don't copy someone else's website because you want their success or because you just don't know what your own brand is yet.

So what I want for you and what I want for myself (and for my template customers!) is that when someone lands on your website, they feel your brand coming through and they're not saying in their head, oh, this looks like Jenna Kutcher's website.

So how do you take action on this? First, ask yourself what you like ABOUT the site specifically that you’re feeling inspired by. Do not consider this person's brand outside their actual site; look at the site itself. Do you like the way type is used? Or how things flow? How can you be your own person and be inspired by those things you love without being the same? 

Read More: 5 Fascinating Social Media Marketing Lessons We Can Learn From The Top Influencers/Bloggers

easy new year website updates you can make

Strong Opinion #2: Simple websites with very few pages are amazing! You don't need a gazillion pages for your site to be incredible.

We often think more website pages = better results. But, when you’re just getting started, you may only need a few pages on your website, which means not using every page your template comes with. For example, my templates come with many pages, and that's not because you need all of them from the get-go. This is because I want you to have what you need to grow WITH your business.

I want the template you're investing in to be the site you're using years from now after you've gotten more clients, added more offers, started your course, made blogging a priority, etc. I want you to have those pages there to grow with you, but you don't have to use them all from the start and you might not even ever need them all.

For example, most of my templates have a "Ways to Work Together Page", that's basically an overview of your services. Maybe you never need that because you only have one main offer so you don't need a page with so many options. Maybe instead you utilize those different sections to create what you do need (that I've very strategically for you to go into other pages of your website). For example, maybe I have a section for your website viewer to schedule a call, but you repurpose it to link to a waitlist for your course.

If you look at your business and think, "I only need three pages," — that is ok. If you only need a Home page, About page, and Contact page - that's FINE! If you only need a sales page — that's ok! I've seen plenty of people do this with my sales page templates. So, don’t believe the myth that you need a gazillion pages to have a successful website! 

Getting a New Website Live Fast

I also think too, as someone who's creating your website for the first time, this can take a lot of the pressure off and speed up your process of getting your site live so you can start making money from your website. If you're looking at your template and you're like, I have to get the blog set up, I have to get this call scheduler page and the contact page and all of this perfectly set up, that's a lot of pressure and it can feel a lot better to feel like, "okay, what are the essential pages I need to get started right now?"

Read More: Get A New Website By New Years: How To Customize Your Showit Website Template Really Fast

Strong Opinion #3:  You must have photos of yourself somewhere or your site will feel scammy!

I feel like MOST people agree with me on this - but it's still being missed on SO many of the websites I visit. You have to have photos of yourself somewhere on your website or else your site's going to feel scammy, illegitimate, not personable, and all other sorts of problems.

I know not everyone wants to or can invest in professional imagery with a brand photographer from the start, and that's ok! Relying on stock photography can work, but put yourself on your website too! You need to be on your site even if it's not the most “professional” image. Otherwise, it can feel scammy and cause you to miss the opportunity to let your audience put a face to the name. 

Your face doesn't have to be front and center, but you need to be on there. To give you an example, the other day, I was searching for accountants and looked over different accountant websites, and I stumbled upon one that was using only stock images, even on their About page. I knew it probably wasn't a scam, but I did have to ask myself, "Is this legit? Where are the people who work here?" So, put yourself on your website — a great place to add a photo of you is on your About page and/or contact page. 

Read More: How To Use Paid Stock Photography To Completely Up Level Your Brand

So that’s it my friends — 3 opinions! I could do more and maybe we’ll do a part two later on. I appreciate you being here and reading until the end. 

Links Mentioned:

Tune into Episode 192 to learn more about using paid stock photos with Haute Stock

Shop All of My Showit Website Templates

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

Join me Inside Booked Out Designer

Join my FREE Breakthrough Brand All Access Facebook Group

Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram

Looking for amazing stock photography and videography? Check Out Haute Stock!

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, Haute Stock! Haute Stock is my favorite stock photo and video company. I've been a subscriber over 4 years now, and it's made my business' marketing both easier and more effective. I use Haute Stock images and videos for things like course and webinar slides, podcast promotional graphics and videos, on my website, for Reels and Reel covers, and so much more. You can get 15% off your Haute Stock subscription with the coupon code code: ELIZABETH at checkout or by clicking here!

The post 3 Things I WISH More People Understood About Their Website (From a Designer’s Perspective!) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> https://elizabethmccravy.com/what-makes-a-great-website/feed/ 0 5952 Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Quiz Lead Magnet in 2024 (Using Interact and Showit) https://elizabethmccravy.com/quiz-lead-magnet/ https://elizabethmccravy.com/quiz-lead-magnet/#respond Tue, 27 Feb 2024 06:00:00 +0000 https://elizabethmccravy.com/?p=7460 Want to sky rocket your email list? You can with a thoughtfully created quiz as a lead magnet. I'll show you how!

The post Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Quiz Lead Magnet in 2024 (Using Interact and Showit) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

]]> Reading Time: 13 minutes

A few years ago, quizzes were the hot new thing in business regarding email growth (and helping your customers make buying decisions). And while quizzes aren't being talked about as much right now, they are still just as effective as they were then. In fact, the average lead magnet conversion rate is just 20 to 25%, but quizzes have an average of 40 to 50% conversion rates, I can personally attest to that from my quizzes, and today I want to share how you can create a quiz lead magnet that grows YOUR email list too.

I've been creating quizzes since the beginning of 2018, so over five years now. Since then, I've made new quizzes, revamped quizzes, and helped other business owners make quizzes for their businesses through my quiz website template bundle for Showit. 

I get asked about creating a quiz lead magnet a lot because it can be tough to know where to get started. So in this episode, I'm taking you step by step (in tons of detail) through the quiz creation process that I've used to create high-converting quiz lead magnets that are also fun and help make sales in my business. And I want the same for you. So let's get to it. 

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device:  Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |   YouTube  |  iHeartRadio

Search for episode 256!

Showit Quiz Template Add-on

Alright, before we get into all the step-by steps to create a quiz lead magnet, but first, I want to just give you something special, especially if you are a Showit user. So, I created a quiz add-on template that can be added to any Showit website. Regardless of whether you have a custom site, a template from me, a template from someone else, it can make your quiz lead magnet creation process easier. 

As I explain the quiz steps to you below, especially the last few steps like embedding the quiz on your website and making results pages, you'll be able to see just how much time and effort this template will save you. My quiz lead magnet template is a seven page Showit template with three results pages, over 10 quiz cover style options, a quiz embed page, and more. Use code MAKEAQUIZ to get 15% off as my way of saying thank you for being a loyal listener! That code will work on the speaker template, the landing page bundle, the quiz template, and the entire add-on bundle as well if you want them all. 

Now, let’s get into the steps!

1. Identify Your Quiz Goals And Topic

You can create quizzes that result in all sorts of things: from assessing someone’s skill level or need in an area, to matching them with specific products of yours, or even to create a personality type of profile around your niche. There are SO many options.

As a real-life example, Sephora has a skincare product quiz where they end up matching you with the products you should buy. I have a quiz that helps designers see what your business blind spot is (and shed light on the areas you can improve). I also have a website personality quiz to help you identify what your website style is according to your ideal clients and what they prefer (that then also gives specific product recommendations!). So as you can see - there are a lot of options!

Here are some tips for coming up with your quiz goals and/or topic:

  • Your quiz should have ONE GOAL that your users are getting from taking it (ie. you want to be able to summarize the result they are going to get with clarity)
  • Most of the time, you’ll want the result to relate back to your offers (so that way when people take the quiz, you're able to push them towards buying something both from the quiz results page and then also through an email funnel after they've taken the quiz and are getting to know you, learning about the offer, learning about problems it solves and the what's included).
  • You can always come up with a fun or more concise title later!! Just make sure you know the topic/goal to start. What’s the point for them to take it? What are they going to learn?
  • Explore other types of quizzes to get some ideas! There are TONS. I use Interact for my quiz software and they have a ton of examples right there on their website to help you get ideas too.

2. Start Thinking About (or Officially Decide) What People GET For Taking the Quiz. 

This is DIFFERENT than the result. What are your quiz takers going to get? This is the marketer in me, but before we even get to the quiz making itself, I want to challenge you to start thinking about what the offer is.

A lot of times when people are exchanging their email for something, it’s something tangible like a PDF, webinar, an audio series, or a workbook. But with a quiz, the results are a big part of it. People are typically taking the quiz to know what the result is for them based on the question you're presenting. But the result doesn’t need to be the ONLY thing the person gets. If the result is the only thing they get, then how does having the result from this quiz improve their life, improve their business, improve whatever area? Get clear on that.

There are so many quizzes out there that just stink honestly, because they're not really helpful. The results don’t really do anything for the taker, and those quizzes are not going to ultimately lead you to more sales either. As a business, if you want your quiz to lead to more sales, you want people to get their result and think, “YES - that result was helpful, I wonder how much more helpful the paid version will be”.

Here are some made up examples for what people could get from a potential quiz:

To show you more about what I mean by all this, here are a few examples:

  • A quiz that tells you your parenting style AND then additionally gives you 5 specific weak spots you might have as a parent (with tips to overcome them) and 5 specific things you’re amazing at! 
  • A quiz that tells you your skin type and the exact products you should use in your skin care line up (all for less than $50) AND you get a 15% off coupon just for taking the quiz.
  • As a copywriter, you could create a quiz that tells you your brand voice AND then you also get a plug and play email introduction template that matches your brand voice.
  • A quiz that gives you a curated podcast playlist from that person’s library of episodes based on what you’re needing help with. 

As another example, real personality tests/quizzes like the enneagram or Myers–Briggs give you the result of knowing your type BUT all of those websites are also telling you your strengths and weaknesses, how you are in relationships, growth areas, famous people with your type, and more. And sometimes? They’re also upselling you to a paid version 

My point being: you can include things in addition to the results, or just have the results be the outcome. Some examples of things you could give outside of just results are: a discount on a product, a free sample/trial, an exclusive bundle offer, a template that matches their result type, a workbook to match their result type, maybe you’re a service provider and a quiz unlocks a 30 minute call with you—the list goes on and on. You can basically merge freebies together and give them with the result.

You don’t have to decide this from the beginning, but I’ve liked thinking about this personally before I go into question/result creation mode! Then, I can use part of this strategy to play into some of the questions.

Read More: Email List Building Tactics That Actually Work

3. Create Your Result Types 

We already talked about how most quizzes stink, right? Creating the result types BEFORE you create the questions will help you make a better quiz. 

And in general, less result types are going to be easier on you! For example, at one point, my quiz matched everyone with ONE specific template which worked great, but having 15+ results was impossible to manage. That’s why I actually revamped my quiz last year to just filter into 4 results with the templates grouped together in categories instead. I would say anywhere for 3-6 result types is ideal!

At this point, I’d come up with a name/title for each result and know for yourself what the vibe is, or what that person needs. If it’s products, go ahead and group them all together within the results! Another example would be my quiz that helps you find your business weak spot as a designer. For that one, I chose 4 specific blind spots I think most designers struggle with, and came up with the questions from there.

4. Create Your Quiz Questions 

Once you have your result types, you can make your questions. Quiz length can vary from short 3 question quizzes to 15+ question quizzes. It’s all about how extensive you want to be and what types of results you’re trying to provide someone. Generally speaking, shorter is going to be better, especially when it comes to the way you're phrasing questions. You want to be really quick for people to be able to read and answer, but you can also do longer. Using the enneagram and Myers-Briggs as an example again, they are long but people still take them! I’ve personally taken really short quizzes that are supposed to tell me my business archetype or my hiring style where I felt like they were a waste of time because they didn’t ask me enough questions to get an accurate result.

Whether you decide to create a short quiz or a long quiz, know that you can use the length in your marketing. If it’s short, you could say something like, “Get your results in less than 3 minutes.” If it’s longer, you can say, “get an extensive look into ways you can grow.”

With the quiz questions, you will likely do multiple choice, as that’s how most quiz platforms will be set up and then each option can correlate to a result type. If you have four results, it might be that you have four multiple choice options per question, as an example. You could also have six result types though and only still have four options for answers... it doesn't have to exactly match up! It might be that “option A” could work for two different results, for that question. Not every question has to be directly related to a result either!

Don’t put the questions directly in your quiz software (to start!)

As far as where to create these quiz questions to start, I would not recommend putting them directly into your quiz software, which we're going to talk about next. I wouldn’t recommend doing that when you're first creating them because it's going to be better just to do this in a blank document, like a Google Doc, or in your project manager.

For example, when I recently redid my website personality quiz, we did it all in Clickup and Clickup documents and that was really nice to be able to quickly click between all the different things and the task list for it and all of that. I loved having the document so that I could really look at all the questions side by side at once and then figure out which answer options should correlate to which results. Something I’ve done in the past two is come up with a highlighting system where I will make the first result pink, the second blue, etc. Then, as you're making the quiz, you can make sure that you're actually covering all the different results types so people are not just getting one result for everything they take. 

It's worth noting too that you might end up changing up some questions once you really start playing with the quiz later. I know with my Business Weak Spot Quiz for Designers, I actually cut quite a few questions after I'd already decided on all of them. It felt too long, so I made changes!  So it’s worth remembering that as you go through the questions that you don’t have to stick to them forever. 

5. Create Your Quiz

Once you have your questions and your results, it’s time to MAKE THE QUIZ! I mentioned earlier that I’ve been making quizzes since 2018, and for that whole time I’ve used the extremely popular quiz software, Interact. I am an affiliate of theirs and you can get a free trial by signing up here. My quiz add-on bundle works really well with interact too, I should add! And the demo videos you get with your purchase show you how to set things up with Interact and Showit with ease. 

But regardless of which software you choose, in order to make a quiz, you have to use something. You can’t do this without a specific quiz software. In my experience, I have not heard of any email softwares that includes a quiz-type software.

The good news is, once you’re in Interact, it’s very intuitive to take what you made in a doc and turn it into a quiz. You’ll add your questions, you’ll add your results, then you’ll connect the specific questions to a specific result. 

 

create a quiz lead magnet

 

After you make the quiz, I suggest taking it a few times. Think about different ideal customers of yours and how they’d answer and see if it works. Does the right result type happen? Is it somehow giving the same result every time? Is it balanced? 

6. Connect Your Quiz to Your Email Provider and Create Results Sequences 

In Interact, you can easily connect your quiz to your email software (like Flodesk or Convertkit), it’s all easily integrated without needing something external like zapier or anything like that. This is a MUST in order for you to make the people who take your quiz get on your email list… otherwise, they just are staying in Interact (which doesn’t serve your business).

You can set up how they get brought to your email list by adding them to a sequence, a tag, forms, etc. This is another part where you have to think about what you want your quiz experience to be! You can do sequences (a series of emails) for the results where they get an email telling them about their result in detail.  OR, you can do a page on your website that details their result type. OR, you can do BOTH! 

In an ideal world, I think doing both is the most effective. You can redirect them to the results page on your website… and by doing it on your website, it’s easy to call them to action to buy, give them a coupon, etc. Then, you can email them about the result with a link that will go back to that page on your website later.

My quiz template comes in handy here because you get a few different results page designs that you can mix/match between to make your perfect results page style, and then you duplicate it for each result type! 

 

adding tags to your email sequences based on quiz lead magnet

 

What to Include in the Results Pages and/or Sequence

So it depends on the quiz type, which I know I've said a few times, but if you're doing more of a personality type quiz, here are some things I'd recommend giving their results page:

  • A name and a short description (which we talked about in step one)
  • Some points (like 3 things to describe you if you got that type)
  • Potentially speak to your related product(s) they should consider buying
  • Other resources you've created to help them (like blog posts, podcast episodes, or YouTube videos)
  • Call them to action (maybe it's to join your free Facebook community or buy something at a discount).

 

Read More: 4 Must-Haves For Your Email Welcome Sequence

7. Embed Your Quiz Onto Your Website (to a Few Places!) 

The NEXT step is to embed the quiz onto your website so people can take it! I’d argue as a designer that the best way is for the quiz to live on your website, compared to it being a button where it then leads people to the Interact website. Keeping people on your website is a better experience for them and increases conversions. 

With that, you can have a quiz cover designed in Interact OR within your website builder. I personally like building it in your website builder, so it’s all cohesive, but then they click a button and then are seeing the quiz. The quiz itself will be in Interact’s styling but you can actually make it match better than you think even with that being true! Customize the quiz fonts/colors to be similar to what’s already on your website.

Next, you want to add the quiz to multiple places. If this is your “main lead magnet” it should go on your home page for sure, but you could also link to it in the footer, via a pop up, in the top area banner of your website, on your tools page, on your ways to work together page, etc. 

On your quiz cover, tell people why they should want to take it. What’s in it for them? And if you’re giving away free stuff to people who simply take the quiz… SAY IT! 

For example, here’s what I show people who take my quiz (before they take it!).

quiz lead magnet results page screenshot

8. Create Results Pages on Your Website

Again, this is made easier with my quiz template! It comes with 3 results templates and an “extras page” with more canvases to add on. You could do this from scratch, of course, but this template will save you tons of time on the design and give you content ideas for what to put. Remember, you can use code MAKEAQUIZ for 15% off!

9. Hook Everything Up and Test It All! 

Once you have everything designed, you’ve chosen your software, you have the sequences made up, it’s time to TEST it. Take the quiz multiple times to get each result and make sure it works correctly. 

In an IDEAL world, here’s what your quiz lead magnet should look like when it’s done:

  1. From your website, a user clicks to take the quiz, and then they go to a page or canvas on your website where they start taking the quiz 
  2. They complete the quiz (it’s worth timing yourself as you take it!) and then it REDIRECTS them to a page on your website with their result
  3. At the same time that happens, they get an email from you with information on their result type
  4. With that email, they get put into a funnel that will sell them your offer
  5. They review the results page! They might take action immediately if you have a strong discount and maybe they already knew they wanted to buy but just needed clarity, and so they buy. Maybe they don’t buy right away and that’s fine too! The buy does not have to be immediate. 
  6. Now they’re on your email list and in a funnel ideally to sell them the relevant offer based on their results.

With all this set up, it should work without you doing anything on your end after this is set up! That’s the best part of having a quiz! It grows your email list and nurtures your current and potential customers, all without you having to do stuff constantly.

 

10. Start Marketing Your Quiz, and Grow Your List! 

Now that it works and you’ve tested it, publish your site changes and start marketing the new quiz. As you market it, focus on what they get for taking it, the same way you did on your website. You can share it all over social media, and even to your current email list to those who have not already bought what the quiz is connected to. I’ve had good success using ManyChat and making reels and stories about the quiz, then people comment to take it and get the manychat automation with the link.

And let me also just say - it's so fun, you guys. When you have your first quiz takers, it’s fun to watch and be like, “oh yeah, wonder what she got as a result”, and then watch them go through the sequence, and enjoy the free stuff you're giving them for taking it.

Read More: 5 Ways to Leverage the Power of SEO to Build Your Email List

 

screenshot of booked out designer quiz on home page

Links Mentioned:

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Grab my Quiz Template for Showit (use code MAKEAQUIZ for 15% off)

Grab my Complete Add On Bundle for You (use code MAKEAQUIZ for 15% off)

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