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Things You’ll Learn in this Episode of Doing it Online:
- Your very next steps to grow your list + get momentum, (+ in which order!)
- Our recommended content plan to build upon for your business…
- Our fave types of FREE list-building options
Today, we’re getting actionable! I mean, that’s kinda how I roll, so generally these episodes are pretty full of actionable steps, but this one is a bit special…
Because when you’re trying to grow your business and get some momentum happening in order to grow your business, the last thing you need is a strategy here, a tactic there…
You need a step-by-step action plan.
Everyone has a to-do list a mile long, right? And in order to get the growth you want, you need to spend your precious time and energy on the right steps, and in the right order too.
This is something our eCourse Empire members love about our program. I mean, the “Action Plan” is what we do. We give people step-by-step plans based on where they’re at, where they want to go and the type of business that they have. This makes it so easy for them to just bypass all that horrible overwhelm and to know what to do now and what to do next.
So! [DRUMROLL]
…We’re starting a new series on the “Action Plan” for the 5 places I see people get stuck growing their business.
And because each one of these needs a different plan to get UNSTUCK and move forward, over the next couple of episodes I’m going to go through these stages step-by-step. So no matter what stage of business you’re in, you’ll know exactly what you need to be doing and focusing on. No overwhelm allowed.
The 5 stages we’re going to look at are:
Stage 1: No list + no offer…
Stage 2: Audience? Check! Offer? No…
Stage 3: Existing offer but not selling well…
Stage 4: Existing offer that’s selling well + ready to scale…
Stage 5: Scaled but have hit a ceiling in either delivery or profit…
Today we’re looking at stage 1: ground zero. We’re talking to the people who have no email list and no offer. But even if this isn’t your stage, stick around because growing your email list is never going to be ticked off your list forever!
Now, this episode is a meaty one, I’m not gonna lie! These notes are a good overview for you, but you’re going to want to listen to the full episode to get all the info and details so you can take it away and implement!
Ground Zero
Before we dive into your action steps, I just want to say that I do realise this stage is actually a terrifying place to be.
And I just want to applaud you for taking action and doing the scary thing and getting started. So many people have ideas and they never really try to get a plan together, but you’re doing that now. So well freaking done.
If you’re in this stage right now you’re probably wondering: “How can I package up my genius, and my passions in order to help people?”
You may even be really burnt out when you arrive at this stage, depending on what’s brought you here… but either way, you want to build an empire, to create a big impact. You’ve got lots of ideas and you’re ready to put them in place…
But what goes first?
A quick caveat**
Before we dive into your first step, let’s just define what we mean by “no list.” This refers to any list with less than 1000 subscribers.
1000 subscribers might sound like a lot for a starting number. But because of the way online marketing works, only a certain number of people are going to see each email and an even smaller number again will click on the links, and smaller again will purchase when you sell.
So 1000 subscribers is the number you need before you begin promoting your offers and hope to get a good return during launches etc. That’s why this is actually our first milestone in eCourse Empire, it’s the number 1 priority in the beginning.
Your list is absolutely crucial to the momentum and growth of your business.
In the episode, I go into this a bit further, including how long you can expect this phase to take, so give it a listen to get those insights.
Your first step: Your website
Ok! So because we know our list is our number one priority at this stage, but before we go into some strategies for list-building, we’re going to need a few things in place first…
Starting with…
…Your website.
Super simple. Super basic. A one-page website is fine at this stage.
You won’t need a lot of pages just yet, because you don’t even know what your offers are. It just needs to look professional and have some info about you and how people can connect and contact you.
If you have some testimonials you can include that’s gold, absolutely add them.
I’d also recommend that you choose a website platform that connects with some kind of blogging option, because you’ll need to be creating regular articles and blogs and posting them to your site. We’re not going into that just yet, we’ll talk more on these kinds of strategies in a minute, but just know that you need to include a blog option for your website.
Your second step: Very valuable opt-in
AKA: opt-in bribe, freebie etc.
This needs to be something you create that can be delivered digitally (and without costing you anything to send it to them.) For example: an audio file, template, or a PDF
And it needs to be SO valuable, that actually people should be paying for it. But they’re not. Not at this stage.
It’s ok to over-deliver right now, because you want to make a splash. You’re the new kid on the block, you want people to be wowed! You want them to be talking about you and sharing your stuff! (You can pull it back a bit later when you have offers to sell.)
You want them to want more of you and have them asking themselves “How good would it be to work with this person?!” This is something we go deep on inside eCourse Empire, because we want you to get this right, but we also don’t want it to take forever. This should be able to get done in a day and then you move on…
Your third step: Your foundation
Buckle up, because you’re in this one forever. It’s not going away any time soon and we’re talking of course about the ‘C’ word…
…Content.
You need to show up consistently for your audience, to build the know, like and trust factor and to get your name out there more. (Think organic traffic.)
Which means you need a content plan.** And it needs to suit you and be one that you can stick to.
I go into this in super nerdy detail in the podcast, so please give that a listen so you can get the full scoop. But to give you an overview, your content plan will need to include:
And before you get overwhelmed looking at this, remember: repurpose, repurpose, repurpose!
Your plan:
- A weekly email (1-2 emails a week minimum.) There’s no point getting people onto your list if you’re just going to ignore them once they’re there, right?
- ONE social platform (to start with) with regular posts
- A cornerstone piece of content each week. (Eg: a podcast episode, a video, or a blog post.) If you can’t do it weekly, do it fortnightly, but no longer between each piece of cornerstone content.
- One extra social post each week, such as a behind the scenes glimpse.
Again, this is something that we help people with inside eCourse Empire. We have plans and prompts and even a challenge. Because I know how crucial it is, (and I know how much people resist it!) We ask them to commit to showing up on social media in some way, every single day, for 60 days.
And guess what? At the end of that, they have a whole catalogue of content they can pull from and repurpose later.
In all your content, remember to share and link to your freebie!
So that’s your foundation. Get that down, and you know you’re on your way.
Next? Let the list-building games begin!
Now you are going to go HARD on list building, while simultaneously preparing an offer you will be able to sell in a quick and dirty launch in a few months time…
This is a tough time – but it’s not forever.
And yes, the list-building situation can be slow and frustrating… (I’m big on being honest!) …but it’s unavoidable.
If you do have a bit of a budget to throw behind some ads, it can speed things up for you, if the ads are done right. (Or you’ll just burn through your money, but let’s go into that another day!) I don’t want you to get distracted by shiny tactics right now, (I warn you about a few in the episode!) I just want you to be diligent and focused in this one direction…
You’re going to go back to basics with your list-building and have a go at a few of these options to get your freebie out there.
Our fave free list-building options
In eCourse Empire we get people to go through the four most popular free types of list-building methods. We take them through these in a certain order and make sure to tell them that not all of them are going to work for them. But that’s ok, because they’re free! And it’s also good to know what your audience does and doesn’t respond to. That information is gold.
So, think of yourself as a mad scientist as you go through some of our fave free-list building options… Again, I go into each of these in wonderful, nerdy detail in the episode, but here’s the overview:
- Sharing your freebies + knowledge in Facebook groups
- A targeted giveaway
- Free (+ valuable) challenges
- Joint venture (JV)
- Leverage existing networks
And after about 90 days of going all in on your options here, you should be at least at that 1000 subscriber mark.
And then…?
It’ll be time to launch your offer…
The Beta launch
Now, in the background, as you’ve been connecting with your audience and learning about them… you would have probably come up with an idea or two for the kind of offer you can create for them.
However! Do NOT build it first. Please. We don’t know if it’s going to work yet. Even if people have said they’ll buy it, when it comes to actually paying for it? It’s a different story.
That’s why take people through the beta launch in eCourse Empire, because it’s still a test run. And we help them sell the program first, before it’s created. (It’ll be a drip program, created each week as it’s running. More info in the episode!)
And when that’s up and selling well, then we move onto the next stage…
Which is what our next episode will be all about!
What’s your very next step?
If you’ve loved this action plan and you’d love to get more help with this, because there’s a lot to go through and you just want some support, that’s exactly what eCourse Empire is for.
There’s nothing else out there like this program. The amount of incredible baked-in, step-by-step support is something I’m so, so proud of.
We help personally review your opt-in pages, brainstorm headlines and ideas and strategies, we give you email swipe files, content ideas, trainings, templates and so much more…
And we’re taking applications right now (click here to apply!) and we’re so excited to support you in this part of your business journey…
PS – We’re cheering you on every step of the way!
