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Details for the 2024 Glow Women's Retreat
Elizabeth's balloon business is in Arizona and she specializes in offering custom colors for her clients. She shares with us the story of how her decor business started and the two major reasons why she took on the technique of double-stuffing (which has now become a helpful subscription for other balloon pros!).
Social media kind of stole the hearts of business owners and left email marketing behind for a while. But now, with less and less of our social followers even seeing our posts, and businesses just disappearing into the night after being hacked, I'm all in on email marketing again this year. In this episode I'll share the why, the how and the what about email marketing... the ripple effect it creates, a formula for growing your list and specific ideas for content.
This will be the first year that I've ever had a full marketing strategy going into the year. I just feel like turnover at so many companies has not slowed down since the pandemic, and it's time for me to start taking better care of some of the relationships I have with my best customers. My actual strategy, though, might surprise you! My approach will include: Facebook first: posting with purpose Email marketing: consistency & pre-scheduling Recycle, recycle, recycle Big pumpkin energy Facebook first: posting with purpose With Facebook, I'm realizing that the connections I want to make with other businesses are more likely to happen there than on Instagram. And it's because things are so much more shareable in Facebook. I want to tag the businesses and venues I'm working at and leave call to actions that people can follow to learn more. That means with Instagram, I'll still be posting some portfolio-type images to my grid, but I'll also be looking into pinned posts, stories and stats more to dictate what gets posted to that platform. Email marketing: consistency & pre-scheduling With email marketing, I'll be bringing my consistent email approach from the podcast over into my balloon business. Honestly, this has always felt difficult because I don't want every email to be asking for money or talking about a sale. And it's why I've actually created a new resource for you (and me!) that will take care of all the email marketing heavy lifting. I've got a bundle of 24 emails in a Canva template that you can push out to Mailchimp or pull into another email service provider, setting up your email marketing for THE YEAR. The images and coordinating text go along with the seasonal holidays and big events happening around that time. They are literally ready to copy, paste and hit send! (Listen in to hear an embarrassing story about why I didn't include any placeholder text like "insert customer name here"... I surely wasn't going to set you up for that kind of failure!)
When I first started my business, I tried to use as many free tools as possible. I quickly realized that while free is good, sometimes you need to invest in a quality product to get the job done right. That's why I decided to invest in 17hats. 17hats is an all-in-one solution for business owners. It has everything you need to run your business, from inquiry forms and auto-responses to invoice reminders and delivery reminders. And best of all, it's very affordable.
If you're like most business owners, you're always looking for ways to optimize your website and make sure it's running as smoothly as possible. But with everything else that's going on, it's easy to forget some of the basics. Here are 10 things you should double-check are listed and available on your website: 1. Your location - This seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how many businesses forget to list their address on their website. Make sure your location is front and center so potential customers can easily find you. And while you're at it, don't forget to update your location on Instagram, too! This isn't only for those of us with a storefront! This applies to you if you are home based too. People HAVE to know the areas you serve. 2. An about page - Your about page is one of the first places potential customers will look to learn more about your business. Make sure you have an about page that tells your story and helps people understand what makes your business unique. 3. A way to collect the info you need from them - Whether it's an email signup form or a contact form, make sure you have a way to collect information from potential customers so you can follow up with them later. 4. Your booking process - If you offer appointments or bookings, make sure your website has a clear process for people to follow. The last thing you want is for someone to get frustrated and give up because they can't figure out how to book an appointment with you. 5. An Instagram feed - These days, almost everyone is on Instagram, so make sure your business has an account and that your feed is linked to from your website. This is a great way to show off your work and attract new customers. 6. Localized SEO - If you're targeting local customers, make sure your website is optimized for local SEO. This means including keywords related to your city or region in your content so people in those areas can easily find you when they're searching online. 7. Pricing menus that expedite sales - Make sure your pricing menus are up-to-date and accurate so potential customers can easily see how much it will cost them to use your services. This will help prevent any confusion or frustration later on down the line. 8. Searchable file names for images - When people search for images online, they'll often enter keywords related to what they're looking for into the search bar. So, if you want people to be able to find images of your products or services easily, make sure the file names for those images include relevant keywords. 9 .Suggested venues and vendors - If you offer services that require venues or other vendors (for example, a rental company or your local AlphaLit franchise ), consider including a list of suggested venues and vendors on your website. This will save potential customers time and effort in having to do their own research later on down the line. 10 .A pop-up advertisement for grab and go garlands - Last but not least, don't forget to put a pop-up advertisement for grab and go garlands on your website! People love these things, and they're a great way to boost sales during the holiday season. You can listen to this full episode here:
