Tag: Marketing Sense

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Marketing Sense

Your First Step to Expand Your Author Platform: Develop a Community Built Upon Service

Marketing sense

Our author platform will never grow until we reach beyond our circle of family-and-friends to those in our target market whom we do not know…yet. Some feel the key to finding that specific group within the world’s population of more than 8 billion people is to YELL LOUDER. Uh, no…

Serving our audience in God’s name is the first step, and guess what? We can serve them long before our book is even published! Hooray!

If this sounds like madness, it’s actually genius, because as we serve, our audience is drawn to our message. They participate, ask follow-up questions, talk amongst themselves, and ask more questions. They want to know how our message applies to their specific situation.

This is called engagement, also known as building community. We want this!

As we create content: social media posts, podcasts, and Lead Magnets to name a few, we’re sharing MORE answers to the questions our audience is asking and helping them solve MORE problems they’re encountering today.

The real impact comes when they apply our message. We don’t offer information only. (You don’t, do you?) Our message must offer change. A synonym for change is transformation.  

Our audience comes to us–or stumbles upon us–and discovers we know what they’re going through. We offer solutions, not as an armchair quarterback but as someone who’s been down the same (or a similar) road. As we share our story and listen to theirs, commonalities spring to the surface that both parties recognize. Commonalities that we already knew existed but that they didn’t (at first). Those common traits, questions, challenges, or fears bind us together in (say it with me) community.

Now we’re not an outsider; we’re a trusted resource. We must do our utmost to earn and protect that description.

They’ll want to dive deeper or discuss a related issue and hear our solution for that. They’ll look to us for guidance, strategies, and encouragement. We can offer this as no one else can because of our life’s journey, which includes God delivering us over and over as we muddled our way through the maze of each problem. Our audience is in the same maze. Christ delivered us in part for our own sake and in part so we could guide them to freedom in His name. Hallelujah!

As they apply the wisdom in our message–which is God’s wisdom–stubborn problems begin to improve. Long-standing challenges shift, becoming less difficult. Their lives begin to change in ways that matter to them. They’ll remember that. They’ll remember us.

This is how we can build an online platform that will last for our ministry’s lifetime and not simply for the lifetime of one book.

This is why we don’t have to start over from scratch with every.single.project. Ack!

Once in relationship with audience members, we earn the right to let them know–periodically–how they can help us. Perhaps they can buy our book, attend our event, give their input on our next book’s cover image…the list goes on and on.

“Oh, no,” some say, “I don’t want to be one of those pushy authors always asking their audience to, “Buy! Buy! Buy!”

Does that thought weigh on your mind? Relax, Padawan (Star Wars reference there 🙂 ).

Remember, these people are in your community, and others are joining them. Why? Because you’ve helped them change their lives. So, they trust you and want to support you. You’re in their community now, too. Cool, huh?

And it all began when you started serving your audience for His sake and their benefit, letting Him bless your service as He saw fit, which, since He called you to write for Him, will likely include book sales. He’s so wise!

Part Two of this series next month.

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

How To Create Your Website’s Content Hub

Marketing sense

Creating a content hub is the best way to organize your website’s content IF your topics coordinate with one another. I’m sure yours do. 🙂

Content hubs benefit both you and the reader by giving you a content plan and by giving your readers an easy way to access all your great content. It takes time to build a hub, just like it takes time to build any body of work.

You’ve visited many websites organized with a hub, though you may not have realized the website used this internal infrastructure tool.  

Imagine a website that offers recipes for appetizers, brunch, desserts, salads, and snacks. Their Home page, perhaps titled Quick and Easy Dishes, would list the various types of food. That’s level one. Let’s say those options are shown in five columns across the Home page, one column per food type.

Each column would link directly to a list of dishes shared under that food type (level two), with a direct link to the specific page with that specific recipe (level three).

***

Readers would select one food type. Let’s say they choose Desserts (which is level two). The reader neither knows nor cares which of our organizational levels they’re on. All they know is they’re getting closer to the recipe they want. Hooray!

They’re taken to a page with all the desserts available on that website. They choose one. Let’s say they choose banana pudding (always a winner). Now they’re on level three.

Draw a map or make a graph to show which topics, sub-topics, and sub-sub-topics you plan to offer your readers over time. Then create that content beginning with your main topics and build out from there.

A hub still allows you to create content on your schedule, and each new blog post adds more and more value to your reader.

More people will stay on your website longer if: 1) your content fits their need and 2) it’s easy to find.

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

Do You Really Need to Use Email? (Part Two)

Marketing sense

In Part One we discussed how very valuable email is to our platform, and why using an email provider such as Aweber, MailChimp, Active Campaign, or others, was the best way to experience continued growth. Let’s continue the discussion in this article.

Is There a Charge to Use an Email Provider?

Virtually all bulk email providers offer a free level to start. Fees are based upon how many subscribers are on your email list.

The more subscribers–whether they open your emails or not–the higher your monthly fee. But don’t fret. For most of us, it takes years to get enough subscribers to warrant a significant monthly fee. (NOTE: It’s relatively pain free to move to another email provider if you so desire.)

Though free, don’t use Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo to send emails to your subscribers. In the early Internet years, these services were safe and free. They were the cool kids in town. 🙂

Years ago the marketplace, weary of spam, made room for better options. Along came MailChimp, Aweber, Constant Contact, and Active Campaign, among others.

Email regulations became stricter as the decades added up. The latest round of regulations, released in February of this year, tightened email requirements even further, in part to reduce spam, which is rampant.

So…Is It Hard to Learn How to Use Email?

The Big Dog email companies like Active Campaign, Constant Contact, etc., offer free training, usually via video, which I prefer. You, too? 

As you research these companies for yourself, consider not only their cost but also their customer support. Sooner or later, you’ll need help. So find out what each offers before you sign up. This will reduce frustration ahead of time.

Is their support available 24/7 or only Monday-Friday? Can you reach them by phone day or night? Is there an additional charge for one-on-one assistance? Or do they only offer help via email? This information could make the difference between email success or failure.

Also be aware that some email providers only offer help via text on FAQ pages, so it’ll be up to you to dig through their documentation to figure out how to use their service. I don’t care for that approach. I’m guessing you don’t, either.

After choosing a provider, don’t let your new account lie fallow. The majority of these companies offers a free 30-day trial period. Take advantage of that time to learn the basics.

And conduct trial runs during this time. Ask up to 6 friends to be Test Subjects (guinea pigs). 🙂  Go through the full process of writing, uploading, scheduling, and sending perhaps 3 emails over a week’s time to these volunteers, to get comfortable with the process.

You’ll experience glitches here and there. We call that “learning.” 🙂 Give yourself grace, keep moving forward, offer great content, and your audience will grow.

Last step?

Close your computer and take a well-deserved break. Happy emailing!

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

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Marketing Sense

6 Benefits of Serving Your Audience In a Private Group Online or Off

Marketing sense

This 3-part series focuses on growing your author platform in 2024, specifically, via an online community such as a private Facebook group. Note that each article applies to any group, online or offline.

You’ll be surprised how valuable serving your audience in Christ’s name can be to both you and your audience.

It’s easy to feel we’re simply delivering the message God’s given us and letting it fall upon the ground where it may, as in The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.

But in a group where members join because they want your message, it’s a bit different. You can offer your knowledge without hesitation or equivocation, knowing it will fall upon good soil. Your readers, listeners, or visitors want your message, and want to apply it. That frees you to communicate with more confidence, creativity, and boldness than you may have previously communicated. To answer a question and receive a heartfelt thanks in minutes is more than gratifying. It energizes your soul!

Let’s explore six specific ways serving your audience in Christ’s name directly benefits you.

Benefit #1

Promising to show up regularly will pull you out of your writer’s cave mentally, physically, or both. The more that thought makes you squirm in your chair, the more necessary it is you do it. Your audience–and mine–needs us to engage with them. And though we may not realize it yet, we need to engage with them, too, as a Christian communicator and as a human being.

Benefit #2

By definition, such a group gathers like-minded people together. Both parties are blessed. As you and I show up to serve our audience, they show up to learn from us.

In that back-and-forth process, they serve us by asking additional questions, requesting further clarification, sharing insights we haven’t experienced, and by talking amongst themselves, which confirms our point was understood (or not).

Benefit #3

As members apply your message (which is really God’s message in you) their lives begin to change. They’ll mention that to those they know, some of whom are also in your target audience. Thus, your community grows, and in some cases, your expertise is recognized even outside the group.

Benefit #4

Some both serve and promote their products or services in their group.

Benefit #5

Whatever your preferred method of serving, it fits a group: in-person, online, via posts on your social media only, short or long videos offering short or long content or training…and so on.

Benefit #6

All of the five options above refine your message. How so? No matter how often you’ve sat in your office reviewing your content in your mind, there’s no substitute for discussing it over and over (and over).

As new members join, they’ll ask the same questions “old-timers” asked when they joined, giving you yet another opportunity to share your applicable answer. Over time, this polishes your message in ways that delivering it once, such as in your book or speaking presentation, never will.  

The result?

Your message becomes deeper, richer, and more on point. You’ll share it more succinctly, with new, clearer examples than before. You’ll notice patterns previously unseen, and the organization of it will become a visual in your mind, ready to be drawn upon instantly.

Those benefits will make you a better communicator, which in turn will make you a more interesting interview guest. And dare I say it? That gives you an opportunity to grow your audience even further while also–if Christ allows–selling more books.

No wonder so many successful Christian authors host a private Facebook group!  

(This concludes this short series.)

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

Use Free Events to Grow Your Audience

Marketing sense

Your book is launching in 6 months. Reviewing your email list, you see 37 active subscribers (people who currently open your emails) and 236 dormant subscribers (people who subscribed long ago but then stopped opening new emails, so while they’re on your email list, you’re basically strangers).

This is not good. Your subscribers are VIPs…Very Important People. Other than your family and friends, they’re the ones most likely to buy and promote your book. It takes time to attract new subscribers and then 2-4 months to develop a relationship by serving them regularly via weekly or bi-monthly emails. So you’re tight on time. But don’t panic. You can do this!

Of all the potential options to build up your email list, consider offering one or more free online events.

That might mean one event. One every month. One every other month. One each day for a week. You choose.

You’ll need to make a basic plan, write several emails, promote each event in its turn and give people time to respond to your invitation. The cost to attendees? They only need to share their first name and email address to be added to your email list for one or more events. This allows you to serve them well before the event, keep them up to date about the events as they get nearer, and to follow-up afterwards to stay connected.

Event suggestions

Webinars (a “web-based seminar” focused on your book’s subject), free trainings (to teach attendees how to complete a single, basic task connected to your book’s topic), live Q&A, or interviews (with you as the host, or ask a friend to interview you) are all good choices.

The purpose of these special events is to attract potential book buyers, not by using sales tactics but by offering free, valuable education directly related to your book’s content.

If you don’t have many email subscribers or social media followers, most attendees won’t know you, so they won’t value your offer…yet. Some will attend just to get your free stuff. Then they’ll decide if they want to hear more from you. They’re expecting to see you in action offering your version of humor, help, and wisdom.

You don’t need to be a professional presenter; you need to be prepared.

Think of these events as an online get-together with friends who don’t yet know each other but they’re all interested in learning what you’re offering. Lord willing, they’ll warm up to you and each other as the event progresses. 🙂

A few tasks must be completed before you begin promoting and well before your event begins. Expect to work these tasks into your schedule for 2-4 weeks. You’ll be soooo glad you worked ahead.

You’ll want an “email provider,” a company that stores your attendees’ info so you don’t have to, which allows you to send out emails to all your attendees at once rather than emailing them individually from your personal computer (don’t ever do that!).

Invite interested parties to “sign up” or “opt in”

Create a page on your website dedicated for this purpose or by contacting your email provider (Aweber, Constant Contact, MailChimp, there are many to choose from) and requesting their help to build a “landing page.”  That’s super-simple once you know how to do it, and miraculously, most email providers offer to do it for you at no charge. Check with your provider.

Once created, that page will have a unique URL (link) you can share in your emails and social media promotions. You must get the word out if you want people to attend! Ask friends to share your promotional graphics on their social media.

It’s important to include subscribers who’ve gone dormant.

They were interested in your message once. Give them a chance to reconnect by sending a re-engagement email. See How to Reactivate a Dormant Email List.

After that email goes out, send them your regular weekly or bi-monthly emails so they won’t go dormant again. You want them on your email list to let them know about your upcoming free events.

For new subscribers, write a short series of Welcome emails and upload them to your email provider. For help with content ideas, see Welcome Email Series Part One and Parts Two-Four.

Write in your voice.

Help readers “see” your personality. Offer valuable advice. All in one 4-part email series. These emails should be roughly three short paragraphs. Then, with help from your email provider if necessary, send all your readers weekly or bi-monthly emails that you’ve written and uploaded ahead of time. Ask your email provider about an “email automation.”

Must you be the leading authority on your subject matter for your events to succeed? No, though it’s wonderful if you are. 🙂

Remember that you know more about your topic than your audience does. That’s why they’ll attend. They’ll want your content.

Free events require preparation time on the front-end, but by completing the various tasks mentioned above, you’re less likely to need paid ads (though they’re wonderful if you have the funds).

Book launches–and free events–have multiple moving parts. Do what you can, as you can, even if it’s less than you’d hoped to do. Christ sees all you’re juggling personally and professionally. Have peace that He knows you’ve done your best. That’s all He asks.

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

Write Blog Posts Readers Read

Marketing sense

The most engaging blog posts have five elements: content, a title, subheads, images, and white space.

If you haven’t already, break your primary topic down into 6-8 secondary topics, those subjects you consistently offer your audience. If you use WordPress, these subjects can become your blog categories.

Then dissect each secondary topic into a tertiary topic as a “mini topic.” These can become your blog’s tags…still a vital part of your message but lower on the food chain.

If you’re new to blogging, first create blog posts about your primary topic, then each secondary subject, and finally, your tertiary material. Working from the center out allows you to offer a broad range of helpful information without straying from your primary message.

After you go broad, go deep next. Choose one of your three content levels (primary, secondary, or tertiary) and take your reader on a deep dive focused on a single point. A short blog post that’s utterly clear is more valuable than a long one that bounces back and forth, getting nowhere.

There are no rigid rules here. This is a simple way to offer valuable content without covering your office walls with content ideas. Even a content plan as simple as the one mentioned above can keep you on track. Offer what you know your readers want to know, and they’ll return, bringing their friends.

Create a Great Title to Catch Your Reader’s Eye by Revealing Your Content’s Direction (Not the Content Itself)

Be careful your title doesn’t include every pertinent morsel or your reader won’t need to, well, read it. 🙂

Here’s a fictional example for an article about a prisoner’s escape and subsequent financial gain: How I Escaped Alcatraz and Became a Millionaire.

No reason to read that article! The title reveals all the main points.

What if we changed it to… The Last Man to Escape Alcatraz. There’s some intrigue in that headline, yes? The title reveals enough about the article’s content without revealing everything. Curiosity would draw readers to this article.

Why Are Subheads Important?

Everywhere we turn, we’re exposed to content. Usually it’s too long, too boring, and disorganized. So we’ve learned to scan before reading.  

Subheads–bolded words sized slightly larger than your content’s text–seen above–show readers your post’s structure at a glance.

Without subheads, readers have two options:

#1: read the entire article to discover what it’s about, or

#2: leave your website.

Guess which one they’re more likely to do? Subheads help readers scan. Use them.

Images Support Your Content

Photographs, diagrams, maps, and so on increase your content’s value by supporting it. Even a basic visual is better than none, “pulling” readers down the page so (say it with me) they will keep reading.

Why Readers Like “White Space” Even if They Don’t Know What It Is

Blank, empty space gives readers a visual break. We’ve both landed on a website crammed with paragraph after paragraph of single-spaced text. Don’t we leave immediately? Our eyes need space to differentiate one point or paragraph from another.

White space increases readability. We’re more likely to understand-and share–content when we can read it, right?

These five elements, used together, can transform a “so-so” blog post into one your readers will savor for years. Write one. Then another. And another. And watch your audience grow.

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

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Marketing Sense

Are You Making This Costly Email Mistake?

Marketing sense

It seemed like such a great idea. Last summer, with four Lead Magnets offered on my website’s Home page, I created five more (private) Lead Magnets, each coordinating with one of my five-part continuing sessions at a Christian writers’ conference.

Nine active Lead Magnets! Sweeeet, right? Read on!

Content, design, and creation went smoothly. At the end of each continuing session at the conference, I shared the link to that session’s Lead Magnet with class attendees. (They were not made public.)

A few conferees opted-in for one session-related Lead Magnet. Some for three. Some for all five. It was smooth sailing until (cue the scary music)…my 4-part Welcome email series, unique to each Lead Magnet’s topic, ran its course.

That’s when I realized I’d goofed. BIG TIME! My email well had run dry because though I’d worked ahead and had my Welcome email series uploaded, I stopped working ahead without realizing I’d pay for it.

One bright morning, having already posted a well-thought-out email for each of my four Home page’s Lead Magnets each week, it hit me…I’d need an email for each of the five new Lead Magnet subscriber groups, too.

Nine weekly emails, each requiring content unique to that Lead Magnet’s topic.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Every week. Along with my many other duties. Ack! But I met my obligation.

I rode that horse for four months. Then, exhausted, I merged all nine Lead Magnet subscriber groups together and sent the same email to everyone.

But that’s not a long-term solution. In my *Welcome email series, I’d promised to guide new subscribers deeper into the topic of their chosen Lead Magnet. I couldn’t keep that promise if I stopped writing nine separate emails.

In a revolving door of poor choices, I had to choose one.

So I’ve been sending one weekly email to all subscribers of all nine Lead Magnets,
rotating topics each week. Not just a short paragraph or two; a fully developed article. But only one per week. Not nine.

Subscribers are getting powerful content, but it’s not focused on their unique interest, revealed by the Lead Magnets they requested. Sigh. 🙁

I’m asking Christ for a better solution. (He is The Perfect Marketer, you know.)

Unintentionally trapping myself into this content corner is a valuable lesson I’ll not forget. Plus, it’s embarrassing. Then why share it here…publicly? To help you avoid such a slip-up.

Does That Mean You Should Only Offer One Lead Magnet at a Time?

No! Lead Magnets are your most effective marketing asset…and they’re FREE! Done well, each one helps you grow your online platform by showcasing a different slice of your knowledge to your ideal audience. Show them you know “your stuff” via this short content piece, and they’ll want more from you including, perhaps, your just released book. 🙂

Here’s the Secret to Getting It All Done on Time

Create your Lead Magnet: design, content, and great title. Next, write your Welcome email sequence. Then plan and write your next 4-8 weekly emails. Upload everything…BEFORE promoting your lead magnet.

Continue working ahead. This healthy habit gives you room to breathe, to address unexpected issues in your personal or professional life, and to enjoy peace of mind. BIG payoff there!

This is how you can avoid the costliest email mistake I’ve made in 20+ years.

Click here read part 1 of my Welcome Email Series and here for parts two-four.

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

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Marketing Sense

3 Effective Lead Magnet Titles & Their Strategies

Marketing sense

Lead Magnets, those 3-10-page PDF files offering readers a simple yet profound change for free, are perhaps my favorite marketing tool.  

They’re short. Nimble. Easy to create. And audiences LOVE them…once they’ve experienced a great one from us.

Here’s what we often miss: our Lead Magnet’s title is more important than our content because readers decide to sign up for it–or not–based on the title. They’ll never see your life-changing content if your Lead Magnet’s title doesn’t attract them in the first place.

Information alone doesn’t cut it. Insightful information is what our audiences want. Help to move beyond where they are now to (at least) the next step. With a title that is obviously applicable to them and (bonus points!) promises a specific result.

First, you must know your audience and their needs. Generalizations aren’t good enough. Lead Magnets, like any type of content, should address your unique audience, not “everyone.”

So…which questions is your audience asking? Choose one of their most pressing questions and answer it in a Lead Magnet.

Or what problems are they experiencing? Choose one of their most painful problems and offer a solution in a Lead Magnet.

Share wisdom from your God-given message that helps your audience get “unstuck.”

Let your title drive your content, not the other way round.

To create your Lead Magnet’s title, choose ONE topic within your overall message. Then choose a single question or problem within that topic that often surfaces when chatting with your audience.

Next, put on your thinking cap and choose a specific question or problem they’re grappling with, and you’ve got a great start on a Lead Magnet that will attract your audience’s attention and inspire them to sign up for it, thus helping them move one step closer to their goal while growing your email list. See how it works?

Enjoy the 3 fictitious examples below.

Example #1

Writer or Speaker: MaryAnn, whose audience is Christian women over 40 and pregnant with their first child, but not in perfect health.

Audience’s Problem or Question: With my health problems, will I be able to carry my baby full term?

Weak Lead Magnet Title: Take Care of Your Health During Pregnancy

Strong Lead Magnet Title: Pregnant and Over 40: 3 Warning Signs You Should Go to the Hospital NOW!

See why it’s imperative to know your audience and their needs? Imagine if MaryAnn served teens pregnant out of wedlock. That single difference would completely change her content. The title, Take Care of Your Health During Pregnancy fits any pregnant woman. While Pregnant and Over 40: 3 Warning Signs You Should Go to the Hospital NOW! is perfect for her specific audience, because this issue is top of mind for them.

This Lead Magnet title may attract other pregnant women outside of MaryAnn’s core audience. What to do? Focus on the audience Christ has already identified and serve them with excellence while inviting other pregnant women to become readers, too.

Leave it to Him to inspire others to sign up or not. But MaryAnn shouldn’t veer from her core audience to accommodate other pregnant women unless the Holy Spirit leads her to do so.

Example #2

Writer or Speaker: John, whose audience is Christian men ready to give up on their marriage.

Audience’s Problem or Question: How much longer does God want me to keep trying?

Weak Lead Magnet Title: Don’t Give Up on Your Marriage Yet!

Strong Lead Magnet Title: 5 Questions to Ask God Before Calling a Divorce Lawyer

Each of John’s audience members is married, so he serves two people per couple: one directly and one indirectly. Both need his message but only one may be open to it. He can’t change that but he’s wise to be aware of it.

Don’t Give Up on Your Marriage Yet! is more specific than generic, but is it specific enough to get his audience’s attention as they scroll through social media or visit his website?

The title sits on the page like a dead fish, doesn’t it? It’s not particularly engaging or intriguing. Worse, readers may interpret it a thin chastisement just when they’re seeking encouragement to stay the course.

The title, 5 Questions to Ask God Before Calling a Divorce Lawyer subtly invites John’s reader to push the pause button before contacting an attorney. It’s not judgmental in any way. It reveals John will share Christian content. And he won’t preach at them. Whew! His readers need all that information to feel safe enough to sign up for his Lead Magnet.

But shouldn’t the title be vague so if the reader’s spouse sees it, it won’t create strife? Perhaps. Then again, if the title doesn’t clearly identify the Lead Magnet’s content, it won’t get his ideal reader’s attention, so his content–fantastic as it may be–won’t help anyone.

Example #3

Writer or Speaker: Frances, whose audience is recently widowed Christian women of any age.

Audience’s Problem or Question: Will I ever be happy again?

Weak Lead Magnet Title: Be Happy in Jesus Today!

Strong Lead Magnet Title: 3 Surprising Ways God Will Fulfill the Role of  Your Husband

The Lead Magnet title, Be Happy in Jesus Today! is so vague it’s useless as it could apply to any human being. Even though Frances’ audience members span age groups, they still want specificity to know her message is uniquely designed for them.

The title, 3 Surprising Ways God Will Fulfill the Role of Your Husband is specific (3 ways) and includes a promise (God will fulfill the role of your husband). It’s important to note that Frances is not making that promise. God makes it, in His Word. Frances knows her audience longs for this reassurance, making this a strong Lead Magnet title. It will surely attract new subscribers.

It’s worth the effort to develop a title that identifies or implies your audience AND promises a result. Your audience will thank you and your email list will grow. 🙂

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

Welcome Email Series Example: Part 1

Marketing sense

When a new subscriber signs up for a Lead Magnet (those 3–10-page free resources we offer in exchange for a subscriber’s first name and email address), we’re wise to send them a Welcome email series.

Why?

To connect with them person-to-person instead of digitally “tossing” them the promised resource and then returning to whatever we were doing.

Below you’ll see the first of the four actual emails I sent when delivering–in this case–a free resource titled Titles That Fit. It coordinates with a workshop I delivered by that same name at a  conference.

Watch for the remaining three Welcome emails over the next three months.

(Notice the red asterisks and their coordinating, strategic comments after the email content.)

***

Email #1 Title: Do You Write Titles or Craft Them?

Content: Hi, [first name]! Good to (digitally) meet you at (insert conference title here ’23)!

I enjoyed serving you via my workshop, Titles That Fit.

Thanks very much for requesting my workshop’s Slide Deck. It will arrive *tomorrow. I pray you find it a valuable reference.

** For now, let’s chat about you, shall we? 🙂

What’s the difference between writing a title and crafting one?

The first seems simple. We begin our project with a working title then invest hours, months, or years writing our content. We know it well. Tweaking our title’s final version should be a cinch, yes?

Strangely, that familiarity can keep us from writing our best title. Why?

Because when we’re so close to our content, we often come up with a title that’s generic without realizing it. Trying to capture the overall concept, we may go too broad.

Imagine attending a party when a new acquaintance asks why you do / did love your spouse. How can you choose The Perfect Answer in only 30 seconds?

In such situations, we go wide instead of deep, weakening our answer at the very moment we want to be precise.

It’s like that with our titles sometimes.

On the other hand, great titles are crafted. Let’s talk about that next time.

Watch for my email ***tomorrow (unless today’s Sunday–then it will be sent out Monday).

It will include the link to my Slide Deck for Titles That Fit.

Till next time,

Patricia

**** P.S. I usually attend (insert name of conference here) but could not this year, so be sure to give me a hug at next year’s conference. Deal? 🙂

————————————–

Strategies for Email #1

In the Strategy List below, you’ll find a duplicate of every sentence above shown with an asterisk, then my strategy, so you don’t have to scroll up and down the page constantly. You’re welcome. 🙂

#1: It will arrive in your Inbox *tomorrow.

(Why not just send the Lead Magnet’s link with this first email or attach it to the email? Because I want a valid reason to connect with them again very soon after my initial contact.)

#2: **For now, let’s chat about you, shall we? 🙂

(The first three sentences in this paragraph contain our “business.”

In this fourth sentence in my first Welcome email, I turn the conversation fully upon the reader by sharing an awkward story describing a situation we’ve all suffered through. Writing in a conversational manner, I hope my choice of words creates a sense of “you and I are in this together” mindset for my reader.

If they’ve been in an awkward situation–even if it’s not the one I shared–we have an additional point of connection. That’s a good thing. 🙂

#3: Watch for my email ***tomorrow (unless today’s Sunday–then it will be sent out Monday).

(This is a casual, non-aggressive reminder that I fully intend to deliver the promised free resource, but not today. It’s bolded so it will draw their eye–they’re more likely to read it. And it’s above my signature instead of randomly placed in a paragraph “somewhere” on the page.

The italicized text lets my reader know I don’t send emails on Sundays.

This is a personal choice and not a typical one, so it needs to be mentioned. No need to explain how or why I made that decision; that’s not the point.

The point is if they subscribe on a Sunday, they can expect the promised information on Monday.

#4: **** P.S. I usually attend (insert name of conference here) but could not this year, so be sure to give me a hug at next year’s conference. Deal? 🙂

(This is a subtle way to let my subscriber know I’m familiar with the conference mentioned. I’m a member of the same group, so I’m part of their world, not just “the world at large.”

I’m inviting them to connect with me in person without using those words.

See how it can work? 🙂

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

Will Your Book Be the Best Kept Secret Online?

Marketing sense

Nondescript, the small store named *Joe’s Mattress! lay nestled in between two, more active businesses. Its blandness caught my eye, inspiring me to study it while waiting for its next-door neighbor, a popular restaurant, to open.

A tasteful Labor Day Sale notice written in the same white text as the store’s name was unviewable because of the Handicapped Parking sign. Nothing about the sign attracted attention, a guarantee that few noticed it. Their “marketing” is making them our area’s best kept secret.

Back in the Dark Ages when I was a child, my parents purchased new mattresses from the leading hometown department store. Yours probably did, too.

Then 20 or so years ago, direct from the factory mattress stores popped up across the country.

Local “Mom and Pop” retailers are tired but still in there pitching. Factory-direct stores have an advantage over local locations with regional or national marketing. Deeper pockets offer opportunities unavailable to the “wing and a prayer” marketing approach. But often, locals prefer to do business with home-town folks.

Do you have deep pockets to fund your book’s marketing efforts?

How far is your “wing and a prayer” approach taking you?

Which low-cost marketing efforts are you utilizing?

Do you present short “live” trainings on social media to attract new audience members?

Do you promote your book on a regular basis via email without wearying your subscribers?

Do you belong to one or more online groups where up-and-comers and professionals join together to create an event that can, collectively, promote each member’s book more than if each were to go it alone?

Do you request a guest spot on podcasts that fit both your audience’s needs and your message?

The beauty of online marketing is that most of it is free, or nearly so.

Social media videos are short and can gain a lot of traction–and an audience–quickly.

Ignore the myths suggesting you must have years of video hosting experience…your target market wants to see the real you, not the “perfect” you.

Goofs, slip-ups, and hitting the wrong button when closing out your video help your audience get to know the real you. Ask me how I know. 🙂

You can become a pro on video without paying a professional video company.

Do you vomit at the thought of being on camera? Ask Christ to give you opportunities so you can become comfortable. Video communication is here to stay. Don’t get left behind.

If you need to, ease into video. Open a free Zoom account. Want to be benefit from video but not ready to be interviewed yet? Interview others instead! Practice with friends using a free Zoom account. Share those videos or don’t, as you wish. The first goal is to become comfortable on camera and with the software.

Host a webinar or other live event offering content to benefit your audience. It can be a public event or in a private Facebook group…yours or someone else’s. Either way, promote it!

This has a double benefit. As you help others become comfortable sharing their message, other interviewers are more likely to invite you to be their guests. Now you’re talkin’ baby!

What are you doing to help your audience find you in the crowded marketplace?

Or will your book be the best kept secret online?

*(Names were changed to protect the innocent.) 🙂

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

What’s the Big Deal About Lead Magnets?

Marketing sense

A Lead Magnet is a marketing tool. “Lead Magnet” is marketing speak for what is typically a 3-10 page PDF. It should answer a single question or solve a single problem 1) your audience is experiencing that 2) ties into your message.

No need to give away a fantastic resource that has nothing in common with your topic. Sharing the first 10 questions for readers to ask when booking a ski lodge won’t attract your ideal target market if your message focuses on homeschooling. Can I get a witness? 🙂

You’ve seen scads of Lead Magnets throughout your years online. A 5-day challenge. A 3-part video training. A webinar. Some other type of event (the sky’s the limit) that your ideal target market will find useful. Plus, the basic standard mentioned above (a 3-10 page PDF).

By default, Lead Magnets are free.

Why go to all that work only to give it away to strangers?

Because our goal is to attract people who do not yet know they’re in our target market!

Marketers give away valuable resource(s) to draw the attention of new readers. We want them to sign up to our email list so we can stay in touch with them consistently (not constantly!). The long-term goal is to develop a relationship via email.

As we serve our subscribers regularly, offering practical, actionable information to make their life easier (related to our message), they get to know us, and vice-versa. We serve them. Serve them. Then serve them some more.

And occasionally, we share our latest or greatest CD, book, product, or course. Whatever we’re offering for sale at that time.

It’s much easier to share such info with a friend you’ve helped every week for years, isn’t it?

Pitching our products to people we don’t know and who don’t know us is an expensive, uphill battle.

Make it easier for yourself and your reader by giving them a taste of your knowledge, personality, wisdom, and so on, in only 3-10 short pages filled with content that HELPS THEM.

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship. 🙂

Including a free Lead Magnet offer on your website’s Home page “above the fold” is wise. More visitors look at that section of your website than any area other. If they like what they see there, they’ll explore further. (See last month’s article to discover what to include in your Home page’s “above the fold” area.)

Creating a Lead Magnet isn’t rocket science, though it can seem to be when first starting out.

A few examples I’m offering right now listed below. Each is a short PDF.

Title: Platform Audit

Subtitle: Discover your platforms assets and liabilities in 6 key areas.

Title: Write Emails That Get Opened!

Subtitle: 35 Content Prompts to Write Great Emails Every Time

Title: Podcast Prep 101

Subtitle: 20 Questions to Nail Your Interview!

Title: Your First (Product or Program) Launch

Subtitle: Steps 1-5

There are more. That’s enough to give you an idea of the free resource’s content and your interest level in it.

That’s what we want to do with all our Lead Magnets.

Great title and subtitle. Helpful content that matters to your audience and is directly tied to your message, and an invitation to sign up for it using one of those itty-bitty boxes called an “opt-in” box. You’ve filled out 100s of them.

“But what if my Lead Magnet turns out to be a flop?” I’m often asked. It happens!

Get up off the floor, dust yourself off, and try again.

Keep creating new, fresh Lead Magnets until readers respond to first this one and then that one. Their response–or lack of it–shows you what they’re interested in. Make more like that.

And watch your email list (and your platform) grow!

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

What to Include in Your Home Page’s “Above the Fold” Area

Marketing sense

Are you pleased with your website’s Home page? The way it looks, its design, and most important, its effectiveness? If not, read on!

Beneath your Menu bar (sometimes called the Navigation bar–it’s at the top of your web page) is your most important real estate anywhere online. It’s referred to as the area, “above the fold,” or “above the scroll,” meaning the part of your Home page readers can see without having to scroll further down the page to see it all.

More visitors will see this area than any other on your website. Ever. It has a vital job: to get your visitor’s attention and inspire them to sign up for your free resource (called a Lead Magnet in marketing speak).

Within this “above the fold” area, the most effective websites include two columns. They’re not visually separated into columns, but you want each column’s contents to take up approximately the same amount of width and height.

Include the following elements in either the right or left column areas:

A great, color photo of YOU that takes up that area of the page “above the fold,” along with your name and title (Author, Public Relation Expert, whatever’s applicable). That should fill the entire “above the scroll” space but not spill out from it.

In the second, opposite column, include four short areas of text and an opt-in button:

#1: a short description of your audience (my audience is Christian writers and speakers).

#2: your main headline for this area addressing the frustration or goal your audience seeks to change, OR a strong statement that will resonate with your audience.

#3: a single line of text shaped in the form of a promise or a result.

#4: two short paragraphs–only 1-2 sentences each–identifying the frustration or goal you know your audience is seeking to change.

Plus:

– an opt-in box that includes two small text boxes, one each for your reader’s first name and email address, and

– your CTA (call-to-action) button for readers to click or press after they’ve “signed up” for your free resource (added their name and email to receive it).

You’ve seen 100’s or 1,000’s of these opt-in boxes through your many years online.

It’s very important that the text on your call-to-action button is not the word, “SUBMIT.” No one wants to submit. To anything. Particularly not to a total stranger.

The Website Police aren’t going to drag you out of your home at 3AM if you use SUBMIT, but since we know readers find it offensive, why use it?

There are so many other, non-offensive options! In fact, text that’s related to your giveaway (called a Lead Magnet) is much wiser.

Say you’re giving away a checklist of various sizes and uses of skillets for gourmet cooks. Your CTB button text could be, “I need to use the right skillet!”  Or if it fits your personality, consider, “Gimme the checklist!” or, “Checklist, please!”

You could also use a phrase as simple and direct as, “Sign me up!” or “I need this info!” Use whatever seems best to you.

Note that your website theme may have a limit on how many characters (letters) your CTA button allows. So, if you have a fun phrase but it has too many letters, simply experiment until you find a shorter version and you’re all set!

Studies show that filling your Home page’s area “above the fold” with an offer your audience considers a “must have” will spur growth.

Fill the balance of your Home page with pertinent content that seems right to you.

The options are limitless. Research competitors and near-competitors for fresh inspiration. No need to copy anyone. Christ is creative enough to give each of us a unique viewpoint for the message He’s gifted us to serve.

But keep your Home page’s area “above the fold” exclusive, using it only to showcase your current free resource (Lead Magnet).

Try it! You’ll like it! So goes the Alka-Seltzer marketing phrase from the early 70’s. 🙂

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

How to Serve Multiple Audience Categories via One Email

Marketing sense

(NOTE: This doesn’t apply to multiple audiences. They rarely have sustainable, overlapping needs.)

Serving multiple audience categories via email is one of our most challenging goals as marketers. So why is it necessary?

“THAT is the right question, Detective Spooner,”

(I,Robot reference there). 🙂

Unless you’re a brand-new marketer (if you are, welcome!), you likely have more than one audience segment, sometimes called an audience category. If we regularly send one-size-fits-all emails, subscribers won’t stick around long. There are too many others who will offer them what they specifically want. Generic won’t do.

Let’s back up and start at the beginning with an oversimplified example.

Let’s say our audience, in one word, is “mothers.” And our topic is also one word, “relationships.” There are roughly, oh, about a gazillion intersections between those two descriptions, agreed?

So, let’s break it down further, separating all mothers in our audience into groups called “categories” or “segments” in email lingo.

We want to identify the strongest commonality between them.

That might be their age, ethnicity, nationality, marital status, income…the list goes on and on. When we dig deeper, we see a clear distinction not in their ages, but in their children’s ages.

We can further separate them into–in this case–three groups: moms with toddlers, moms with elementary age children, and moms with high school / college age children.

In this fictional scenario, these mothers want content related to their children’s relational development.

While each group has unique differences from the other two, collectively, they have intersecting needs, goals, pain points, and interests, too. Instead of one generic email that doesn’t fit anyone, we can send a single email to focus on one specific question, goal, etc., the entire group is asking or working toward. It will fit each of these mothers individually…with only one email. Sweeeet!

But how we identify their common points of interest?

Picture a 2-circle Venn diagram. Each circle is independent of the other, except for a small area where they overlap. That overlapped area is what both groups have in common.

Now add a third circle to make a 3-way Venn diagram. Each circle is still independent of the others, yet there’s one 3-way overlap (it’s obvious if you ask Google to show you an image).

That single section where the three circles overlap represents your audience’s common challenges, obstacles, dreams, joys, etc., for their children and their children’s relationships.   

If your goal is to write ONE email that’s applicable to each of your three audience groups, draw from that small, intersecting area in your 3-way Venn diagram for an idea, and it will fit every reader in these three categories to a “T.”

Suppose you want to send a Special Notice of some kind to only one of your three audience groups, and you want the remaining two groups to get a “regular” email?

Send that specific group a unique email (separate from the other two groups) with the Special Notice that pertains only to them.

Follow your normal process (based upon your 3-way Venn Diagram’s overlap) to write one email for the remaining two groups and send.

Next time, return to the overlapping obstacles, dreams, etc., shown in your diagram, and continue sending readers your best content!

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

35 Blog Post Ideas When You’re in a Slump

Marketing sense

The age-old question, “I’ve covered everything under the sun! What else is there to write a blog post about?” trips us up regularly.

 See if any of the suggestions below prompt new ideas for you.

  1. Make a list of your message’s foundational points. Cover one point per blog post.
  2. Make a list of FAQ from your audience or readers. Answer one question per blog post.
  3. What about the most common challenges your audience / readers face? You guessed it! Address one challenge per blog post and help them overcome it.
  4. Write a bulleted list of helpful, insider tips or DIY instructions related to your message.
  5. Share how God called you to your ministry and invite readers to share their stories with you via a return email or a comment on the social media post you create to promote this blog post.
  6. Share how you knew this ministry idea was from God and not from last night’s pizza. 🙂
  7. What’s going on in the news that ties into your primary message?
  8. Have a new project coming up? Share the behind-the-scenes activity.
  9. Which new book have you read or heard about recently? Why might that be a good fit for your readers?
  10. What’s the history of your favorite holiday? How can you tie that into your message?
  11. Share a gift idea for those you serve (that their loved one might give them).
  12. What startling or just released statistic relates to your message and your audience?
  13. Book launch coming up? Invite readers to support you as book launch team members or ask them to post just once.
  14. Been to a conference lately? What was the most valuable info you learned?
  15. Conference–who was the most interesting person you met, and why?
  16. Conference–who was the best presenter and what made them the best one?
  17. Conference–what’s your overall opinion of it and would you suggest your audience attend?
  18. Conference–does the conference above offer scholarships and if so, how does that process work?
  19. What else can you tell your audience about the conference mentioned above or any other conference?
  20. Write a long “roundup” blog post highlighting all the other blog posts you’ve written on that same topic. Be sure to share the link to each article as you highlight it!
  21. Share book reviews you’ve written, explaining what you did (and did not) like about the book.
  22. Write a blog post listing your favorite blogs about your topic.
  23. Write a blog post listing your favorite podcasts about your topic.
  24. Explain your research process for books, projects, or courses.
  25. Share a list of quotes that apply to your topic.
  26. Share a heartwarming story about your child or grandchild that ties into your topic.
  27. Share your favorite writing or speaking tools, platforms, or resources, and why they’re your favorite.
  28. Share three common myths related to your topic and explain why they’re not true.
  29. Share your daily schedule and invite readers to share theirs.
  30. Share how you manage your time and invite readers to share their schedule.
  31. Share your process to find the perfect title for your books or products.
  32. Share your primary goal(s) when posting on social media.
  33. Explain what a blog tour is and how your readers can be part of one.
  34. Make a list of the influencers you follow and why.
  35. Describe how you hope your message impacts your audience.

Whew! That’s a lot of ideas! Praying more than one is helpful. 🙂

Categories
Marketing Sense

6 Benefits of Serving Your Audience In a Private Group Online or Off

Marketing sense

This 3-part series focuses on growing your author platform in 2023, specifically, via an online community such as a private Facebook group. Note that each article applies to any group, online or offline.

You’ll be surprised how valuable serving your audience in Christ’s name can be to both you and your audience.

It’s easy to feel we’re simply delivering the message God’s given us and letting it fall upon the ground where it may, as in The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.

But in a group where members join because they want your message, it’s a bit different. You can offer your knowledge without hesitation or equivocation, knowing it will fall upon good soil. Your readers, listeners, or visitors want your message, and want to apply it. That frees you to communicate with more confidence, creativity, and boldness than you may have previously communicated. To answer a question and receive a heartfelt thanks in minutes is more than gratifying. It energizes your soul!

Let’s explore six specific ways serving your audience in Christ’s name directly benefits you.

Benefit #1: Promising to show up regularly will pull you out of your writer’s cave mentally, physically, or both. The more that thought makes you squirm in your chair, the more necessary it is you do it. Your audience–and mine–needs us to engage with them. And though we may not realize it yet, we need to engage with them, too, as a Christian communicator and as a human being.

Benefit #2: By definition, such a group gathers like-minded people together. Both parties are blessed. As you and I show up to serve our audience, they show up to learn from us.

In that back-and-forth process, they serve us by asking additional questions, requesting further clarification, sharing insights we haven’t experienced, and by talking amongst themselves, which confirms our point was understood (or not).

#3: As members apply your message (which is really God’s message in you) their lives begin to change. They’ll mention that to those they know, some of whom are also in your target audience. Thus, your community grows, and in some cases, your expertise is recognized even outside the group.

#4: Some both serve and promote their products or services in their group.

#5: Whatever your preferred method of serving, it fits a group: in-person, online, via posts on your social media only, short or long videos offering short or long content or training…and so on.

#6: All of the five options above refine your message. How so? No matter how often you’ve sat in your office reviewing your content in your mind, there’s no substitute for discussing it over and over (and over).

As new members join, they’ll ask the same questions “old-timers” asked when they joined, giving you yet another opportunity to share your applicable answer. Over time, this polishes your message in ways that delivering it once, such as in your book or speaking presentation, never will.  

The result? Your message becomes deeper, richer, and more on point. You’ll share it more succinctly, with new, clearer examples than before. You’ll notice patterns previously unseen, and the organization of it will become a visual in your mind, ready to be drawn upon instantly.

Those benefits will make you a better communicator, which in turn will make you a more interesting interview guest. And dare I say it? That gives you an opportunity to grow your audience even further while also–if Christ allows–selling more books.

No wonder so many successful Christian authors host a private Facebook group!  

(This concludes this short series.)

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

How to Serve Your Facebook Group Without Sharing Your Book’s Content

Marketing sense

This series focuses on growing your author platform in 2023, specifically, via an online community such as a private Facebook group.  Suggesting this when delivering workshops at Christian writers’ groups, I consistently hear, “But I don’t want to share my book’s content!”

Of course not. And you don’t have to because you know MUCH more than just your book’s content. You’ve lived, learned, and applied the principles in your book, haven’t you? Collected stories illustrating your points? Interviewed experts? Researched the Word and other resources to support your message?

Comparing your collective knowledge about your topic to your book’s content, there’s no contest. Your book contains segments of your wisdom; not everything you know. 🙂

You could spend years serving an online group without directly sharing your book’s content…because there are so many coordinating topics and sub-topics surrounding it.

A Facebook Group Is Ideal for Simultaneously Connecting to and
Developing a Relationship With Your Audience

Consider making your group “private” and “visible,” meaning that non-members can locate it online but cannot see its members or its posts.

Those two choices combined allow you to share the group’s link publicly and/or privately yet still vet potential members. The best of both worlds!

You Don’t Have to Become Your Group’s Sheriff

As your Facebook group’s Admin, you’re responsible for everything: training, responding to comments, adding new posts, vetting and welcoming new members, washing the windows…

Oh, wait, ignore that last example. 🙂

But it’s simple enough to reduce your workload by inviting one or more members to be moderators. They won’t have access to the full group settings, so they can’t lead a coup. Their role is to support you, respond to posts as they’re able, and notify you if a post (or a member) requires your attention.

My group doesn’t have moderators, and I’m the only admin. That means more responsibility. As the only member to create posts, I may appear to be a control-freak. Not true. Instead, this approach allows me to fulfill my other, non-FB-group duties and still offer group members a safe haven to: connect with me and other members, ask questions, explore freely, share encouragement one to another, and so on, without unruly or unkind members suggesting otherwise. You and I have been in other groups with little interaction from its leaders. Unruly or unkind members can wreak havoc in such groups that takes a long time to repair.

I believe in safeguarding the hen house before the fox visits. 🙂

The key to getting it all done is how you create / choose your content.

Release New Content on a Schedule That Works for You

Some online group administrators focus the bulk of their efforts inside their group. Others rarely show up. Find a rhythm that doesn’t run you in the ground and doesn’t cause members to feel ignored.

New content–both regular and unique–keeps the group in motion. You don’t want the wheels to stop, yet no one–including you–can spend all day every day there. Your members understand. They can’t keep up that pace, either.

Consider posting content based upon the day (ask this question every Monday, share that resource every Tuesday, and so on) or based upon an activity common to your group (this week’s goals, share your latest blog post, who needs help with Topic XYZ, and so on). There are many more options. This allows new members to join the group’s routine more smoothly, while long-term members become eager to share their answer to that day’s question.  

It also helps you create content ahead of time so you’re not scrambling to “Come with something…anything…to post NOW!” while the clock ticks down. Not that that’s ever happened to me. 🙂

This content creation approach has a measurable benefit, giving you time to create deep-thinking posts, short video trainings in response to members’ questions, research examples that prove a point you made last week or one you plan to make this week. You have time to breathe, while still fulfilling your many other roles AND keeping the conversation going in your online group.

Next month we’ll cover the many benefits of leading an online group in Facebook. The same principles work in other online groups as well.

You’ll be surprised at how valuable serving your audience in Christ’s name can be to both you and your audience!

Part Three of this series next month.

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

Categories
Marketing Sense

Reach Your Audience in 2023

Marketing sense

This month’s edition of Reader’s Digest (Dec ’22 / Jan ’23) included a section near the back called To: Book Lovers, New releases on our wish list, which shared the title, cover image, and a short paragraph about each book.

Two were immediately added to my mental Wish List: The Space Shuttle: A Mission-by-Mission Celebration of NASA’s Extraordinary Spaceflight Program  by Roland Miller, a mission-by-mission log of NASA’ space shuttle program, and Our America: A Photographic History by Ken Burns, a pictorial record covering 180 years of U. S. history.

Wow! Both titles intrigued me so! How to choose? Should I purchase one, both, or invest my funds elsewhere?

Your audience asks these same questions as they compare your book with other books and other non-book items.  Sometimes they’re comparing apples to apples; sometimes apples to giraffes.

We compete with a bazillion products for our audience’s time.

How can your book get the attention it deserves?

Consider focusing on the quality of your writing, the title and sub-title of your book (as well as the back cover copy), and your marketing plan.

My expertise lies in the latter two categories.

Every author has scads of tasks, but these three rise to the top because they will–or won’t–attract your ideal target market.

Without interested readers, even a perfect book won’t gain traction.

You may wonder, “But what about my website, email, social media, Lead Magnets, and the other seemingly endless items everyone shouts for me to do?”

Yes, those items (and more!) need your regular attention. 🙁

But you’ll want to keep The Main Thing your primary focus. Christ first. Family second. Your ministry and book third. The other things next, listed in the order He identifies.

Beginning next month, we’ll dig deeper into ways to market your non-fiction book.

Let’s address one myth right now. The old, “My book is for everyone” myth. If you haven’t yet released that idea, let it go today…please.  

God is the only One who can write a book that fits the needs and answers the questions of women in the armed forces, oncologists recently diagnosed with cancer, homeless veterans with school-age children, entrepreneurs and company CEOs, and so on.

No human being can address every potential issue in a single book.

God’s already done that flawlessly in the Holy Bible. He is the perfect Author. 🙂

I believe every non-fiction book’s audience must have a common thread with each other and for a Christian book, the author needs that same commonality. Our writing is more powerful and more effective when we’ve experienced the issues and/or goals of our audience. This is God’s way.

The experience, pain, challenges, and deliverance should be in our past. How can we guide our audience to a solution if we don’t know the path to freedom? How can we discover that path if we haven’t been on our version of their journey? And how can we assure them He is trustworthy if we haven’t yet been delivered ourselves?

God shapes us for His service tomorrow by applying His principles to our lives today.

Your book must stand out not only from other books on your topic, and not only from other books in general, but from other products whose makers cry for your audience’s attention. You’ll never know what those other products are, but you can make choosing YOUR book amongst all the options a no-brainer.  

The good news? While it takes a long-term, focused approach, it can be done. Yay!

So, which of the two wildly divergent book(s) did I choose? In the end, wisdom prevailed. Since I’m not scientifically minded and unfamiliar with the language and concepts of space exploration, I removed The Space Shuttle from my list. While I would definitely enjoy digging into NASA’s mission logs, that book wouldn’t become a new treasure on my bookshelf.

But Ken Burns’ Our America would be an instant treasure. Why? I’m a history buff, particularly American history. I could picture myself getting lost for hours in that one!

It’s the same with your audience. They’re attracted to YOUR non-fiction book for several reasons: they share common traits with you, they enjoy your communication style, your personality, and your sense of humor, and the clear, results-oriented words you use to describe how your book will help them have a better life in ways that matter to them.

In the coming months, we’ll discover how to sharpen your focus, increase your clarity, and attract your ideal target market.

We have lots to do in 2023. Are you in? See you next month!

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

Yay or Nay: Should Your Blog Be on a Separate Website?

Marketing sense

If your website is on Domain A’s URL (web address) and your blog is on Domain B’s URL, the Google police are not going to come get you. Hooray! But let’s back up a step. Is it wise to have two websites? Consider the following facts.

(NOTE: If you’re using a free website service, ignore Point 2B below.)

Point 1

Think of your website as your digital home…where anyone who wants to know about you or your message can find info about both in one place.

If you have two digital homes (one with your website and one with your blog) seekers will have to (or feel they have to) visit both locations to fully grasp who you are, who you serve, and so on.

How often do you visit two websites to learn about the same person or ministry? I’m guessing your answer is, “Rarely.”

Point 2A

Two websites (even if one’s your blog) cost twice as much, because digitally, they’re separate entities. Both will need to be hosted, maintained, protected, and so on, which requires cold hard cash or its equivalent.

If your blog is on your main website (as a separate, designated area instead of as a separate website), you’ll only pay for one of everything.

Point 2B

Unless you’re using a free hosting and maintenance service, which makes point #2A moot, yet still helpful when making future website decisions.

Point 3

Two websites–whether free or paid– confuse readers accustomed to finding blogs as part of a main site via that site’s URL (web address) by default.

They’ll have to remember to visit your blog’s address for new, fresh articles and your website’s address for the more permanent content such as your mission statement, about page, and the like.

Point 4

Maintaining your website and blog (on two digital “homes”) adds an extra burden to your marketing. How so? Every promotion must include not just your main website’s URL but your blog’s as well, with an explanation about which is which. More potential confusion.

Reader confusion is not good.

“But,” you might say, “that’s not a problem for me. My regular readers know how to find my stuff.” True. But in order to reach new readers–and we ALL want new readers, right?–it’s our responsibility to help people who don’t already know us…find us. Online. Easily. Oh.

Point 5

It’s very important not to have duplicate content on two websites, even if they’re both yours. Experts disagree about the importance of this point. Do your research and decide for yourself.

Point 6

Your Google rank is a real thing. We could both spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to understand SEO. Let’s not do that today.

Instead, let’s talk about incoming links (made when a “BIG DOG” links from their website to yours). This is different from an outgoing link (made when you link from your website to another website, BIG DOG or not).

Why are incoming links so much more valuable? Because the BIG DOG / important person / well-known influencer is a proven entity. They have an established audience made up of loyal fans. They’ve already paid their dues, SEO-wise.

If Martha Stewart, Elon Musk, or a highly regarded leader in your field links to your website, your life could potentially change overnight. That’s not the goal of this article, but it’s a great way to show why incoming links are more valuable.

Imagine turning that around, where you or I link to such a person. Not the same effect, according to Google. So, while it’s good to use outgoing links, they don’t pack the punch that incoming links from important people do. (Google decides who those important people are; we have no voice in the matter.)

Point #7

Let’s imagine you have two sites, using one for your official website and the other for your blog. Incoming links begin pointing toward your sites. Hooray again!

But if those links don’t point to the same site–your website or blog–their power will be diluted, weakening their impact. The link-er gets to choose which site to point their link toward.

Far better to have one site so that ALL the SEO “juice” is given to one site and not randomly split between the two.

Point 8

If you chose two sites long ago and are well established, leave things as they are until, and if, Christ leads you to make a change.

Point 9

Creating your first website is SO exciting! In no time, we hope, the world will be our oyster. But it doesn’t usually happen that way.

There’s lots to learn, including marketing strategy.

But rest easy. As a Christian communicator, God is watching over you, guiding you forward, drawing your audience to you as you serve them in His name.

He doesn’t expect you, me, or anyone else to know everything.

He is our good God, yes?

With His help, you can do this!

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Five Questions to Find Podcasts That Fit Your Message

Marketing sense

All your proverbial ducks are in a row. It’s time to “pitch” podcasters, to let them know you’re available to be interviewed. Woo-hoo!

Do you contact your family, friends, email readers, and Facebook group pals, asking them to connect you with their favorite podcaster? Hmmm…they’re unlikely to have a personal relationship with many podcasters.

Should you Google podcasts or Christian podcasts or Christian podcasts in America to find potential podcasts whose listeners will surely want to hear your story? Perhaps…

Or, like any good writer, you could follow your normal process and do the research to discover which podcasts are a good fit for you before sending your pitch. Let’s choose that path, shall we? 🙂

****

Select up to five podcasts from your research results, then listen to three entire episodes of each. Not one episode, or two, but three, all the way through, and answer the following questions about each podcast.

First question: Is it an interview-style program?

Does the host regularly invite guests to join him or her? If not, move on immediately.

Second question: What patterns do I notice as I listen, and are they positive or negative?

Patterns not noticeable in two episodes tend to surface after listening to three. Is that program–and that host–one with whom you want to be associated publicly? They ask themselves this question about you. You’re wise to ask it yourself…about them.

Third question: What can I offer their audience?

Focus on serving the host’s audience, not on pitching your book. Both goals are two sides of the same coin. Listeners are savvy. Just like you, they know when they’re being used and when they’re being served.

Identify how your presence will benefit the podcaster’s audience. If you can’t answer that question, wait to send out your pitch until you can. From the potential host’s perspective, this is the most important information in your pitch. It needs to fit their audience. Don’t be generic.

Fourth question: Will my personality mesh well with theirs…for a full hour?

As you listen to the various episodes, you’ll get a feel for the host’s interview style and their personality. You know which types of people you connect with best. Most of us have enough experience to adjust on the fly, but we don’t want to spend 60 minutes zigging if the host is consistently zagging. This makes the audience uncomfortable.

Fifth question: How can I connect (not contact) with the host?

Podcasters are people, too. 🙂 They like to know you recognize the value of their program and that as a listener, you appreciate their efforts (not just as a potential guest who wants access to their audience).

For each podcast program you’ll pitch, choose one episode and write a review about it. Then take a screenshot of that review (after you’ve posted online) and include that screenshot with your pitch email. That allows them to see that you’ve listened to their program and didn’t randomly pitch them.

Bonus Point #1: When writing your pitch, be sure to include a clear request to be a guest on their program. This applies whether you’re close friends or total strangers. Sounds obvious, right? But not everyone actually types those words.

Don’t be like the young man who thought he’d proposed but never actually used the words, “Will you marry me?” Clarity will help him get engaged.

It will also help you get booked more often.

Bonus Point #2: Be sure not to include these words in your pitch…”I’ve written a book and I’d love to join you on your program to discuss it.” If you don’t delete that from your email, the host will delete your entire email.

Why? You’re asking them to do you a favor. In their eyes, it’s a BIG favor: you want access to the audience they’ve nurtured and grown. But you’re not offering anything in return, such as a benefit to their audience. (See Question #3 above.) Though very common, this is rude, bad form, and unprofessional.

They’ll remember you, but not for the right reasons.

***

It’s a wondrous gift to be a podcast guest for a program that fits you, and vice versa. You’re given access to people who need want you’re offering but they didn’t know it until they heard your guest interview.

Following these five simple steps will place you light years of your competitors when podcast hosts are searching for guests.

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

How to Grow Your Audience Using Online Workshops: Part Six

Marketing sense

We’ve almost finished preparations for our online workshop! If you’re just joining us, you may wonder…

“Why bother with a live webinar? Can’t I just send that information in an email series?”

Yes, you can, but a live webinar is about more than transferring information. It’s about new and established audience members engaging not only with you…live…but with each other.

And in this, our final segment, we’ll talk about when and what to send in both your pre-launch and post-webinar email series.

Here’s our breakdown of this series so far…

In Part One, we chose our topic.

In Part Two, we identified and researched various title resources.

In Part Three, we chose our title (it’s a dandy!).

In Part Four, we discussed priming our audience for our upcoming webinar using what’s called “pre-launch” emails.

In Part Five, we confirmed our goal and our plan to reach it.

This “live” component is more powerful than it appears. Your readers will also experience community. YOUR community. While learning information they have sought from YOU. Boom!

They’ll learn. They’ll laugh. They’ll value you. They’ll want more. Voila! Your audience has just grown! Now, serve them well, and as Christ leads, periodically promote a paid product or service. Do that once a month or once a year–whatever your marketing plan is–and you’ll have a larger, loyal following. (Hint: That’s a good thing.) 🙂

The last step before our online webinar is our launch email series.

This is a group of emails (usually) created ahead of time and scheduled for release pre-webinar. It’s imperative that readers understand the benefit your free webinar offers, as that will help them choose to attend. It’s up to you to tell them in both your title (Survive These 3 Treacherous Ice-Fishing Dangers) and your email’s content (below).

First email: Send your Webinar Announcement email 14-30 days out.

You want to give your audience time to adjust their schedule if necessary. Better yet, sharing the date early will prevent conflicts altogether. Include all the normal information: date, time, location, topic, and your event’s URL, along with a clear benefit.  

These days most of us present on Zoom. You can set your webinar up in your Zoom account weeks in advance and share the details in your announcement email.

You don’t have to include your Zoom link in this first email, but it’s a good idea because some readers are meticulous about details. You don’t know who those readers are, so go ahead and send the full details in this email and plan to add them to subsequent emails as well, for those readers who’ll wait till the last minute to take note of them. It happens. 🙂

Second email: Send a Webinar Reminder email 7 days out.

Simple. Clear.Almost a duplicate of your Announcement email, adding another benefit for those who attend. Consider placing your webinar’s URL, date, day, time, and so on in your postscript instead of the body this time, as scanners will read a postscript (a P.S.) when they won’t read anything else.

Third and Fourth emails:

One day before your webinar begins, and a final reminder email 30 minutes before your webinar begins. Isn’t that too many? No. We all get busy and miss important meetings without gentle reminders. You’ll be doing them a favor with these last two emails. Add one more benefit, please, or repeat the benefits you mentioned in your previous emails.

Fifth email:

Send a Thanks for Joining Me! email within two hours after the webinar is over. (Another  reason you want to create this simple email series ahead of time.)

Share a recap of the webinar’s content and its benefits. Offer a limited-time replay link if that’s part of your marketing strategy.  

It’s over! Serve your new readers as well as you’ve served your current readers. Offer them life-changing content that will draw them to your message and to Christ.

Create new webinars as you desire, and watch your audience grow. Offer your knowledge for free or via paid products or services and reach more people for Christ around the world!

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

How to Grow Your Audience Using Online Workshops: Part Five

Marketing sense

Online workshops are a great marketing tool. But we don’t want to just hop online and yell, “I’m going live in 10 minutes! Join me!” Uh, noooo, that’s not how we do it.

Instead, we want to invest time “warming up” our audience via email so that when it’s time to promote our free workshop, readers aren’t taken unawares. Once we deliver it, we can develop it into a paid product next time. But right now, our goal is to grow our email list through free service. We’ll use our online workshop (often called a webinar) to do that.

For this series, we’ve chosen an unusual topic: ice fishing. What??? If we can learn the process for a topic unfamiliar to us, we’ll know how to adapt it for our current and future topics.

Here’s our breakdown of this series so far…

In Part One, we chose our topic.

In Part Two, we identified and researched various title resources.  

In Part Three, we chose our title (it’s a dandy!).

In Part Four, we discussed priming our audience for our upcoming webinar using what’s called “pre-launch” emails.

Part Five

It’s time to invite them to take an action. We’ll do that within a series of “launch emails.” We’ll discuss that task next month in part six.

Today, let’s double-check the goal we set for this workshop. Why? It’s so easy to get off track! It’s good to regularly confirm we’re on course before getting too far afield.

We’re still committed to our initial goal…to grow our audience. And we’re still planning to offer our workshop for free. Consider both decisions as two sides of the same marketing coin. 🙂

Note that we could always change our goal and charge for our workshop instead. Free and paid are both valid options. Either way, now’s the time for a final decision. After today, it will be too late to change our goal. Why? Because once we begin marketing the workshop, our marketing message must be clear and consistent.

Let’s continue with our initial goal of offering our knowledge for free so we can grow our audience base. This will show us not only IF our audience is interested in this topic, but WHICH readers are interested in it, and since workshop attendees need to give us their name and email address, we’ll have MORE readers after the workshop than before, which was our plan from the beginning.

Some marketers are discouraged when offering free content; they want to be paid for it instead. Understandable. But remember…

We ARE “paid” for free webinars. Just not in dollars.

Each time a new or current subscriber enters their first name and email address in those little magic “opt-in boxes,” they’re giving us something of value. How so?

They’re raising their hands and saying, “I want to know more about this subject!” That information, my friend, is gold. Once we know who in our audience wants which parts of our message, we can offer them more of what they want and when we’re ready to, create a paid product that they’re more likely to buy. YES!!!

So onward we go!

Let’s talk more specifically about the content for our launch email series next month.

Patricia Durgin
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How to Grow Your Audience Using Online Workshops: Part Four

Marketing sense

Want to grow your audience faster? Online workshops (also called webinars) are a great option. In this series, we’re using an out-of-the-ordinary topic (ice fishing!) so you can follow the process step-by-step no matter which topic you offer. Learn the sequence then apply it to your message.

In Part One, we chose our topic.

In Part Two, we identified and researched various title resources.  

In Part Three, we chose our title (it’s a dandy!).

This month, in Part Four, we’ll discuss how to warm up your current email readers, so they’ll be interested in your (as yet undisclosed) online workshop when you’re ready to market it.

Some call these “pre-launch” emails. Some call them “seeding” or “pre-webinar” emails. All are correct.

In this example, our audience is ice fishermen. I know, I know, unusual to say the least, but the goal is to learn the process. Grasp that, and you can use it for any content you want to offer, either to your established audience or those (in this case) ice fishermen who don’t yet know you can help them.

So…back to your email series.

You’re regularly sending emails related to your overall topic, right?

Since our workshop’s content teaches how to eliminate or survive ice-fishing dangers, we want to bring this concept into our pre-webinar emails. Indirectly. Why? Because we’re not yet ready to market our webinar.

During this, our warm-up or pre-launch phase, we want to help readers (ice fishermen, remember?) begin thinking about how dangerous ice fishing can be. That way, they’re more likely to be interested when we market our webinar on surviving those dangers. Get it?

Of course, they all know it can be dangerous, but they push that fact to the back of their mind, or they believe they already take every necessary precaution to stay safe. We want to challenge that notion without challenging them.

Increase the pressure on a potential problem bit by bit then offer your solution to that problem, and readers will want your offer.

There are many ways to introduce this topic without being pushy, abrasive, or an alarmist. I’ll list a few, then you can take it from there.

You might research various past or current news stories to mention in your email(s), highlighting what the victim(s) could have done differently. If you choose this path, be sure not to “steal” your workshop’s content. Simply point out a poor decision or, going in the other direction, share (perhaps for the umpteenth time) how to check the ice’s depth before stepping on to it or driving over it.

Whatever your topic, it’s always appropriate to review the basics from as many angles as possible.

You might suggest a book or magazine article (that you’ve read) that highlights this subject, but again, not anything that will cover what you plan to cover in your workshop.

You might interview someone who had a harrowing experience while ice fishing. The goal isn’t to scare your reader or cry, “Wolf!” It’s to bring this topic up in your regular email correspondence with them so that when you market your workshop (that solves this specific problem), they’re already warmed up to the topic. You’re not starting “cold.” Meaning they’re more likely to respond to a workshop related to how to eliminate or avoid the dangers of ice fishing.

Begin sending these pre-launch or warm-up emails 60 days before you begin marketing your webinar. If that sounds like a lot of emails, it’s not. One email a week (if you send emails out weekly) is only eight emails in two months. No more than you’d normally send.

Next month we’ll discuss ideas for your launch emails and beyond.

This process applies to anything you want to offer, whether free or paid. It’s not necessary to use this sequence of activities and emails, but if you do, it will be a smoother, easier, and hopefully, profitable process for both you and your readers.

See you then!

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

How to Grow Your Audience Using Online Workshops: Part Three

Marketing sense

We’re exploring workshop titles in this third part of our ongoing series. In our first month we chose our topic (ice-fishing if you can believe it!) and our marketing promise which, after further development, won’t work. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Last month in part two, we identified and researched various title resources. This month we’ll choose our title which may / may not also incorporate our marketing promise. Let’s see.

Why Do We Need Our Content Idea Before We Write Our Title?

We won’t discuss our webinar’s content point-by-point in this article series, because we’re here to learn the process of using online workshops to grow our audience.

Still, we must have some idea of this fictitious workshop’s content, or we can’t title it.

Checking books and magazine articles about ice-fishing, I wasn’t inspired. So I researched online news stories and found a content idea that meets my criteria: both new or established ice-fishermen will want this information. Bingo!

My pretend workshop will be how to eliminate or survive ice-fishing dangers. That’s not my title. It’s the focus of my content. The two are similar but distinctly different.

We want our title to attract the audience we want to serve. If you remember from part one in this series, we want the title to do 5 things:

-identify our audience directly or indirectly;

-address a problem, a challenge, or a goal;

-begin with an action verb;

-include a number (maybe), and;

-is utterly clear…like glass.

Let’s get to work. Our audience is new or experienced ice-fishermen. The problem is danger or death. (They want to avoid both.) 🙂

Potential Workshop Titles and Why They’re Strong or Weak Options

Ice-Fishermen: Don’t Let This Happen to You! Spot on audience identification but way too vague on the remainder. Plus, the phrase, “…don’t let this happen to you!” is often used by sensationalists whose titles attract attention but whose content offers no value. We’ll pass.

3 Dangers of Ice-Fishing and How to Avoid Them Meh. Accurate but boring. Moving on.

How to Survive Your 2022 Ice-Fishing Trips We’re getting closer but we’re not there yet. Some might think adding the year makes their workshop timely, but not so. Instead, it ages it after December 31, 2022. It also suggests that your information is somehow related to that specific year in some special, not-yet-identified way, or perhaps that it’s only applicable for that specific year. Both are unintentionally misleading. We want to steer clear of even the appearance of trickery. Utter clarity is our goal.

Survive Ice-Fishing Dangers Looking at our list of 5 goals, the first word is a compelling action verb. Whatever is it, we want to survive it, right? 🙂 Can we improve this title?

 Survive Treacherous Ice-Fishing Dangers Ooh, treacherous dangers. Much more dramatic (read intriguing) than regular ol’ dangers and still applicable to our content. Hmmm…

 Survive These 3 Treacherous Ice-Fishing Dangers This is the strongest contender of those shown. Do you agree? It indirectly identifies our audience as those who ice-fish. Check. Does it address a problem, challenge, or goal? Yes.

It begins with an action verb as mentioned earlier. An attention getting action verb. It also includes a specific yet reasonable number. I don’t have time to read how to avoid 73 dangers. Do you? 🙂 It’s clear…like glass.

Anyone reading this title version will be very interested (in part because we’re using strong words like “survive” and “treacherous”) or not interested at all. Have you ever met anyone who was “so-so” about surviving anything treacherous? Me, neither.

So we’re set. Survive These 3 Treacherous Ice-Fishing Dangers it is. We don’t need to add “How to…” It’s implied. But we could.

By the way, I could have removed “How to…” from this article series without losing any impact.

Onward we go! See you next month when we’ll move to the next step.

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

How to Grow Your Audience Using Online Workshops: Part Two

Marketing sense

Last month we began this series by choosing the marketing message for a workshop on  ice fishing. Ice fishing?!? Yep. I chose an out-of-the-ordinary subject to focus on the workshop process from start to finish. Nail the process, and you’ll be able to present an effective workshop that will grow your audience anytime, anywhere, on any topic.

I know zero about ice fishing, so you and I are starting from the same place: ignorance 🙂 Let’s learn together, shall we?

This month we begin working on our title.

Creating a Results-Oriented Workshop Title

Weak, vague titles run rampant throughout the world like vermin.

We want a title that will do 5 things:

-identify our audience directly or indirectly;

-address a problem, a challenge, or a goal;

-begin with an action verb;

-include a number (maybe), and;

-is utterly clear…like glass.

So clear that it’s understood by those inside and outside our audience. Why? We only want people interested in ice fishing to attend our ice fishing workshop. So obvious! Yet many don’t “get” this basic truth: it serves no purpose to attract people not interested in our offer.

Where to Find Title Inspiration

We can find scads of fill-in-the-blank title templates online. But you and I are intelligent. We can be more unique than some ol’ cookie-cutter formula, right?  

That goal leads us to online research. Let’s see what others are saying about ice fishing.

Inspiration can be found in book titles. How about Drill It Till It Squirts? Uh, noooo. Incredibly, there’s both a book title and a popular clothing line with that phrase.

Here’s another: You Had Me At Ice Fishing. That’s a fun twist on the famous movie line. Let’s keep looking.

Don’t limit your research to Amazon. There’s a wide range of books on this subject beyond what Amazon offers. Google it.

On-topic magazines can be a gold mine for titles. I’ve found their covers and the stories highlighted on them super helpful. They either confirm my direction or change it, which is what happened in this case.

Scanning different ice fishing magazines, I realize my workshop’s original promised result–catch more fish–is both waaay too basic and too vague compared to what else is in the marketplace.

Others are offering sophisticated information, and not just about the best gear or locales.

For example, many such magazines regularly publish deep dive articles on a single fish species. There seem to be hundreds: panfish and walleyes, giant perch, trout, pike, catfish, and more, each with their own likes, dislikes, homes, favorite bait, and on and on the details go. Yikes!

We can’t possibly contain that in a 60-minute workshop. Instead of too basic, this topic’s waaay too broad.

It looks like we’re back at zero, but we’re not. We’ve eliminated our original direction and its extreme on the other end of the spectrum. Good work!

We must dig deeper. Be more specific. Back to the magazines we go.

We find the following article titles:

-The Search for Perch

-Strategies for Northern Pike

-How to Read Fish and Respond

-Pike Lairs, from Big Lakes to Secluded Backwaters, Find Where Monsters Lurk

-Tracking Pike

-Ice Fishing Game Plan

-The Hunt for Gillzilla

I did not make these titles up. Some of them are real possibilities because their only purpose is to spur our creative thoughts. You and I could ponder the same article titles and come up with vastly different workshop titles. That’s a good thing.

Why Are We Spending So Much Time on Our Workshop Title?

Because potential attendees will decide whether to sign up or not based upon it.

This 3-7 word phrase will determine the success of our workshop. That’s a huge load to carry.

Important as our content is, some will never see it because our title either turned them off or didn’t interest them enough to find out more. So, they won’t sign up.

Let’s keep working to find / create a great title so our workshop is full. That will make our title struggle worth it.

See you next month.  

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission

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Marketing Sense

How to Grow Your Audience Using Online Workshops: Part One

Marketing sense

Growing your audience can seem like an uphill battle. Hosting online workshops will help you reach your goal faster.  

Step ONE: Decide On Your Offer

Choose Your Offer: Some would suggest choosing your topic first. That’s logical. But you’ll have more attendees if you begin with the practical result your audience will receive. Everything should revolve around them. What will they be able to DO after your workshop that they couldn’t do BEFORE? And do they want that new result? If not, redirect immediately.

Let’s pretend your topic is ice fishing. What can you teach your audience about ice fishing that they can put to practical use on their next outing? Teach that. Market that. Deliver that.

Based upon that criterion, I’ve selected catch more fish. This is more than a topic. It’s a result.

A Concrete Marketing Promise

Join my workshop and you’ll be able to CATCH MORE FISH. Don’t promise that they’ll catch more fish (which you cannot control) but that they’ll be able to catch more fish. They’ll have the necessary knowledge and skills to do so. What they do with that newfound knowledge and skill set is up to them.

During your workshop, forget about sharing the history of ice fishing. Don’t spend time highlighting the many types of ice fishing rods on the market and the intricacies of each. Omit an in-depth discussion on the remaining essential gear, the best places to get it, and how to use it.

All that information is valuable, but it will draw attention away from the promised result.  Our singular focus is to teach ice fishermen (or those interested in ice fishing) how to catch more fish. Bada-bing, bada-boom!

You might choose to teach them a different skill instead.

Be careful not to add unrelated information to make your workshop more interesting. Information doesn’t get results. You can’t market information alone (well, you can, but who wants another lecture)?

Choose a skill that will require a change in your attendees’ behavior. Results change when behavior patterns change. Should they start earlier in the morning or stay out on the ice later? Purchase new, updated equipment and learn how to use it? Return to the old ways? Research the location where they go ice fishing, looking for information about the water’s non-winter flow (which will affect the water flow in winter, too)?

Notice that these are topics. Information. Didn’t I just suggest you not focus on information? Yep. Here’s the key difference.

This information is directly tied to your promised result.

It moves viewers one step closer to catching more fish–which is what you promised they’d be able to do–while unrelated information does not.

This is the first of 8 steps to grow your audience using online workshops. Next month we’ll discuss how to title your workshop so that it attracts the attention of your ideal audience. Bland or confusing titles are worthless, as are “cutesy” titles. Our audience wants to catch more fish.

We can use that title. It’s simple, direct, and easy to understand, but let’s wait. As we continue developing the workshop, we may discover an even better choice.

Until next month. 

Patricia Durgin

Patricia Durgin is an Online Marketing Coach and Facebook Live Expert. She trains Christian writers and speakers exclusively, helping them develop their messaging, marketing funnels, conversational emails, and Facebook Live programs. Patricia hosted 505 (60-minute) Facebook Live programs from 2018-2020. That program is on indefinite hiatus. She’s also a regular faculty member at Christian writers and speakers conferences around the country.

Website: marketersonamission.com
Facebook: MarketersOnAMission