Business Tips Archives - Motes Design

3 Investments That Leveled-Up My Business This Year

Sara — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 22:29:51 +0000

August 5, 2021

3 Investments That Leveled-Up My Business This Year

This post contains affiliate links. I do earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only share products that I love and believe in!

When I first started my business, I believed the less money I spent in my business, the more money I would make. I’m a die-hard Dave Ramsey fanatic and I was NOT about to spend money on stuff I didn’t need. I was a one-woman show. I was the marketing team, copywriter, accountant, designer, R&D, wife, mom, and everything else.

And I HAD to do it all. The idea of spending money was out of the question.

My mindset went something like this:

Make Money
Set 20% aside for taxes
Keep the rest

But then my business started growing.

Like, really really growing. Then I had my first son. Then another.

I was lacking time. I couldn’t juggle everything any more. I no longer had all the time in the world to figure stuff out or remember the status of a client’s project (yikes).

The Realization

Eventually I came to the realization that in order to make more money, I had to spend some money.

Save this pin.

Find your weakest point and find a solution, even if you have to pay for it.

The first thing I ever purchased was a customer relationship management software (CRM). I was dropping the ball on client communication and getting projects confused. My Excel spreadsheet for project management was no longer cutting it. After hours of (too) much research, I started using 17Hats (affiliate link).

This was a game changer.

In 17Hats I can add clients, manage all their projects, collect payments, send contracts, schedule appointments, and keep meeting notes. Get yourself a solid CRM. You won’t regret it.

Pay to learn fast, so you can grow your business faster.

I remember fall 2018 searching for someone who could just tell me how to create a social media strategy.

I knew I needed to post stuff on instagram, but like, what kind of stuff? How often? What does “strategy” really mean?

Some where in this search I stumbled upon Jennifer Allwood, a Christian business coach who specializes in getting women business owners “unstuck”. I followed her for MONTHS before I joined her paid coaching program.

I cannot tell you how nice it is being surrounded by other kingdom-minded business owners, some who are right where you are, and others who have years of experience under their belt. Jen’s wisdom and encouragement has not only helped grow my business, but also helped my mindset and faith.

Get organized.

Before I went on maternity leave with my second son, I realized my business wasn’t in a place where I could simply shut everything down for months. I have clients who rely on me to manage their Pinterest accounts each month. And that’s a very hands-on task.

So I hired a VA (virtual assistant) to take on some of those tasks so I could simply relax and soak up the newborn snuggles.

Before I could hire her, I had to get organized. I needed to get task that I do in a day on to paper so she could simply follow the steps and get the same result. Once I had everything lined out I hired another VA to put everything in to a project management system called ClickUp (affiliate link). When I logged into ClickUp for the first time after she organized all my projects and recurring tasks I was amazed.

Whoa.

I felt like I actually knew every task that HAD to get done that day. Since every task is organized and has a due date I finally know when I can shut down my computer and call it a day.

It’s so freeing.

Now I’m able to hire out more tasks which frees up my time to grow my business by creating new offerings. When you get organized and purchase a team-friendly project management system your business can truly start to grow.

Those are the three investments that leveled up my business in the past year. Because of these three things I am able to serve more people than I’ve ever served before. My revenue has doubled, I’m working less, and I’m able to roll out new offerings that I only ever dreamed of.

But please hear me: I know what it’s like to take that first step and purchase something big for your business. It’s scary. You don’t want to make the wrong choice. Funds are tight.

So start small.

Make a list of what you NEED, versus what you WANT.

As you start to make some money and gain traction, your needs will change.

If you want to get serious about marketing your business to your audience, you’ll need to pay for an email provider (this is what I use). But when you’re first starting out, you don’t need an email list. You just need to refine your product or service a couple times to make sure it’s what your audience needs.

At the beginning of each year, take a look at your list of needs vs. wants and make some adjustments. Purchase what you need to grow your business to the next level and keep the rest on the want list.

2 things you don’t have to buy to have a successful business.

Ads and Promotions
I’ve never run ads and my business has grown just fine organically. But you want to grow your business FAST and you know you have a tested, super-great offering, then by all means, run some ads. But please know that you don’t have to pay-to-play to get business.
Followers
Did you know you can purchase followers on social media? Large amounts of followers can make you look more official and often come with coveted benefits, but did you know you can have a thriving business with less than 500 followers? It’s true! I did it.

Please don’t fall into the lie that you MUST have thousands of followers to grow your business. Followers are a vanity metric. Simply focus on serving your followers really, really well and more people will come.

The post 3 Investments That Leveled-Up My Business This Year appeared first on Motes Design.

3 freebies that changed my business this year

Sara — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 01:43:31 +0000

December 21, 2020

3 freebies that changed my business this year

This is a snippet from my email newsletter.

I’m a sucker for freebies. I can’t tell you how many email lists I’ve signed up for this year just to get a free download. I’ve taken the time to sort through them and I’m sharing my top 3 favorite freebies that ACTUALLY made a difference in my business this year.

1. Jennifer Allwood’s Covering Your Business in Prayer devotional

There’s countless devotionals for women about being a great wife, mom, and homemaker. But what about a devotional for women business owners? This is the only one that I’ve found and it’s fantastic. Starting each work day in prayer for my business and my clients helps keep me from becoming too obsessed with work (something I am very prone to doing).

Get your free devotional e-book here.

2. Jess Jordana’s Instagram Bio Mini-Promptlate

If you’ve followed me on instagram for any amount of time, you’ll know my love (nay, obsession) with everything Jess Jordana creates. She’s a copywriter for creatives and she has a fool-proof way for you to write your own copy for your website, social media captions, and emails using a combination of templates + prompts (aka Promptlates). Want to try a Promptlate for free? Download the Instagram Bio Promptlate for a bio that connects and converts in seconds!

3. How to Say No by Christy Wright

Raise your hand if you’re a natural people pleaser! It’s so easy (especially as women) for us to say yes to too many things. Christy says “Every time you say yes to something, you’re saying no to something else”. Imagine the difference you could make in your business and family if you started saying no instead of automatically saying yes! But knowing how to say no in a nice way is difficult. She has created 25 responses – or scripts – that you can use to say no without causing hurt feelings.
Get the scripts here.

I’d love to hear if any of these freebies help you! DM me on Instagram if there’s any great freebies that have changed your business!

Pin for later

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6 Ways to Use Testimonials to Generate Leads

Sara — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 20:49:48 +0000

November 10, 2020

6 Ways to Use Testimonials to Generate Leads

Ultimately the goal of powerful testimonials is to convert more people into customers. But how do you do that? Here’s a few ways I use my client’s testimonials:

Social proof

People want to see that other people like what you have to offer. In fact, the average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling they can trust a business. The more happy customer testimonials you have, the better! There’s nothing more powerful than a ton of social proof.

Write case studies on your blog

Case studies prove how you helped a customer in a certain way specific to their individual needs.. Case studies can be awesome sales tools, especially if you back up your claims with the specific client’s testimonial. Adding a testimonial to your post will prove that the results are legitimate.

Visual Content is king

If your business has an Instagram page, ask your client for a 30-60 second video testimonial! Add this video to your Instagram stories and voila! Their testimonial has come to life through video.

Share trustworthy testimonials

I hate vague testimonials. Make sure your testimonials are credible by adding your client’s headshot, name, website, business name, title, etc. Including more detailed information adds weight to your claim.

Feature well-known clients

If you have landed a client that’s well-known in a certain industry, use their testimonials all over the place! Highlight their testimonials so potential clients will think, “Oh, I know her and I trust her opinion.”

Create Pins for Pinterest

Design pins with your client’s testimonials and link them to the product or service you provided. This way people will start off viewing your business through the lens of success and how you can provide the same success and satisfaction for them.

Wondering if your business should be on Pinterest?

5 reasons why your business should be on Pinterest >>

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How to get Authentic, Powerful Client Testimonials

Sara — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 17:55:10 +0000

October 21, 2020

How to get Authentic, Powerful Client Testimonials

My husband and I are not naturally photogenic people. There’s a reason why you never see me post selfies of us on social media. So I asked my amazing photographer friend to take our photos, hoping she could sprinkle some pixie dust and make us look ah-mazing.

And she totally delivered.

She told us exactly what to do, where to stand, and to turn our heads “just a little to the left” to get the most flattering angle of us. The results were perfect and I couldn’t have been happier with our experience.

She sent me a message a few days after I received the photos asking, “Hey would you be willing to write a testimonial?” Um, YES! I was so happy with my photos! Of course! But when I sat down at my computer to type out my testimonial, I froze. The writer’s block was unreal.

“What do I say?”
“Where do I start?”

So I searched “How to write a testimonial for a photographer” and did my best to write an honest testimonial that conveyed how I felt about my beautiful photos. It was so hard! #chronicoverthinker

It’s been years since I sat staring down that blank screen trying to think of a praiseworthy testimonial. When I started my own business, I knew testimonials could make or break a potential client’s decision. So I sat off of my own journey of how to make testimonial writing as easy and painless as possible.

My discovery? You have to walk them through the testimonial writing process. Your clients are usually not natural copywriters. Showing them the way to write testimonials will result in authentic and powerful client experience stories. Having a bank of killer testimonials can be a GAME CHANGER in your content marketing strategy.

You have to show your dream client that they can get the same results. That’s the power of an amazing testimonial.

First, you need to construct an effective client survey.

10 survey questions to ask your customers to get a killer testimonial

Don’t just ask for a testimonial! A survey with carefully thought out questions will help them write a testimonial that is specific and effective. Tweak these questions to be more specific to your service, product, or course. Create a questionnaire using Google Forms or I use 17Hats for all my client communications (I use it for contracts, questionnaires, invoicing, etc.). Here’s 10 questions you can ask for an effective customer survey.

Pro tip: don’t ask binary questions (yes/no, on a scale of 1-10). Open ended questions lead to richer, deeper feedback.

1. What was it like before you used our product or service?

There’s nothing better than a good before and after transformation. Asking them what their business or life was like before you showed up will help them recall the pain point and struggles they were experiencing.

2. Where did you hear about us? Or where did you start your search?

Knowing where they found you can help you with your marketing strategy. Adjust your marketing accordingly as you receive more answers.

3. Did I answer all your questions with the heart of a teacher?

Dave Ramsey says, “When getting help…you should always look for someone with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.” I want for my clients to feel comfortable asking me questions about why I did something a certain way, or how something works. I want to be a valuable resource, not a salesman using terminology they can’t understand. I have found that this builds trust between myself and my clients, resulting in long-lasting relationships and return clients (and usually a lot of referrals!).

4. Was there any part of your experience that stood out to you in a good way?

Typically what stands out to them is something a competitor failed to do. Whether it’s your clear on-boarding experience, easy check out process, or the way you answered the phone, make note of what stood out to them. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that you’ve exceeded your client’s expectations!

5. Was there any part of the process or your experience that you feel could be improved?

On the flip side, make note of what they weren’t impressed with. Maybe your website had issues on their mobile device, making it difficult for them to finish purchasing your product. Or maybe there was a part of the process that they found confusing or felt uncertain what was going on. Whatever it is, address the issue ASAP.

6. What big wins have you seen since using our product or service?

Whether your product or service helped them gain email subscribers, sell more products, save time, or achieve goals, these are all amazing things! And it’s likely other people want these results too! Big wins are often the greatest selling points in a powerful testimonial.

7. Do you feel like choosing our product or service has been a good investment for your business? Why or why not?

Any time someone purchases from you, they’ve invested their time and money. Make sure they feel like they’ve gotten their money’s worth from what you provided them.

8. What would you tell someone who is on the fence about purchasing our product or service?

Don’t skip this question!

If your customer had a hesitation before purchasing, it’s likely someone else does too! When someone is considering your business, testimonials are the perfect thing to calm fears or address concerns. In fact, 82% of people look at reviews before making a purchasing decision. Use the answers to this question to fix client experience roadblocks others may be facing. These answers often bring about great FAQ content!

9. Is there anything else you’d like me to know about your experience?

Having an open-ended question for them to make any other comments is great just in case there was something else on their mind that you didn’t ask.

10. Testimonials go such a long way when people are deciding to work with me. Using your answers above, write out your testimonial. These testimonials will be used on social media and my website.

Finally, ASK FOR THE TESTIMONIAL. They’ve already laid the groundwork for an amazing testimonial by answering the questions above. All they have to do now is piece together their answers. The result is a powerful, authentic testimonial that will help you convert more leads in the clients.

6 Ways to Use Testimonials to Generate Leads >>

The post How to get Authentic, Powerful Client Testimonials appeared first on Motes Design.

5 Steps to Discovering Your Target Market

Sara — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:10:35 +0000

May 18, 2020

5 Steps to Discovering Your Target Market

“So who is your target market?”, I asked a new client. We were sitting in a quaint coffee shop sipping on our chai lattes while I asked her some questions about her new business.

“My target market is men and women age 18-65 years old. I think everyone needs my product,” she said. My eyes widened and I set my pencil down for a moment.

We had a lot to figure out before we could move on to create her marketing strategy.

As over-the-top as that story sounds, this is not the only time I’ve received this response. I’ve actually talked to several business owners who gave me that EXACT answer.

And maybe this is your answer, too. Defining your target market is the foundation for all your marketing efforts. Maybe you’re afraid you won’t make money because you’re excluding so many people from your marketing efforts. Or perhaps you’re worried you’ll target the wrong people.

A target market simply allows you to focus your marketing efforts on a specific group of people who are the most likely to buy from you. You’ll get a greater return on your investment by defining your target market.

Once you’ve figured out WHO you’re marketing to, you can figure out HOW and WHERE to market your business. Here’s a few steps to help you define your target market (plus a free download at the end).

1. Analyze your current customers

Who’s already buying your products? What kind of people are booking your services?

Compile a list of your past customers and look for similarities. Once you understand your current customers you can target similar people.

Make note of clients you did not enjoy working with. Note their similarities and find some common denominators if possible. Usually this has more to do with an individuals personality, but sometimes there’s a common characteristic that just doesn’t work well with what you have to offer.

2. Determine the demographics and psychographics

I know these words are super market-y and nerdy, but just hang on.

According to an article published by Hubspot, “Demographics explain “who” your buyer is, while psychographics explain “why” they buy.”

Demographics are the quantifiable stats of your target market like age, gender, and occupation.

Age: You don’t need to get super specific with this (32 vs 35). Just determine the decade or generation.

Location: If you offer a local service only, then put your city/state. But for those of us who have online services, make note of time zones. Knowing the most popular time zones of your clients will help you determine post times for social media content or ads.

Income level: Knowing their income level helps you learn what areas they live in, types of life style choices they make and can help you determine your price point.

Occupation: What kind of careers does your audience have? Determine when they work: day shift or night shift? What kinds of work do they do? Knowing these factors will help you know how and when to advertise to your audience. Tip: knowing this will help you tremendously with your branding style.

Psychographics are the more personal characteristics of your customer.

Interests: what do your customers enjoy doing? What are their hobbies? Are they book readers or Netflix bing watchers? Do they love thrifting so they can find the best deal? What other businesses do they shop at?

Life Stage: What stage of life is your customer in? Are they young parents, single, married with a fur baby? Or are they retired and ready to travel? Knowing their stage of life can greatly impact your price point and how you can reach them effectively.

Principles & Beliefs: This part can be tricky, but try finding out what your customer believes or supports. Do they attend a church? Are they vegan? Do they support a cause.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to polarize. Stand up for what you believe in. You’ll repel some people but those who agree with you will become raving fans.

Enneagram number: If you have a couple of enneagram numbers in mind, that could REALLY help you understand your customers. What the heck is the Enneagram?

3. Check out your competition

Analyze your competitions’ marketing strategies. Who are they marketing to?
Look at their website and social media content.
It’s possible they’re missing a niche that you could be targeting.

4. Analyze your products and services

So you’ve looked at your current customer list and figured out who they are, but what if there’s another niche you’re missing?

Make a list of all your products or services. Next to each item, note any benefits it provides and the benefits of those benefits.

For example, my friend Becca is a graphic designer who creates brand designs for creative businesses. One benefit of custom branding is a professional company image. A professional image will attract more ideal customers because the company looks trustworthy and professional. The ultimate benefit of hiring a professional brand designer is to attract more customers and make more money.

Once you’ve listed all the benefits, create a list of people who have a need that your benefit can fill. This exercise may unlock an untapped niche in your field.

5. Sleep on it

Hey, there’s no rush! Don’t feel like you have to figure this all out RIGHT NOW.
Take a couple days to work on this. You’ll probably adjust your target audience a few times before you truly have it nailed down.

Be fluid. My target audience has changed a few times over the last few years. As you develop and refine your offerings and services, you’ll need to adjust your target audience as well.

The post 5 Steps to Discovering Your Target Market appeared first on Motes Design.

5 Reasons Why Your Business Should be on Pinterest

Sara — Wed, 06 May 2020 22:32:44 +0000

May 6, 2020

5 Reasons Why Your Business Should be on Pinterest

Over the years I’ve realized something: I’ve become a Pinterest addict. I scroll through the app at LEAST once a day looking at inspiration for home decor, morning routines, marketing tips, and the occasional Gilmore Girls meme.

And I’m not alone. There’s over 478 million active users on Pinterest. That’s like, a lot.

If your business isn’t already active on Pinterest, it needs to be!

Here’s 5 reasons why your business needs to be on Pinterest.

1. Your customers LOVE Pinterest

Gone are the days when Pinterest was just for women looking for recipes and wedding inspiration. According to user data from Pinterest,
– 55% of women are on Pinterest
– 21% of men are on Pinterest. My husband is one of them.
– over half of millennials are on Pinterest (and they spend 17% more than millennials who aren’t on Pinterest)

According to an article by Sprout Social, Pinterest reaches 83% of women ages 25-54. These women make 80% of the purchasing decisions in their home and they’re using Pinterest for the inspiration for those purchases.

If these people are in your target market, you have a strong opportunity to reach them using Pinterest.

2. Pinterest brings you TONS of traffic

If you rely on your website for sales or marketing, Pinterest is one of the best (and did I mention, free) ways to bring loads of traffic to your website. When you create a pin, your link stays with the image no matter how many times it’s repinned.

Oh, and your pins are evergreen. Your pins stay on pinterest FOREVER which means, if you’re providing quality content, your pins will continue to be shared for years.

Pinterest works like the ripple effect. When you save a pin, all your followers see it. If 3 of your followers save the same pin, all of their followers see it. Do you see my point?

So when you create high quality, relevant Pins and optimize your website, you will see results.

3. People start their shopping journey on Pinterest

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked through Pinterest before making a purchase.

Before I did a photoshoot, I pinned ideas of outfits I liked, THEN went to the store to buy the outfit. I’m painting my bathroom walls next week but before I picked out a color I looked on Pinterest. I saw a color I liked by Valspar so I went and bought Valspar paint instead of the original brand I had in mind.

Josh Davis of LLsocial.com explains Pinterest users’ buying behavior like this:
“For retailers, the path to purchase from a social network is no more direct than on Pinterest. ‘See it, like it, buy it’ happens frequently … Even in cases where the path to purchase is not as direct, rarely do you have a social network where linking to for-sale items is done so frequently. You have clear social proof of the desire for the item, you see a picture of it, and you are only one or two clicks away from being on an e-commerce site.”

Pinterest converts potential buyers into customers faster.
How cool is that?

4. Pinners make more money

Yep, it’s true.
40% of Pinterest users make a net income of $100,000 or more. This means pinners have more money to spend and they’re looking to Pinterest to know how to spend it.

Putting your product or service in front of people who are willing to buy is how you keep your business open. If you’re ready to start actively marketing your business, Pinterest is the way to go.

5. Keep up with what your target market loves

When you create your Pinterest business account, you’ll get access to something magical: analytics.

*cue the angelic chorus*

Analytics make my marketing-loving heart happy.

In analytics, you can see your top boards and pins, along with audience insights like categories, interests, age, gender, location, etc. This information, when paired with Google analytics, can give you SUPER detailed information about who is loving your content. Use this information to tweak your efforts each month for maximum reach.

Pinterest recently released another featured titled “Trends” (click Analytics > Trends). Here you’ll find the latest key words, topics, and categories. If you have any relevant content in the trending categories, use that to your advantage! Start repining or creating new pins to get more eyeballs on your content!

3 reasons (ahem, excuses) why you’re NOT on Pinterest

1. “Pinterest is confusing.”

It’s true, Pinterest doesn’t work like other social media platforms. Like and follows don’t matter, and there is no timeline. And yes, there is a learning curve. But there are so many tutorials out there that you can use to start your Pinterest account. Just take one hour, watch a couple videos, and create your business account.

2. “I don’t have time for Pinterest.”

If this is your excuse, you’re probably right. You don’t have the time. That’s why you need to do what you do best then delegate the rest. If you have a VA (virtual assistant), ask them to manage your account for you. If you’re interested in having Motes Design manage your Pinterest account, you can learn more about that here.

3. “I’m a local service only. My business doesn’t need Pinterest.”

Au contraire, my friend. I’ll be writing a whole blog post about this soon, but just know this: Pinterest increases visits to your website. And more website visits equals a better SEO ranking.

This means when people type in “Hair Stylist near me” (or whatever your service is) your business is more likely to appear if you have a lot of traffic to your website versus little traffic.

Hello, this is a no brainer. Get your business on Pinterest TUH-DAY.

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