During this time of the year we make plans and think about our achievements, failures and more importantly: How to improve your online marketing results.

The bigger question that I recently learned to ask myself How to play the online marketing game and always win.

I have been blogging for about 3 years and at the at the end of each year I write about what I learned and what I would like to achieve in the new year.

The main difference between now and when I started

Is that now I can go back to my old posts and read what I wrote.

Sometimes the idea of ​​reading old posts gives me a bit of anxiety, because I do not know what I’m going to find.

In a way, this works like a time machine because when I read the posts, I can go back in time and remember ​​what I was thinking and feeling.

The feeling when reading my old posts

It’s something similar to the feeling you have when you are about to receive an exam grade.

Because I was the one who wrote them.

Luckily when reading my post Marketing strategies to sell more: 5 questions that you must answer to master 2017, it was almost a surprise to be able to transport myself in time a year ago and read about what I was thinking. Back then some of my goals were:

• Continue learning
• Increase my website traffic
• Be more meticulous in the way I measure my results
• Continue writing content consistently

Some of my achievements this year:

1. Continue writing content of value

I now know that my content in Spanish is valuable for many, some of my posts have been shared thousands of times and generate traffic to my website every day.

2. Translate content from Spanish to English

I started to translate my posts into English, these posts are also being shared.

3. The use of shortcuts for learning

I learned to hack the speed at which I learn. I have done this by joining mastermind groups.

I never imagined how the importance of been a part of this types of groups.

Thanks to these groups, now I have the opportunity to learn every week, share my challenges and progress with other people who are in similar stages of their business, although they are in other industries.

4. The transformation is in the transaction

It turns out that the opportunity to belong to these groups arose as a result of investing in myself and recognizing that my time is the most important.

Again, a spoonful of my own medicine!

4. Act outside of my comfort zone

I decided to apply and participate in things that I would normally not do and as a result I won 2 strategic sessions with 2 of my mentors.

These sessions helped me identify my blind spots … Because we all have them!

And helped me change that way I think about my business and strategy.

5.The creation of my first online training

Contenidos que Atraen, where now I have the opportunity to share with my students my system to create content that attracts clients and increase their website traffic.

Even better is how I have learned by having the possibility of working directly with my students who are business owners and professionals in all parts of the world!

Now I realize how this was an important piece that was missing in my business.

How to play the online marketing game and always win

If I could summarize the lessons I learned, here are the 4 most important ones:

1. Having a plan is a must

Having the goal to do things is the first step, but iT’s not enough. You also need to have a clear vision of the steps you need to take.

An important part of overcoming the fear of trying something new or changing your strategy is to know whaT’Ss the first step you need to take.

And most of the time, all you need to do is take that first step.

2. Don’t do this alone

The reason why you shouldn’t do this alone is simple.

This online marketing game is difficult and it’s unnecessary to make life harder than what already is.

For me it has been life changing to realize this and invest heavily in my training.

This has allowed me to surround myself with other people who understand what I am trying to do and who are at the same the stage at which I am right now, or even better, they have already overcomed the challenges that I am facing.

3. Content is the key to increase traffic to your website

A website without content will not allow you to attract your audience and even convert traffic into clients.
The more I write, the better I become in the process.

However, the biggest advantage is that it improves the way I communicate my message.

As some say: Practice makes perfect .

Before continuing with lesson # 4, I created an infographic that illustrates the 4 lessons you need to learn if you want to learn: How to play the online marketing game and always win

Please attribute the infographic to Netklik.com or use the embed code that I have included.

Code for embed infographics
Use this code if you want to share the infographic

4. If you are looking to get different results, you need to start to do things differently

We can’t keep doing the same things all over and expect different results.

There seems to be a relation between the new things that I try and the results I get, specially if the are scary.

The more I do these kinds of things, the more I realize how importan they arefor the growth process of my business.

How to always win

I have also changed the way I think about my results, specially when things don’t go my way.

Because it turns out that the only possible failure is to stop doing things.

When we work on a new project or strategy there are always 2 possible scenarios:

Sometimes we win with the results and sometimes we win lessons.

When we do not get the results we expect, there is always a lesson to be learned.

I was paralyzed, everything happened so fast that I didn’t even realize what had happened.

A few minutes ago we had arrived at a Zip Line Park.

I remember seeing that it was full of small children and I thought to myself that this was something I could do too.

But it was already too late for regrets.

My children were ahead my husband behind me.

It was my turn to jump through the zip line.

I remember telling my husband: “I don’t think I can do this”.

The problem was that going back was not an option

I was paralyzed by fear..

My husband suggested I duck, at that moment I felt the tension in the rope and I jumped.

Of course, I will never forget this experience.

So what does all this have to do with Online Marketing challenges?

Believe it or not, this situation is very similar to the fear we feel when we are doing something new in our business, such as: investing in new equipment, tools, training, hiring and the list goes on.

When fear does not allow you to move

When we feel paralyzed, we can’t move or make decisions.

Without realizing it, we fall into the trap of feeling busy working on simple tasks instead of dedicating our energy to the work that will really push us forward.

3 tips to overcome Online marketing challenges that prevent your business from taking off

1. Avoid feeling paralyzed

It’s normal to worry about not knowing if what you are going to do will work or not.

For example, how will you know if the new website will really bring results, how will you know if investing in paid advertising is really going to help you attract new clients, how will you know if social media will work for your business?

These are just some of the questions that cross our minds every day.

How to overcome this challenge
Unless you find a way to read the future, it will not be possible to have answers to these questions.

It is paralyzing to ask yourself questions for which you have no answers.

I have learned that what works in these cases is changing the questions we ask ourselves.

For example:

Why do you need the new website?
How will the website help you?
How can I improve without the new website?
How can I learn from this project?
What can I do to prevent errors in the process?

This series of questions, give you back control and allow you to continue to move forward.

2. There is never a perfect time

We often feel that we are not ready to take the next step.

Either because we need more time to prepare or simply because we do not know where to start.

Some examples of when this feeling usually appears are: before making a large investment, before deciding to hire someone, etc.

How to overcome this challenge

With practice, I learned to recognize the feeling or knot in the stomach that is produced by fear.

Knowing how to identify the moment helps me to recognize what I am feeling, accept it, and prepare to ignore it.

At the same time, I think about the process that I am about to start and how it will help me improve my results.

3. You will never feel ready

It’s normal to feel that we are not ready.

I’ve heard more than one person say, “I don’t think that I’m good enough for that.”

How to overcome this challenge

The first thing you need to do is to work on getting organized, have a simple plan that you can follow with confidence.

Of course another way to overcome these challenges is to get help from someone who has more experience than you and who is doing exactly what you want to do.

This person can help you review your plan and execute it.

I created an infographic that illustrates the 3 tips to overcome online marketing challenges that prevent your business from taking off.

Conclusion

The worst reaction we can have to fear is to stop moving.

The key is to learn how to keep moving and not let fear paralyze you.

Fear is simply there to protect you

If we do not try new things or learn new things, we feel stuck.

So we need to learn to move, in spite of fear.

When we act full of fear we inject doubts into our actions.

Doubts interfere with our chances of success.

One way to combat this is to re frame it.

Instead of thinking about the possible outcomes of your actions that it is paralyzing you, think about the experience that you are going to have.

The best way to improve is to get used to doing things that make us afraid. The more we get used to having the knot in our stomachs and acting in spite of that, the better we get at overcoming fear.

It’s not a secret that good planning is a very important part of a trip’s success.

For me, there is nothing more special than surprising my family during the trip with something that is completely unexpected for them.

For example, on a recent road trip, we needed to spend the night in what was really the middle of nowhere.

Even though we were on our way to our destination, what made that night special was that we surrounded by mountains.

Which, by itself, was something very different for everyone.

Even though the hotel was nothing to write home about, the experience we had during the night we spent there, was very special.

When we arrived, the gentleman at the front desk informed my children that in the hotel courtyard, we could roast marshmallows and prepare hot chocolate.

The smile on their faces was priceless.

Needless to say, that became one of the favorite moments of trip and today represents one of the most fun memories of our adventure.

The idea of ​​traveling has always been related to the opportunity to have new experiences

But today, if your business offers services in the tourism industry, it is even more important to communicate the benefit of the experience.

Exactly what do I mean by the benefit of experience?

The hotel that we stayed in, definitely did a good job describing the experience, because after I read the description on their website, I was immediately convinced that my family would enjoy spending the night there.

The most important lesson

It is true that thanks to technology, now we can plan everything online, from buying tickets, booking hotels, buying tickets for museums, theaters and the continuous list.

It is true that all this is possible.

But the impact goes much further than listing each of these benefits

As someone who enjoys traveling, the biggest benefit of using the technology when traveling is in the way how our travel experience is enriched.

Thanks to technology, we now have the possibility to visit remote places, which we would not have been able to access before.

We can have the best experiences when it comes to adventures, museums, rides, activities and of course food.

Now we can enjoy the best of the city or place of our destination, because the information can literally be found in the palm of our hands.

This has changed the way we travel and the range of experiences we can all have.

It is not enough to include a list of benefits

You need to be able to translate the benefits into experiences.

That’s exactly what will help people in your audience make the decision to hire the services that you offer.

Because it will allow them to have a clear vision that this is the experience they want to have.

That’s exactly what the hotel were we stayed did, when describing the mountain experience we could have.

How has technology changed the travel industry (3 marketing lessons for your service based business)

1. Are you doing a good job communicating the value of your services?

You need to communicate your message in a simple and direct way.

Don’t try to write a message to impress, you need to use same language that your audience uses when speaking.

Write about the experiences that people can have using your services, for example: how will their time will be best used, how entertaining and fun it can be, how comfortable it will be, the opportunity they will have to experience the best food and the list goes on.

What helps your audience decide which activity to do, is the value they perceive the experience offers.

Avoid the following common error
Do not talk about your business and your experience. The first thing you need do is put yourself in the place of your audience and use the voice of your audience to describe your services.

2. Is your business visible and easy to find on the Internet?

Needless to say, an image speaks more than a thousand words, use images and photographs that visually communicate the benefits of experience.

It does not matter if you have best message, if it is not seen by your audience
You must promote your website in Google and Social Media.

Avoid the following common error
When I talk about promotion, I mean creating valuable content that helps your audience and at the same time sparks their curiosity, so that they feel they want to know more about your services.

3. How does your service enrich the experience of your audience?

It’s no secret that people don’t have time, this means, you just have a a few seconds to make an impression and spark their curiosity.

Avoid the following common error
Present the information in the form and format that your audience needs it.

In other words, you should make information easy to find, include pricing, hours, and an easy way to make the payment.

I created an infographic that illustrates how has technology changed the travel industry (3 marketing lessons for your service based business)

Although the possibility of new experiences when traveling is nothing new.

Today, if your business is related to the tourism industry, it is essential that you learn how to communicate the benefit of the experience that you offer.

Your audience has many options to choose from, all in the palm of their hand.

But the truth is that people will be moved to choose the option that best matches the expectations of the experience they wish to have.

The question you need ask yourself is:

Are you doing a good job describing the experience for your audience?

Remember they are looking for more than just a place to eat and sleep.

Lately, the question: Is SEO still relevant? seems to be a topic of lots of discussion.

I have had the opportunity to listen and participate in very intense discussions where one side attacks SEO and says it is a waste of time and the other side says it is the only way.

So the question, you might be asking yourself is:

The problem with this question

Is that online marketing is an art and a science, so deciding to choose between black and white is not the solution.

Because we also have a range of grays.

How to view your online strategy over time

One of the advantages of working in online marketing for so many years is that I have the opportunity to see how the strategies change over time.

A few weeks ago I was working on a client’s Adwords strategy and I was strucked by the cost increase for some of the keyword phrases.

I have also had the opportunity to work on this client’s organic traffic strategy.

So I decided to do the exercise of taking the most expensive phrases in Google Adwords and seeing if the client was been found in Google using those same phrases.

And indeed, his website was included in Google results when people where searching for those phrases.

The importance of combining short and long term strategies

Although I know and understand that we need to combine short-term and long-term strategies.

It’s one thing to understand it and a every different one is to be able to have concrete real results.

Thanks to this exercise I was able to proof the importance of having made the decision to implement strategies in the short and long term.

And for me it demonstrates clearly the importance of SEO.

Not everything new is better

Every day when the sun rises, it seems like there is a new discipline and 10 new tools in the world of online marketing

Of course the idea of keeping up, becomes more difficult.

The solution to this problem is to choose an area or a strategy to focus on.

Although I agree with this idea, it’ is important to do it carefully, without necessarily ruling out everything else.

My client, decided to bet on a long-term strategy and now he can see the benefits.

Not to mention all that he has learned by having the courage to experiment with different strategies from the beginning.

Not all businesses are the same

I understand that not all businesses are the same and that for some there is only one window of time to validate their idea.

In this case SEO will not be your best option.

But if you have an established business or offer professional services and plan to do so for many years, I think it’s important that you consider it.

Here are 3 questions to help you decide when to consider an SEO strategy for your business:

Is SEO Still Relevant for your business? (3 questions to help you decide)

1. Identify your Goals

If your goals are short term, it is possible that SEO is not best way to go for your business.

But if your goals are long term, I think there is a lot to learn from SEO and it can benefit your business in general.

You see, you can have the best of both worlds when you succeed in implementing an SEO strategy and a strategy using paid traffic.

It is true that if you have a fixed budget and need to start seeing results, SEO is not the best way to to accomplish it.

But that does not mean that SEO is dead.

When you pay for acquiring customers, chances are the cost for acquiring each customer will increase over time.

You have to be able to have different sources of traffic. So you do not rely solely on one source and you can average the cost of acquiring customers.

2.Consider your Industry

Is your audience doing Google searches? If your answer is yes, you should consider SEO as an important ingredient within your online strategy.

There are industries where social media is the perfect fit.

You need to feel comfortable with how you promote your business and the reality is that everyone does searches Google.

3. Define Your Strategies

Regardless of whether you decide to invest in SEO, understanding how it works will change the way you look at your online strategy.

If you still think that SEO is not for your business, my recommendation is that you do not rely on a single source of traffic, so no matter which strategy you choose, always consider implementing two strategies.

If there is something I have learned, it is that the only way to improve your strategy and your results is to remain curious and experiment.

Through experimentation we expose ourselves to new learning and experiences.

When we do this, our mind opens and we can connect the dots and finally put together the pieces of the puzzle.

I am convinced that understanding how SEO works, will help you see your strategy from d point different of view.

Conclusion

If 10 years ago, my client would have not made the decision to invest in SEO, today, he would not have a choice, his only option would be to pay to play.

I don’t think any business wants to find itself in this position.

SEO today is ver different from how it was 10 years ago.

The key is to offer valuable content to your audience.

It’s true that there is a lot more competition, but it you are able to look at it long term, there is still opportunity.

When we understand how Google works, we also understand how people search for our services.

I can’t think of any reason why this is not important to your business.

The reality is that Google is not going away.

I know how important it is for your to know why your social media strategy is not working.

I also know how hard it is to avoid the trap of feeling discouraged and more importantly to continue to learn.

Obviously, you’re here and you are doing it and that’s why I congratulate you.

Maybe you’re thinking.

It doesn’t matter what I try, I still don’t see results

You may have asked yourself:

How can I improve my social media strategy, but in a real way?
What are the exact steps that I need follow?
How do I know if the steps will really work?

Although I do not have an exact answer for your questions.

I fully understand how you feel.

And if I do have the answer so that you can stop feeling unmotivated and frustrated.

The key to success in your social media strategy is not a recipe or a series of steps

The key is to realize that your social media strategy is an experiment.

Yes, you heard that right.

Your social media strategy is an experiment.

And the only way to do an experiment is through trial and error.

When you start to think of your social media strategy as an experiment, it becomes scientific

There is no room for stories or emotions.
There is no place for successes or failures, but simply results.

You simply have 2 options, to show if the hypothesis is correct or false.

Otherwise, what happens is that when we do not get the “expected” results,

Without realizing it, we create stories about our failure and allow emotions to participate in the process.

As a result, we lose control.

Each strategy starts with a question and it is up to you to create a plan that will help you answer the question.

How to apply this in your social media strategy?

Why not use the scientific method in your social media strategy.

Yes, the same we learned when we were children.

Here are the 6 steps to answer the question: Why your social media strategy is not working

1. What is the question?

The first step is to start with the question.

In other words what do you want to learn?

Examples of questions related to your social media strategy are:

• Can social media really work for my business?
• Will social media allow me to attract new clients?
• Does social media work for my industry?

For purposes of this example, let’s consider the last question.

2. Research

If you want to know if social media will work for your industry, you need to start the research process.

Remember, the goal is to have enough information to design your experiment (strategy).

As part of this process you may have to answer other questions

• Which social media network will work best for your business?
• Is your audience present on social networks?
• How does your competition use social media?

The purpose of this step is to collect information so that you can design a plan that will allow you to proof if hypothesis is correct or not.

3. Hypothesis

The hypothesis could look something like this:

If I start writing content that promotes my services and promote the content in my social media, as a result I will be able to attract a new audience to my business.

Before continuing with the 4th step, I want to share with you an infographic that illustrates the 6 steps of the scientific method applied to your social media strategy.

Please attribute the infographics to Netklik.com
Use the embed code I’ve included

<div>
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/why-your-social-media-strategy-is-not-working/"><br>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1416" src="https://www.netklik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/why-is-your-social-media-strategy-is-not-working-infographic.png" alt="why is your social media strategy is not working" width="500" height="1250" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Infographic by: 
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/why-your-social-media-strategy-is-not-working/">Netklik</a>
</div>

 

4. Prove your hypothesis

In other words, the purpose of this step is to put into practice your plan and find the answer to your question

For this example, the plan may look like this.

During the next 60 days, you will create content and promote it in social media.

This means that you need to decide what type pf content you will create and how often will you promote it.

5. Analysis

You need to think about how you are going to measure the results of your experiment and keep a daily record.

Choosing what you are going to measure is critical.

For example,you could measure: number of new followers, engagement, traffic to your website, new subscribers, and finally new clients.

6. Conclusion

Review results and prove if your hypothesis was correct or incorrect.

Remember, that what’s important is not whether you were right or not.

The key is that you discovered something new and learned in the process.

By analyzing the results in this way you will have the power to transform what could have been a negative result into learning.

Learning expands your experience and helps you formulate the next experiment.

Of course this applies to all areas of your business, each strategy starts with a question and it is up to you to create a plan that will help you answer the question.

If you wish you could find new ways to get into people’s minds, the first step is to understand what’s happening in your own mind.

I know, easier said than done.

Today, I want to share the story of how I did it.

A few weeks ago, I drove my son and his friends to the movies.

I was also responsable for picking them up.

So before I dropped them off at the movies, we set our meeting spot near the valet parking area.

Of course, I made sure to be there a few minutes before the movie ended.

So to kill time I ended up driving in circles around the parking lot.

I had no idea that I was about to learn an important lesson

I was struck by how huge the parking lot was … more importantly by the number of empty parking spaces that were available.

Immediately I started to think, why do we really need valet parking at the movie theater with the huge number of parking spaces available.

It was just at that precise moment that I realized where my thoughts were leading me.

So I decided to pay closer attention to what was happening in my mind.

I quickly realized how wrong I was

Yes, personally, I don’t need valet parking at the movies, because if there are parking spots available, why would I use valet parking?

Obviously, that way of thinking is not right.

And it is a big mistake.

In fact there was a huge line of cars waiting for valet parking.

Which serves as further evidence, that I was just analyzing the situation from my point of view.

Obviously there are people who do not want to have to park their car or walk.

These people prefer the convenience of leaving the car and jumping straight to the movies in a minute.

There are also people who for health reasons have difficulty walking.

In other words, in just a few minutes we can conclude why it’s a good idea to offer valet parking at the movies.

I definately learned my lesson and it was an amazing exercise to go over my thought process.

How to apply this lesson in your business?

I suggest that the next time you find yourself drawing a similar conclusion, slow down for a minute and pay more attention to the situation.

In order to have a conversation with your audience and effectively communicate your message, you need to understand who your audience is.

It does not matter if this conversation happens in person, through your website or social media.

Of course this seems obvious, but it is not.

You need to learn to put yourself in other people’s shoes

In other words, you need to learn to look at situations from different point of views.

When we provide services, sometimes we are so caught up in our own world and we are so in love with with what we do and the services that we offer, that we loose perspective.

This prevents you from seeing your services from the point of view of your potential client.

When this happens, we could easily compare it to the effect of having a wall in front of you.

A wall that prevents you from seeing what is around you.

Unfortunately, it also prevents you from seeing opportunities.

And this was exactly what happened to me.

The first step is to realize that it is not about you.

And it has nothing to do with how good you think your service is.

The key is understanding that your service really solves a problem for your audience.

Learning to see problems from the point of view of a business is not always easy and I am also working on developing this skill.

Find new ways to get into people’s minds instantly in 3 easy steps

1. Think about your potential client (not yourself)

Analyze the problem from the point of view of the target audience, instead of looking at the problem only from your point of view.

This will require that you learn to see the situation under different points of view.

The best way to achieve this is to talk with other people.

The results of this exercise will be even better if those people are part of your audience.

2. Develops the ability to see different problems in one situation

One situation can present multiple problems.

The best way to identify them is to invest some time thinking about the situation and make a list of possible problems.

Before continuing with the third step, I want to share with you an infographic that illustrates the 3 steps you need to take if you want how to find new ways to get into people’s minds instantly.

Please attribute the infographics to Netklik.com
Use the embed code I’ve included

<div>
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/find-new-ways-get-peoples-mind/"><br>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1393" src="https://www.netklik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/find-new-ways-to-get-into-peoples-minds-infographic-2.png" alt="Find new ways to get in people's mind" width="500" height="1250" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Infographic by: 
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/find-new-ways-get-peoples-mind/">Netklik</a>
</div>

 

3. Develop the ability to find different solutions to one problem

A problem may have different solutions.

Take the time to make a list with possible solutions.

The better you understand the problem, the more creative you can be with the solutions you offer.

Remember that sometimes the same problem can be solved in different ways, depending on who your audience is.

Conclusion
This is one of the most important lessons I have learned, once again everything points to improving the way you understand your audience and to have clarity on how your service is the solution to your audience’s problems.

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend who is thinking about redoing his website since his current website is very simple and has not been updated in a every long time.

I want to share with you the suggestions and recommendations I gave him.

You see, when thinking about a website redesigning, the biggest mistake is not to be clear about your website’s main goal.

I know what you’re thinking now.

It seems totally obvious.

However, it is not.

In most cases the main goal of the website is to sell.

So question we need to ask ourselves is: why do we spend weeks and months designing a website and why don’t we think what is it that we need to do, so you can have a website that sells your services.

Let’s start with the errors to avoid, as it’ sometimes easier to rule what you are not supposed to do.

3 Reasons why your website does not sell your services

Here are 3 mistakes you should avoid when you are working on the design of your website:

Error # 1: Delegate the entire design process of your website

The worst thing you can do is to completely delegate the design process of your website.

Web designers have experience designing websites, but this does not mean that they have experience selling your services.

Remember nobody knows the business better than you do.

Error # 2: Devote hours, days and weeks to making decisions that have no effect on results

The reality is that neither the logo nor the colors of your website are key factors in the success of your website.

Understanding this before you start, will save you many headaches.

Error # 3: Thinking that designing a website is a project with beginning and end

It is a mistake to think of your website as a project that has a start date and a completion date.

In other words, this means that you should avoid thinking that once the first version of your website is ready, you can stop thinking about the website and take care of other areas of your business.

The work on your website should never end.

You should constantly measure the results of your website and constantly make changes to improve it.

I have created an infographic that illustrates the 3 reasons why your website does not sell your services.

Please attribute the infographics to Netklik.com
Use the embed code I’ve included

<div>
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/reasons-why-your-website-does-not-sell-services/"><br>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1375" src="https://www.netklik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/reasons-why-your-website-does-not-sell-your-services-infographic.png" alt="reasons why your website does not sell your services" width="500" height="1250" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Infographic by: 
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/reasons-why-your-website-does-not-sell-services/">Netklik</a>
</div>

 

Now that you know the mistakes you need to avoid, you’re probably wondering what do you need to do.

And the answer is that it will vary depending on your industry and business.

However, to help you get started, I want you to think about answering the following 3 questions:

3 Questions to answer before starting to design your website

Question # 1: How will you generate traffic to your website?

You must think about how you are going to attract your audience to your website. The reality is that you need an audience interested in our services.

Question # 2: What kind of content will you include and how often will you update it?

The purpose of your business website should be to sell, but what is going to make your website sell are not the logo nor the colors, but rather the content.

You need to effectively communicate the message or problem that your service solves.

Question # 3: What is the simplest viable version of the website?

It comes down to thinking what is the easy and simple way to get the work done. The purpose of this question is to decide what time you can invest in the design of the website.
The sooner you finish your website, the faster you can test it and measure its effectiveness.

This will allow you to refine the message and continue the improvement process that will also allow you to get better results.

Conclusion

It’s not enough to have the best intentions when designing your website, however that is not enough.
Take note of the 3 errors to avoid when designing a website and make sure you answer the 3 questions before you get started.

your website does not sell services and be sure to spend time on the 3 questions you must answer before you start designing your website.

 

Generally I write about topics that I think will help you and I do it by answering your questions.

After completing last week’s post, I realized that I have not written much about email marketing.

Email marketing should be an important part of your strategy because it helps you convert free traffic into customers.

If there is something that I hear frequently is how people with successful businesses on the Internet regret not having started their email marketing strategy before.

And I have to admit that the same thing happened to me.

If I had to choose my favorite part of my strategy or the one I enjoy the most, it would be email marketing.

Being able to communicate with you weekly helps me feel connected to my audience.

Although we are all in different parts of the world, I have been able to develop relationships with my subscribers thanks to email marketing.

It’s not unusual to receive weekly messages from you.

In some cases the messages are short and include a single word, thanking me (gracias).

Those little messages motivate me to continue creating valuable content for you.

Why does your service based business need an email marketing strategy

• Email marketing is the best way to have direct communication with your audience
• It works effectively and regardless of the device your audience uses
• It allows you to customize the messages for your audience. In other words you have the option to send relevant messages to those people who are interested in specific topics.
• You can also send different messages depending on which stage of the purchase process your audience is in.

According to Radicati :

“In 2017, the number of worldwide email users will top 3.7 billion. By the end of 2021, the number of worldwide email users will be over 4.1 billion. Approximately half of the worldwide population uses email in 2017”

In my opinion these numbers paint a picture of the global market.

Email marketing for service based businesses (3 steps to get started)

1. Choose an Email Marketing Provider

When I talk about providers I mean the program or service you need to use to send messages and maintain your subscriber list.

Depending on the stage of your business your needs will be different.

Some examples are: Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Aweber, Drip, Convertkit, Getresponse and Infusionsoft.

2. Capture the email address of your website visitors

By now you know how hard it is to get people to visit your website, so t’s important to think about the next step.

One way to do this is to think about what is it that you can offer your website visitors so they want to give you their email address voluntarily.

You must include in your website forms that invite the visitors of your web page to subscribe in exchange of something such as a guide, ebook, video, etc.

Consider this

It is important to mention that there are regulations to protect consumers from receiving spam in their mailboxes.

Each country has different regulations, for more information you can consult an infographic of Litmus that explains international regulations for Email Marketing.

3. Plan to communicate with your subscribers

It’s no use capturing the email address of your website visitors if you don’t have a plan to communicate with your subscribers.

Consistency vs. Frequency

The frequency with which you decide to communicate with your subscribers is not as important as how consistent you are.
What this means is that it does not matter if you decide to communicate with your subscribers monthly, 2 times a month or weekly. The important thing is to be consistent once you make that decision.

The Value vs. Promotion

It is not about flooding your subscribers with sales messages only, you need find to the perfect balance between offering useful information and promoting your services.

The call to action

Each message needs to have a call to action, in other words you must think what you want people to do when they receive the message, in addition you also need to think how you want them to feel once they read the email message.

I’ve created the following infographic: Email marketing for service based businesses (3 steps to get started).

Please attribute the infographics to Netklik.com
Use the embed code I’ve included

<div>
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/email-marketing-service-based-businesses/"><br>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1359" src="https://www.netklik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/email-marketing-for-service-based-business-infographic.png" alt="email marketing for service based businesses " width="500" height="1250" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Infographic by: 
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/email-marketing-service-based-businesses/">Netklik</a>
</div>

How to use a newsletter in your Email Marketing strategy

Creating a newsletter gives you a perfect opportunity to create content on a regular basis that you can share with your subscribers and that’s exactly what I do in my business.

Every week I write a blog post that I share with my subscribers.

Communication with your subscribers not only allows you to develop the trust relationship but also allows you to generate direct traffic to your website.

Additionally email marketing also allows you to automate your business, in other words you can program email sequences that your subscribers will receive once they take certain actions.

Conclusion
Remember that your email marketing strategy is part of the long-term strategy.
Think about the types of content you are interested in receiving as a consumer.

Before you start, just remember you need to have clear goals and an easy way to measure your results.

I have to confess, one of my weaknesses is ice cream.

I am sure you have probably noticed how sometimes there is other ice cream shop next to your favorite ice cream shop.

The reason is location.

Changing the location might have a direct effect in ice cream sales.

Having the right traffic to an ice cream shop is a key part of the success of the business and with this example we can begin to see how there can be a big difference in the number of people who visit an ice cream shop depending on location of the shop.

The same thing applies to your website traffic.

It is possible that your dream is to position your website in the first results of Google so you always have a flow of free traffic to your website.

If this is the case, the best way to get free traffic is by creating the unique types of content that people are looking for and need.

However there are 2 things to keep in mind:

1. Time Vs. Money

Although you do not have to pay Google directly to get free traffic, you definately need to spend time designing and implementing your strategy.
In other words free traffic does not have an economic cost, but if it involves a time cost.

2. There are many types of free traffic (and not all are equal)
Don’t get me wrong, having free traffic is not only excellent but also wonderful and that is why it’ss the dream for many.

But if the traffic is not well directed or the source is not the desired one, the traffic has no value for your business.

The idea of free traffic is to attract your audience to your services.

In order for the traffic to be effective, you need to make sure that the people you are attracting are really in your audience and interested in your services.

The type of searches that people do are very different depending on the stage in which they are in their buying process (customer journey).

How searches may vary during the customer journey

For example, when deciding to go on vacation with my family to Washington D.C., I might do searches like: family vacation in Washington D.C..

But if the decision about going to vacation to Washington D.C. has already been made, the information I will search for will be different and more specific to what I’m really looking for:

For example:

Washington D.C Bike Tour

Where to eat the best ice cream in Washington D.C.

The key is to create an combined strategy where through general and specific content you attract your audience to your services.

In other words, having free traffic is not enough when you do not know how to develop the strategy.

Even though when we we think of free traffic the first thing that comes to mind is Google, there are other ways to generate free traffic to your website.

How to use free traffic to attract clients (3 traffic sources you need consider)

My recommendation is to develop a strategy for each of the 3 sources of free traffic.

1. Search Engines (Google)

The goal should be to develop an SEO strategy.
This is something you need to think about even before designing your website. The benefits of doing this early on go beyond appearing in the first results of Google. Working on your SEO strategy will allow you to better understand your audience.

In addition to Google, there are other search engines (bing, yahoo, etc) and other sites where you can answer the questions your audience has (quora, ask).

What You Should Know
Positioning your website in Google takes time and should be part of your long-term strategy. Again, remember to include this as a top of your priorities before designing your website.

I have not experimented with quora or ask, but I know people who have had very good results.

2. Social Media

Social media allows you to attract your audience to your services almost immediately.

Think of social media as a way to start the conversation with your audience.

It is possible that not all social media networks are equally effective for your business, it is up to you to identify in which one you want to spend your time and develop an effective strategy.

What You Should Know
Free traffic from social media should be part of your short-term strategy. It is not only about generating traffic by increasing visitors, you need to have a strategy that allows you to convert traffic into clients.

Additionally having a social media strategy will also help you position your content on Google.

I’ve created an infographic illustrating How to use free traffic to attract clients (3 traffic sources you need consider).

Please attribute the infographics to Netklik.com
Use the embed code I’ve included

<div>
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/how-to-use-free-traffic-to-attract-clients/"><br>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1345" src="https://www.netklik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/how-to-use-free-traffic-to-attract-clients-infographic.png" alt="How to use free traffic to attract clients" width="500" height="2389" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Infographic by: 
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/how-to-use-free-traffic-to-attract-clients/">Netklik</a>
</div>

 

3. Email Marketing

How to use free traffic to get customers
This is a topic that is not talked about enough, but email marketing is also a way to generate free traffic to your content.

It is true that perhaps before implementing your email marketing strategy you need to learn how to generate free traffic, but really both strategies can and should go hand in hand.

Of course the first step is to attract people who do searches related to your services on Google or start the conversation in social media.

But definitely that step must be followed by a conversation via email and this will only be possible if you capture the email address of your visitors.

What You Should Know
Email marketing is the most effective way to convert traffic into clients because it allows you to develop the relationship with your audience in a way that you can not do with your website alone.

The best way to generate free traffic using email marketing is to communicate regularly with your list of subscribers and invite them to consume valuable content.

A common mistake is to think that traffic is a problem that you can solve after designing your website.

When in fact you should think about how you are going to attract your audience before you think about the designing your website.

Conclusion
Your goal should be to experiment with the 3 sources of free traffic and accumulate data that allows you to make the best decisions about what type of free traffic is more effective for your business.

Remember that there are different types of free traffic and your goal is to know which is the best for your business.

 

This is a common question when it comes to thinking about the best way to drive traffic to your services.

And the answer is that it really depends.

Before going into detail about the advantages and disadvantages of both types of traffic, I want to clarify exactly what I mean by these two terms.

Lets start with free traffic.

What is free traffic?

When we talk about free traffic we refer to the website traffic that you did not have to pay for.

Examples of types of free traffic

Some examples of free traffic are: traffic coming directly from Google or social media.

Advantages of free traffic

I don’t know any business who does not want their phone constantly ringing because they have a consistent flow of visitors coming to their website without having to pay for it.

If we have to mention some disadvantages it is important to be clear that building free organic takes time and should be part of a medium- or long-term strategy.

What is Paid Traffic?

Paid traffic is that traffic your website receives as a direct result of paying for ads.

Examples of types of paid traffic

Some examples of paid traffic are the traffic coming directly from Google Adwords, paid Facebook ads, Instagram ads, LinkedIn ads, etc.

Advantages of paid traffic

Although we sometimes think that it is not ideal to have to pay for traffic, especially when you are starting a new business.

The paid traffic is essential to growing your business.

You only have a problem when you pay for traffic before you know how to convert traffic into clients.

Nowadays there are so many alternatives to generate traffic that the important thing is to focus and know where your customers really are and what you think is the best strategy for your business.

I have been able to experiment with both types of traffic and what I have learned is that there is a very close relationship between the two types of traffic.

The relationship between organic traffic and paid traffic

What I have seen happened is that the content that is positioned in Google also performs well in social media and vice versa so in my opinion mixing both strategies is the answer to the question about what is the best strategy.

For example, if a post is positioned in Google, it is probably a good idea to invest in Facebook ads for that specific post.

Paid vs. free traffic (3 keys to design an integrated strategy)

1. The message is everything

Regardless of the source of traffic, whether organic or paid, if the message is unclear and does not connect with your audience, the result will not be good.

The reality is that no one likes to be sold.

The same is true of paid ads.

The goal of the ad should be to offer free valuable content that will allow you to help and connect with your audience instead of selling.

In a nutshell, the idea is to use content to monetize.

A great example of a business that does this well is: bumblebeelinens.com , this business is dedicated to sell handkerchiefs and the content of the blog talks about the different applications of handkerchiefs.

That is why it is so important to work on developing the right message.

2.The magic of combining organic traffic and paid traffic

The magic happens when we learn to combine both strategies.

This is an area where I still have a lot to learn, but I will share with you some ideas that you can use as a starting point.

When a post performs well on social meda, this is a sign that you should create more related content on your blog or website.

The idea behind this is that the likelihood of these content being well positioned in Google is high.

At the same time you can also consider including the post that generates organic traffic effectively as part of your paid ad strategy.

In the same way when the content is positioned well in Google, this also means that it has high probabilities of having good engagement in social media and it’s content that will be also shared.

So you can also consider using the same content as part of your paid traffic strategy.

I have created an infographic that illustrates the 3 keys to design an integrated strategy using paid traffic and free traffic.

Please attribute the infographics to Netklik.com
Use the embed code I’ve included

<div>
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/paid-traffic-vs-free-traffic/"><br>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1339" src="https://www.netklik.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/paid-traffic-vs-free-traffic-infographic.png" alt="paid traffic vs free traffic" width="500" height="2389" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Infographic by: 
<a href="https://www.netklik.com/online-marketing-strategies/paid-traffic-vs-free-traffic/">Netklik</a>
</div>

 

3. Experimenting is key

To get the most out of your content that performs well, the key is to experiment.

The question becomes how to reuse content that performs well in Google organic search with paid and vice versa.

Once we learn how to do this, it is very easy to make the decision to pay for traffic because the risk is much lower.

Conclusion
There seems to be a relationship between the performance of paid traffic vs. free traffic.

Unless you have a generous budget, my recommendation is to understand that it is probably best to use a combination of paid and free traffic.