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How to Recession-Proof Your Business

Starting a business is exciting and intense. However, no matter how successful your business is it is still at the mercy of external factors like recessions.

Running a successful small business is difficult in times of changing global affairs, turbulent markets, and challenging economic conditions but when these troubles are over, the rewards are sweet. 

However small businesses are the most vulnerable when an economy becomes turbulent.

Let’s face it, Nigeria has been on a downward recline since COVID-19. From the incessant hike in the price of foodstuff, transportation, fuel subsidy removal, and strikes to low employment rates. With all of these leading to a lowered standard of living for the general population, small business owners have not been left out of the full-blown effects of these ongoings.

Owning a business now takes triple the usual effort.

But Nigeria is not the only country going through an economic meltdown because some other countries are not spared either.

So, when a country slips into a bad economy business owners are faced with two options:

  • Be enveloped in fear and shut down
  • Or pivot/innovate

Your option should be the latter. While we cannot predict or control a recession, we can control what we do to get prepared by managing cash flow, debt, and inventory management to mention a few.

Tip #1 Talk to your people.

This includes your staff, colleagues, partners, and customers.

Help your team make sense of the situation. Allay their fears. Enforce safety precautions if you must.

You may have to tweak working conditions even. If your team can function remotely, then by all means let them work from home till the calamity is over. And consider new working hours so they don’t put their mental, and physical health and safety at risk in a bid to get their jobs done.

Then communicate these changes to your customers and partners to manage their expectations.

Tip #2 Maintain the forte

Rather than worry about what you cannot control, like inflation in the price for clearing your goods, products stuck in another country, or suppliers shutting down, try to expand your cash position by selling existing products. Clear your INVENTORY AT HAND.

And focus on the things that you can control.

Tip #3 Spot the opportunities

A bad economy ushers a fresh wave of economic problems that need to be tackled. The demand for new products and solutions will arise.

So as a business owner, you have to capitalize on these opportunities. Tap into this demand and create a new cash flow for your business.

Tip #4 Capitalize on your current customers

Your existing customers are familiar with your brand already. Your chances of them referring your business are high so why not increase sales by upselling and cross-selling to them?

Upselling is the practice of selling a more expensive product to a customer while cross-selling is offering supplementary products.

Keep in mind that it will be easier to upsell and cross-sell to them because they are familiar with your business and what you offer. And they trust you to an extent because if they don’t they wouldn’t be your customers in the first place.

As an alternative to conventional marketing approaches, you can offer these customers perks, such as early access to new items and special discounts.

Your customers will keep coming back for more if you show them how much you care about them (and tell their friends the same thing).

My Final Note

Maintaining cash flow in a bad economy is hard not to talk of increasing cash flow but I tell you for a fact that it is possible. I am a living witness. The tips that I mentioned here will work for you if you’re looking to not just survive a bad economy as a business owner but also thrive

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The future of digital marketing trends to watch out for in 2024

The Future of Digital Marketing: Trends to Watch in 2024.

Whatever made you successful in the past WON’T in the future. 

These are the words of Lewis Platt, former chairman and CEO of HP.

When it comes to digital marketing, truer words have never been said.

The internet has come a long way; from being a tool designated for government researchers to share information to being a universal entity that’s changed the past decades.

Whether you’re a solopreneur who’s just started or you’re a serial entrepreneur with years of experience under your belt, the only way to guarantee your continued success is to keep up with digital marketing trends.

You might say ‘I have a brick-and-mortar store so I don’t need to know what’s up with digital marketing

But I beg to differ. 

I tell you for a fact, the way it’s going, the physical businesses that will last will only be those who take advantage of digital marketing.

That being said, if you’ve been on social media for a while now, you’d have noticed how social media has been a major driver of commerce on the internet.

Digital marketing trend has moved from just websites and SEO hacking to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Quora, YouTube and now, TikTok.

To show just how much power social media has on marketing, I’ll tell you about Pink Sauce. The pink sauce was made by the average Tiktok user but a video of her sauce blew up one day, and that was it. The sauce is now being sold at Walmart and is known by at least 600,000,000 people.

That’s proof of how strong social media is as a marketing tool.

The digital marketing industry has come a long way and with each passing year, the landscape undergoes a remarkable transformation, pushing businesses and marketers to adapt or risk falling behind. As we step into 2024, the pace of change in the digital marketing sphere shows no sign of slowing down. In this blog post, I’ll delve into the digital marketing trends to watch out for in the coming year, recognizing that the rapid evolution of this landscape demands vigilance, adaptability, and a keen eye for emerging opportunities. 

Let’s explore how staying ahead of the curve in this dynamic environment can make all the difference for your marketing strategies.

Trend #1

Interactive Content Marketing

Interactive content marketing is not new to the world of marketing. It’s a two-way conversation between marketers and their audience. 

You should note that “marketing” is not reserved for professional digital marketers. If you sell anything and you talk about it online or offline, that’s marketing. 

Interactive content is relatable content. Your audience/prospects/customers understand your content and respond either by liking, commenting, or sharing. That is interactive content. Interactive contact is engaging content.

How do you incorporate interactive elements into your content?

Storytelling – Instead of doing the usual “how to xxx” or “7 ways to do xxx” content, tell a story about the problem you faced that led to you figuring out “how to xxx” or the “7 ways to xxx”. It’s less mechanic and more natural.

For example: you want to create a post on “how to batch-create 7 days of content’’ where you just head dive into the ‘how’ with no introduction whatsoever. instead, start by talking about how stressful it was for you to create content each day and how the frustration caused by your inconsistency led you to look for a better solution which turned out to be ‘batch creating’.

Quizzes, and Polls – These are great ways to know your audience’s preference on the topic you are discussing. Add polls to your IG posts (you can do that now!), to your Tweets, and quizzes to your IG stories, Whatsapp/Telegram messages,  etc. 

CTA – Always add a CTA to your posts! ALWAYS. 

Do you agree

Tag your friend who should see this.

Comment “yes” if this is you etc

These are examples of call to action. Your posts should have a continuance carried on by your followers. That way you’re engaging them 100%

Trend #2 Social commerce

Social commerce is using social media platforms to market and sell products and services. 

With social commerce, the entire shopping experience from product discovery and research to checkout, takes place right on social media.

This way customers complete purchases without leaving social media apps. I mean why make someone leave Facebook to make purchases elsewhere if they can just click on a product they like and purchase it right there on the platform, and in a few minutes? 

In the buyer journey, it’s one less click for customers and that’s one less chance for them to abandon the cart. 

We are not new to social commerce but it’s going to become more explosive in the coming year.

Sales will be driven from social media pages to social media shops.

While it’s not every social platform that enables entire shopping experiences from product discovery to payment, it’s only a matter of time.

Trend #3 Brands that align with consumers’ beliefs

Value is now a top priority for consumers. They want to ensure the businesses they patronize have values that align with theirs hence the reason why consumers want to spend their money only on businesses that align with their beliefs.

They want to spend their money on brands that don’t just talk the talk but walk it too. 

This is quite tricky for businesses considering that they can get canceled, lose customers, share prices can plummet, sales can drop, and followers can unfollow for doing things that don’t appeal to their customer base.

 But you can act on this:

  • By getting creative with how you showcase your brand values.
  • Collaborating with like-minded businesses, content creators, and influencers.
  • Letting your audience know that you care about them and their opinions

Trend #4 Video

There is no denying that video content has become the king of all content. The consumption of video across multiple platforms continues to rise year after year and it’s not going down anytime soon. So if you’re of the school of thought that it’s too late to jump on videos, I tell you, it is not. If you were, videos would be on the decline but it’s the opposite.

Again, building a sustainable business is hinged on optimizing trends. If that’s your goal, I’m glad you found this blog post. 

Can’t wait to see you smash your marketing goals next year.

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5 Strategies for Building an Effective Email List in 2023

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As the popular saying goes, social media is a rented space.

In 2023, if you do not have an email list, what are you doing?? You need to move your audience to a much safer space and keep nurturing them. In this article, I’d explain why you need an email list and how you can build and maintain one.

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What is an email list?

It’s a list of email addresses and other details like name, location, etc generated from collecting data from people that visit web pages.

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What is Email list building?

The process of collecting email addresses from visitors of a website, customers of a business, prospects, event attendees, and other people interested in a business is called list building.

If there’s anything that’s as important as building your brand online, it would be building an email list. Having an email is important for many reasons but I’ll highlight a few here:

  1. Emails are targeted

With emails, you have control over who does or doesn’t get your mail. And if you are sending the mail to 10,000 people, all 10,000 of them will get the mail, unlike social media where your content is at the mercy of the algorithm.

  1. You are the owner of your email list

So during April 2023 MYK launch, I lost my FB page. The page I was using to run ads for MYK course. My targeted ads and leads, poof! All gone. But I still made tons of sales why? Because I had my email list and my IG page, so I channeled my organic marketing efforts there. But without my email list, I wouldn’t have made the profits I made. Unlike your social media pages that you don’t own and can lose access to when it gets hacked, when the platform is down, or when policies are not favorable, you own your email list and only you can control it. 

  1. Emails are personal 

Don’t you feel special when you read an email with your name in it? Makes you feel like it was written specifically for you. This is how subscribers feel about personalized emails. It builds trust.

  1. You will make more money 

Your email list is a good way to make money organically from your digital products. Your subscribers are people who are not only interested in your brand but trust you enough to want to hear from you regularly so of course, it’d be easier to sell your products to them.

You should note that building an email list is not a one-time thing. It is something you do constantly because your email list loses subscribers over time. People change their email addresses, unsubscribe from your list or move to other companies leaving their emails behind. So you need to get new signups to keep your email marketing KPI high.

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Strategic Ways to Build Your Email List

  1. Lead magnets

You need lead magnets to build your email list. Let me give you this analogy; you know the hook that makes the bait for a fish? That’s a lead magnet, the earthworm is your valuable offer and the fish is your prospect/target audience. A lead magnet is basically a special product or service that you promote to your audience and prospects to get their contact details that mostly include their names, email addresses, and phone numbers as the case may be. Examples of lead magnets are:

  • Short e-book
  • Planner
  • Workbook
  • Template
  • Webinar/masterclass
  • Cheat sheet
  • Checklist
  • Event ticket
  • Early access
  • Referral discounts
  • Free trials
  • Free shipping
  • Consultation

If your business is on social media, your lead magnets must be hosted on a landing page. Direct links to get the offer should not be shared in your social media posts. If you do you wouldn’t get the contacts you created the lead magnet for. Instead, create a landing page with opt-in forms they have to fill out to get the offer. The link to the landing page is what should be in your bio or posts as the case may be.

  1. Embed signup links and buttons on your social media page

This is the easiest way to organically advertise your newsletter to social media users.  People should be aware of the fact that you have a newsletter they can subscribe to at any time.

  1. Embed pop-up forms on your website

You can make signing up for your newsletter easy by strategically placing opt-in forms throughout your website. Make your opt-in forms as eye-catching as possible by using pop-ups, slide-ins, or other eye-catching tools. Pop-ups, slide-ins, etc. Are opt-in forms that pop up after a visitor spends a few seconds on a website.  They should have incentives like a bonus or a freebie, to incentivize them to sign up.

  1. Run a sale

Run a sale that will be exclusively open to people on your email list only and encourage people on your website and social media pages to sign up to get access to the sales. This will create a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out).

  1. Collaborate with other businesses

When you partner with brands that complement your business. It is a great way to reach new customers who may be interested in your products or services by tapping into their existing audience.

For instance:

You’re a finance Coach with 7,000 subscribers 

And there’s a SAAS brand that offers savings and investment services with 11,000 subscribers.

You both decide to leverage each other’s reach by promoting each other’s products.

If you create an email campaign promoting the SAAS brand and you send it to your 5000 contacts, with a CTA that directs them to use the brand’s services

And at the same time, the SAAS brand creates an email campaign promoting your services, sent to their 11,000 contacts, with a CTA directing them to use your services

You both will make profits you wouldn’t have made if you never collaborated. That is the beauty of collaboration in email marketing.

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Conclusion

Building an email list is not a day’s job but with the right strategies, effort, and focus on offering value to your subscribers you can build a thriving email list that can develop into a valuable resource for your business.

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5 Best Instagram Content Ideas to Drive Authority

Mindset Shifts: Here you are creating content that helps your audience shift their mindset to achieve better results in your field. Identify common mindsets blocks and speak to them.  

Myth Busters: Every industry has myths that have carried on for years, busting them and showing alternatives takes you to the top of the experts.

Case Studies: Show you have achieved transformation for yourself or clients you have worked in with case studies. This is more detailed than a testimonial: Objective-Result-Process

Useful Tips: Share tips that cover some of the Frequently Asked or Searched Questions in your industry or niche.

Personal Growth: Belief is driven when your audience knows you have walked the same path or currently walking it. Create content that shows your growth in the process, how you are overcoming or winning. This builds respect and drives belief.   

Create your content calendar and spread all 5 across the week.

 

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30 Unbelievable Email Headlines to increase your open rate

We get a ton of emails everyday and we definitely do not open a lot of them. Unless you have a really great subject line, there is a high possibility that your emails may get ignored. 

Your email headline is the first thing a reader sees so you want to be sure to grab their attention to open, read and click your email.

Let’s take a look at 30 Email Headlines that actually get opened:

Curiosity

These subject lines drive curiosity in the minds of your readers as it makes them interested in reading the email content.

Here are some examples: 

-I can’t believe I’m telling you this

-Want to know a secret?

-OMG! This just happened 

-A surprise gift for you, open to unwrap

-This stuff works, check it out!

 

Sales

You’d notice that during your launch, the email open rates are lower . Let’s get them up with these subject lines that drive urgency and fear of missing out.

Here are some examples:

-You are missing OUT on

-TODAY only: Get this before it is gone

-Are you joining us?

-Tik Tok: Timer is going OFF soon

-25% discount available for the next (insert time)

Offer

These subject lines are used to make an offer without the element of urgency or fear of missing out. 

Here are some examples:

-Get all of these for $37 only 

-You can join ______ today

-You asked, I answered. You do not want to miss this!

-The cart is now OPEN

-You seriously need this

Make it Personal

The goal of this type of headline is to personalise your brand. People love each other (friends, family) and look forward to hearing from them. The goal of these type of headlines is to get you in that category. 

Here are some examples:

-I need a quick favour

-(first name), I messed up

-Why don’t you open my email?

-I need a quick favour

-Feeling (insert emotion), I have a solution.

 

Gifts

These subject lines are used to share gifts/freebies for your audience. Here are some examples:

-How to double your __________

-BOOM! Here is how to smash.

-Crash Course (How to_______)

-Surprise gift for you

-FREE GIFT: Open to grab me

 

Retargeting

These headlines are used for individuals who do not take an offer after being exposed to it continuously. 

Here are some examples:

-Knock, knock, anyone there?

– Hey(first name), you forgot to _______

-Are you still on the fence?

-(first name), did I offend you?

-(first name), we miss you

Conclusion

There you have it! You now have access to catchy headlines that would get your email open rate up and boost your conversions.

If you found this article helpful, you should consider getting my Email Marketing Template Bundle. This bundle includes 100 catchy subject lines, Welcome Email Template, Sales Email Template, and 8 months Email Calendar with a bonus ad script. Click here to grab it at a discount. 

 

Name description: Hi, I’m Tricia, a Digital Products Coach. I help experts, coaches and business owners turn their knowledge into profitable digital products that bring in clients within 60 days. I’m a lover of dogs, good food and everything pretty. 

 

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Caption formula that converts

You see, it can be pretty frustrating staring at your phone/laptop for minutes trying to craft that perfectly worded caption.

It’s even more frustrating when you finally come up with something only for it to be greeted by crickets. If this sounds familiar, you might want to pull up and come closer as I’m about to share with you Instagram Caption Formulas that convert.

I have outlined 3 working formulas, with a step-by-step guide for each one as well as examples.

  • The Big Dream Formula

With this caption formula, you are calling out the big dreams your readers have and how they can move from dream to reality.

Step 1: Paint the dream 

Step 2: Call out 2 potential factors stopping them 

Step 3: Tease them

Step 4: Call to Action

Example: 

Step 1: What would life look like for you first-time mummy if you could sleep through the night, no baby cries, no sleepwalking, no sleep imbalance, because your baby is awake all through the night?

Step 2: Do not accept this as your reality, from your experience, there are a couple of factors responsible but here are the top 2 culprits

Step 3: Imagine having 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, infact with a cuddle or two from boo? This is possible

Step 4: Let me show you how. I have an Ebook that__________

 

The Inclusive Formula

With this caption formula, you are creating 2 categories of people. Those on the other side and those on the winning side, you are showing the facts of both sides forcing your readers to choose to be included in the winning side. 

-Step 1: Show both categories 

-Step 2: Decision Time

-Step 3: Call to Action

Example: 

Step 1: There are 2 types of fashion designers. The set that______ and the other set that _________ 

Step 2: What category do you belong to? I would hate to see that you still in Category B. Make the switch to ___________

Step 3: Drop a comment, what category do you belong to?

 

The Fish-Hook Formula 

Like a hook in the ocean, a fisherman attracts some baits to the hooks and dangles it for a fish to approach and it goes right in-HOOKED. Using this formula, you need to find the bait and hook your readers.

Step 1: The Hook

Step 2: Teach 

Step 3: Call to Action

Example: 

Step1: 8 out of 10 women will never get an orgasm in their lives…

Step 2: This is not another God-forbid situation, it is the fact. We are too shy to demand orgasms, some of us do not even know our body enough to understand our trigger points….

Step 3: DM “Orgasm”, let’s work together to help you achieve mind blowing orgasms. Every woman deserves one. 

 

Conclusion

Whoop whoop! I can see you grinning from ear to ear, dancing your happy dance, because caption writing is about to be a walk in the park for you. 

To recap, here are the 3 caption writing formulas:

-The Big Dream Formula- Calling out their big dreams and how they can move from dream to reality.

-The Inclusive Formula- Creating 2 categories and showing facts to get your readers to the winning side

-The Fish Hook Formula- Like a fisherman, attract and bait your audience

Now, go write some badass captions!!!

 

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Hot Cake Digital Products to sell in 2021

Four years ago, I decided to take a shot at creating digital products. At that time, I desperately needed some money to leave my home country, Nigeria. Before then, I’d closely followed some coaches who always launched webinars and I thought to myself “You can totally do this Trish!” 

So I went on Canva and designed a flyer for a webinar which I priced at $6. To my surprise, I raised over $900 within 48 hours! Whoop! That experience made me realize that people were waiting and ready for my knowledge but I had not offered it to them until then.

Ever since I got involved in creating digital products, it has changed my life and has helped me impact thousands of lives.

So, if you have been wondering how to get started with digital products, I’d advise you grab a box of popcorn, sit back and digest this article where I’d be sharing 5 Best Selling Digital Products you can create.

  1. E-Books: An eBook is short for electronic book and can be a digital version of your printed book or just a standalone. E-books give you the chance to be heard, attain expert position and teach others what you know. E-books can serve as an entry product for people to assess your knowledge, and most importantly, it can also be a passive income stream that keeps bringing in money in and out of season.

 

Here are 6 steps to publishing your E-book:

  1. Find the right e-book topic: Research on Frequently Asked Questions in your niche and see what angle you can create your book from.
  2. Outline and format your book: Break your book into different parts and outline them as chapters. Decide on whether you will edit your book yourself or hire an editor to do so. 
  3. Set a price for your ebook: Determine how much you would price your book at. Prices typically range from $10-$49
  4. Decide on the design/tech for your book: How will your book be designed? What platforms will your book be hosted on for students to gain access?
  5. Build your marketing campaign for your book: Try teasing the covers on social media. Share content around your E-book topic to drive awareness and need.
  6. Delivering the Ebook: Will it be delivered manually or automated via websites like Shopify, Squarespace, Selar, Samcart, Sendowl, Big cartel OR Online schools like Kartra

 

  1. Webinars: A webinar is a live seminar conducted online. Webinars are also known as web seminars or web conferences. Webinars allow participants in different locations to see and hear the presenter and interact by asking questions, answering polls and voting. Understanding the purpose of your webinar will help deliver proper results.

There are several types of webinars, the leading 3 are:

  • Lead generation Webinars – These are webinars you use to build your audience, build authority, your mailing list etc
  • Upsell webinar – This is a free webinar used as an opportunity to present your products for sale. This usually works because people have gotten value on the free class and are ready for more.
  • Value webinar – These are paid webinars where you give all the knowledge available on the topic as value for fee paid.
  1. Online Courses: An online course can take different forms. At their most basic level, the thing they all share in common is that they teach knowledge or skills to the person taking them. Online courses are delivered via a website and can be viewed on a mobile device, tablet, or web browser. This lets students conveniently access them anywhere and at any time.

You can launch out any type of online course but you need to understand the different types of courses:

  • The Starter Course: This is a course that helps your students get started just like the title states. The course should provide them with just enough information to get started
  • The Signature Course: A signature course is a comprehensive, wholistic course that takes students in-depth on the topic. It is also called a transformation course. My online course, Monetize your Knowledge is a perfect example.   
  • Certification Course: This is also a comprehensive course but this promises an official certification upon completion. Students can present the certificate to boost their job search, promotion, qualifications etc
  1. Templates: Templates are already done work that clients can key into and recreate or simply use for their purpose. There’s a world of people who want a head start on whatever it is that they’re working on. Heard of the popular design website- Canva? Why do you think it is so popular? Because it offers design templates and people can simply plug and play. Why reinvent the wheel? A template can save someone the effort of designing a website from scratch. It can also help them get their wedding invitations sent out on time, create personalized business cards, plan their marketing strategy, crunch some numbers on excel, create social media designs etc.

For instance, designer Janna Hagan made over $5,000 just selling resume templates during a period between jobs. A client of mine Vanessa made over $3000 selling canva Instagram templates.

Here are some templates you can create and sell:

  • Website Templates 
  • Sales Page Templates 
  • Business Planning Templates 
  • Marketing Strategy Templates 
  • Excel Templates 
  • Stock Photos 
  • Business Contracts 
  • Canva Templates 
  • WordPress Themes 
  • DIY Home Project Blueprints 
  • PowerPoint Presentations
  1. Coaching: A coach is someone who takes a person from their current state to the state where they want to be at. Imagine being the person responsible for the other person to achieve their goals and dreams. Imagine being a conduit through which someone can attain their targets. The responsibility is huge and it is not strange for one to get overwhelmed by it. Coaching is a personalized relationship with an individual to help them achieve a particular result working in close proximity. 

You can even customize your coaching offer to:

  • One on one coaching – Dealing with individuals one on one 
  • Group coaching – Coaching several individuals together as a group. Being part of a group forces people to think, co-operate and take action. It also helps you scale your coaching practice. 

 

Conclusion

Creating a digital product for the first time can be daunting. Even if you’ve launched a digital product before, you definitely want your next one to perform better. I’ve put together a step-by-step guide on how you can turn your knowledge into digital products and make some cool cash from it. Simply click here to download.