Category: Marketing

Marketing for 2020

Marketing for 2020: How will you Succeed this year?

by Christina Giordano

How will your business thrive over the next decade? What marketing initiatives do you want to try? What do you want to achieve and learn? How do you want to evolve and grow? 

Now is the time to set your business up to really experience the success you have been working for. This means: getting clear about how you will position your offerings, thinking about your monthly content and email marketing initiatives, and putting relevant dates, deadlines, and tasks into your calendars. 

Here are a few key phrases to keep in mind as you review 2019 and prepare your marketing for 2020. 

The more lives you touch, the more money you make.

Your business success is directly proportionate to the value you provide the marketplace. What are the ways in which you can offer more “give” than “get” opportunities for your target market this year? How can you be of service? 

Start before you feel ready.

You may have new programs, journeys, or offerings that you’re trying to “perfect” before you launch them to your audience. But, don’t delay! What you have right now is enough to get going. Start gathering some testers that can help you tie up loose ends, generate case studies and testimonials, and recommend you to others. 

The key to success is consistency.

How would you behave if you were the best in the world at what you do? Now is the time to consider the good habits you want to integrate into your life and the not-so-good ones that you want to leave behind. Like it or not, being consistent is essential to creating any significant change in your life. 

Make 2020 the year of you. Need some help strategizing your marketing for 2020? Take advantage of my schedule-as-you-want consulting, and sign up for a 1-hour session, so that I can help you brainstorm, plan and prepare. 

CGC: 5 Reasons You Need a Content Calendar

5 Reasons You Need a Content Calendar (& Bonus: How to Create One)

by Christina Giordano

According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, 70% of B2B marketers planned to produce more content this year than the previous year. With an increase like that, it’s more important now than ever to have a corresponding content calendar that allows you to plan and prepare accordingly. However, content calendars can track more than just your upcoming blogs. If used correctly, businesses can track every form of inbound marketing, from content queues to social media posts. Below are five reasons you need to start making content calendars, along with a series of brief instructions for how to do so.

  1. The main reason for a content calendar is to remember key dates. These dates can include holidays, events, launches, campaigns, blog releases, and more. Planning ahead for these key dates and being aware of them ensures that you don’t end up scrambling for content for those dates.
  2. Another, somewhat obvious, benefit to content calendars is their ability to keep your schedule organized. It’s a clear benefit, but you would be surprised as to how many brands fail to use them! Staying organized not only helps you remember important dates, but it keeps you updated on what you are publishing, when and where.
  3. While consistency in social media marketing is key to a digital marketing strategy, staying consistent internally is a large piece of this. Content calendars allow businesses to foster collaboration with their marketing teams and potential partners. It’s the single source of information for what’s being published and when.
  4. Rather than making last minute arrangements and coordinating campaigns on the fly, you are saving time, money and resources. With content calendars, you can plan ahead, assign duties and copy in advance, provide ample time for research, and never miss a deadline.
  5. Careful planning also leads to clearer results. As you generate and share content on a regular basis, you will regularly be able to see and monitor results. It will be easier for you to judge which content performs the best. You will notice patterns, and therefore, you will be able to consistently generate more successful content and give your audience what they want.

Bonus: How to Create a Content Calendar

Creating a content calendar is very easy. For my clients, I tell them to start with a simple calendar graphic, such as a template found in Microsoft Word. Then, think about your audience. What are some of their “frequently asked questions?” What do they search for and ask about constantly? Create blog titles around this, for either a weekly, bi-monthly or monthly publishing schedule. Then, search for upcoming daily and monthly holidays that are relevant to you and your business. If you are a massage therapist, Massage Therapy Awareness Week would be relevant to you, and so would regular holidays like Thanksgiving or the Summer Solstice. Incorporate these major events onto your calendar, and include launches, functions, campaigns, blog publish dates, or anything that marks a key date for you. Create social media posts around these events. Alter their character count, length, and imagery for the platform you are working with. And voila! You have a content calendar.

All about the CTA

The CTA: Don’t Miss Another Sale

by Christina Giordano

Here we’re going to talk about a timeless marketing tactic that can really change how you convert leads to sales. It’s called the Call to Action, or CTA.

The Marketing Tool You Need

Every piece of marketing that you put out there needs to have at least one CTA. Most of us make the mistake of assuming that our customers know what we want them to do next. We forget to put a call to action in every piece of marketing that we create.

Including a CTA is referred to as direct response marketing. You want your prospective customers to see your message and take direct action, like a click or a call or a purchase, in response to your marketing message. 

Here are some sample CTAs:

  • Click to play the video
  • Reply to this email
  • Leave a comment
  • Click here
  • Buy now
  • Register now
  • Order now

These are the kind of action steps that we want people to take. If your goal is to make sales, you must tell your prospects exactly what to do to take action. However, you don’t want to give them a bunch of different CTAs in one piece of marketing. The general rule of thumb is to have one clear call to action and repeat it several times. Stay focused in each marketing piece in order to make it easy for people to listen to your message and take the desired action. 

So, let’s make sure you’re using clear CTAs with this CTA self-check exercise. 

Step 1: Review all of your marketing materials, from your website to your blog to your email marketing to your social media. Does every piece of marketing out there have one clear, direct CTA? 

Step 2: If not, make a plan to update your copy now, especially on your sales offerings. Moving forward, make sure you always include one CTA for all marketing and promotional assets you create. 

Step 3: When reviewing any marketing or sales material moving forward, ask yourself, “Is it crystal clear the one action I’m asking someone to take?” If not, rework that marketing piece so that there is one clear CTA.

Need help with your CTA placement? Reach out!

CGC - Empowered Marketing Workshop Series

New Workshop Series Starting Soon!

by Christina Giordano

Many business owners out there never put “marketing” and “easy” in the same sentence.

After all, it can be complicated! How many times have you researched the latest marketing tactics only to feel confused, frustrated, overwhelmed and unsupported? How often do you find yourself spending time throwing marketing ideas at the wall to see what (if anything) sticks?

Good news: I can teach you how to market your business.

I can help you put an end to:

  • Hounding clients who aren’t in alignment with you or who don’t want to pay you what you’re worth,
  • Banking on discounts and deals,
  • Duct-taping your marketing strategy together, and
  • Expecting free marketing webinars and downloads to change your circumstances (there’s a reason they’re free).

How can I help you? I relish in developing plans and protocols. I enjoy being knowledgeable about all things marketing. I thrive on organization, and I love simplification. I use these skills to help my clients make marketing easy. And yes, I just used “marketing” and “easy” in the same sentence.

If you want to learn how to use smart, honest online marketing to reach more people, align with the right customers, and convert more visitors into buyers, this workshop series is for you.

Introducing: The Empowered Marketing Program Workshop Series

Through this series, you will finally be able to market your own business with confidence. You will gain the tools, skills, and insight to become a master of your own marketing. You will feel empowered to put your marketing in your own hands, ultimately fueling your profits, your purpose and your passion.  

Workshop Schedule:

Taking place every 2nd Wednesday from 12:00pm to 2:00pm for 7 months

Workshop Location:

Tribe – 1819 W. Belmont Ave. Chicago, IL 60657

Is this Workshop Series for You?

This series is for conscious, soulful, big-hearted entrepreneurs that want to either launch a business or change the way they market their current business online. Whether you are an action-oriented, ambitious beginner, or already successful but want to grow your audience and revenue online, this is the program for you. This program is perfect for service-based professionals, particularly in the wellness industry, such as coaches, therapists, trainers, and practitioners.

What You Get at Each Workshop:

  • Lecture followed by exercises, along with in-class feedback from Christina,
  • Bonus take-home items from each workshop, including resource lists & tutorials, and
  • A special discount offer on one-hour, one-to-one marketing clinics, which can be used at any point during the series, as often as you’d like.

What It Costs:

$50 per workshop or $270 for the entire series (a 10% discount!)

Click here to sign up!

Workshop Dates & Learning Objectives:

March 13: Defining Your Marketing Goals (Free Session!)

Take this free workshop to learn more about the program and to begin the process of building a strong, profitable business. This workshop will provide you with clarity about what you want and why you want it. You’ll outline your purpose, the people you’re serving, and the product (or service) that you’re selling. This workshop is also an opportunity for Christina to learn more about your business goals and become more acquainted with you as a person and entrepreneur.

April 10: Workshop 1: Planning Your Strategy to Stand Out to Your Ideal Customers

  • Discover your exact ideal customer and learn to think like them.
  • Position yourself by selling outcomes, rather than services.
  • Find out your strengths and what makes you unique.
  • Create your unique selling proposition.
  • Map out how your services and/or products will revolutionize the industry.
  • Outshine the competition by simply making them irrelevant.

May 8: Workshop 2: Enhancing Your Website, AKA Your Digital Storefront

  • Learn which website platform is right for you.
  • Find out exactly what your technical capabilities are when it comes to website design and development.
  • Uncover your website objectives and how they will convert leads to sales.
  • Tap into what your ideal customer wants to see, read and experience on your website.
  • Understand everything you need to make your website successful.
  • Analyze your website’s effectiveness with a simple yet comprehensive checklist.

June 12: Workshop 3: Positioning Your Offerings to Maximize Profits

  • Enhance your service offerings in a way that makes your customers’ lives easier, more convenient and more joyful.
  • Come up with “outside of the box” solutions that will sell your services at rapid-fire speed.
  • Create a Before/During/After strategy to promote customer satisfaction and retention.
  • Learn how to position, price and deliver your services in a way that builds loyal and raving fans.
  • Understand why discounts are unnecessary and potentially damaging (except under a few circumstances).
  • Set your prices at numbers that feel great and make financial sense.

July 10: Workshop 4: Communicating Your Message to Go Viral

  • Get familiar with the pros of content marketing and how you can integrate it into your business.
  • Develop a strategic plan to stay connected with your audience.
  • Generate content ideas and develop a 3-month content calendar.
  • Understand the value of SEO in content marketing and how to integrate it into your plan.
  • Write irresistible headlines that gather clicks, conversions and could even go viral.
  • Offer value and insight directly related to what you are selling through content.

August 14: Workshop 5: Reaching Your Customers to Generate Leads Right Now

  • Find out why opt-ins on your website optimize and expedite success.
  • Create a smart, effective and winning opt-in offer for your website.
  • Learn why email marketing is the most essential and profitable strategy for your marketing plan.
  • Develop an email marketing plan with specific methods to promote your business.
  • Generate leads immediately and at no cost to you.
  • Explore 25 free list building strategies.

September 11: Workshop 6: Marketing Your Business with Proven Strategies

  • Become more comfortable with marketing and find out why and how you can become a phenomenal (and ethical!) marketer.
  • Consider 20 additional and effective marketing strategies that you can try right now.
  • Learn 4 research-driven pricing strategies to add to your marketing toolbox.
  • Create or enhance your current pricing strategies to sell better.
  • Get the best formatting formula that can be used for a PR pitch or a sales letter.
  • Write headlines and copy that makes traffic click.

Click here to sign up!

About Christina:

All too often, confident, capable entrepreneurs have business dreams that can help others and change the world, but they lack the marketing knowledge and skills required to make it a reality. That’s where I come in. I will arm you with the tools, strategies and resources required for you to do it all yourself – in a way that not only saves you time, but makes you more money.

I have a deep commitment to those that want to consciously and authentically make a difference through their businesses, and I want to help you get the word out. My passion is to help you build the business you desire and deserve through honest and authentic marketing practices.

Click here to sign up!

CGC - Transforming Your Unique Selling Proposition

Transforming Your Unique Selling Proposition

by Christina Giordano

In a previous blog, we talked about your unique selling proposition and how it impacts your overall business message. It is essentially what makes your brand different. It’s what makes it uniquely yours. It’s absolutely essential to identify this if you want to market your business effectively.

The secret to finding what makes you unique is not only obvious but easy as well – it’s all about you. You have to quite literally build YOU into your business. By you, I mean your personality, your style, your quirks, your unique stories and your values. Remember, there is only one of you on the planet, and nobody can ever compete with something that is purely you. The way to bring this idea to life is through your unique selling proposition, or USP.

The USP, according to Entrepreneur Magazine, is: “The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.” I like to take this one step further and say that the USP is: “the unique set of strengths, stories, values, and the style of a seller that sets them apart from the rest.”

You can figure this out through several ways, and my signature program includes all of them. However, for now, make a list of 20 things you love, things you’re passionate about – even those little quirks that you may find silly! Some of the things you come up with (particularly through the list of 20 things you love) may seem insignificant, but these details actually have the potential to enhance the customer experience, or help you build your culture, or even help your brand become more memorable.  

For instance, if you love the color pink, perhaps there are ways you can infuse pink into more of your color scheme and throughout your business’ brand. All of a sudden, your business is even more uniquely you. Another example could be related to a charitable cause you love, for instance, dogs. Say you love dogs and one of your services includes an option for customers to donate a portion of your sales to a local dog shelter in your community.

The opportunities are endless! The bottom line is that these special aspects of your business that are uniquely you will inevitably help you connect more with your prospects and allow them to spread word about you.

The Importance ofYour Ideal Customer

The Importance of Your Ideal Customer

by Christina Giordano

Finding your ideal customer is one of the most important steps in developing a marketing plan for your business. In fact, aside from fine-tuning the passion behind your business and understanding its purpose, finding your “people” is what will drive your marketing messages.

What is an ideal customer?

Your ideal customer is someone you speak to in every piece of communication coming from your business. Whether you’re promoting a product or a program or even a blog, your ideal customer is at the core of your creation. I find it easier to think of this “someone” as a character or an avatar, so that you can really visualize and picture them. This character could be based on an actual customer that you have, or someone that you’ve worked with, but it’s generally someone that you would love to have as a customer, and someone that makes you think: “If all of my customers were like this person, I would have my dream business.”

So why do you need an ideal customer?

First, without an ideal customer, you’re really not going to sell much of anything. How can you sell something to someone without considering what he or she truly wants? In order to ethically and honestly sell to someone, you have to understand them, and they have to feel like you do. How do you expect to engage with and persuade others to buy from you if you do not understand their fears and their desires?

Second, if you don’t have an ideal customer, it’s very likely that you will attract less-than-ideal customers. And we’ve all had a few of those experiences before! These are the customers that don’t value what you do, your pricing, or your time, and it’s all because they weren’t meant to be your customers in the first place.

Third and lastly, if you’re not clear about who you are targeting, then your marketing, your sales efforts, and your content creation will likely be too general and too generic – all ending up as a complete waste of time.

A Few Things to Consider…

Now, many entrepreneurs are afraid to get too specific with their ideal customer. Either they feel like they’re missing out on possible leads, or they’re afraid that they are labeling themselves as a provider for only one particular group. I cannot reiterate this enough – one of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make is trying to sell to everybody. Expert after expert will tell you: if you’re trying to sell to everybody, you will sell to nobody. Your messaging will be bland, basic, forgettable, and lost, and any type of promotion will be entirely ineffective. The truth is, there is no product or service that is right for everyone. There are always subsets and subgroups in every market. Furthermore, having an ideal customer doesn’t limit who you reach. If you end up having a wide range of customers of different genders, ages, and income levels, that’s absolutely possible. However, you can still achieve that by starting with one character in mind.

I promise you – the clarity that you will feel when you recognize your ideal customer is so refreshing. The subsequent writing of content, messaging, branding, and marketing you will do for your business will come to you quickly and easily. You will save a tremendous amount of time and energy marketing to a specific group rather than get overwhelmed marketing to everyone. You are going to serve people that are genuinely a good fit for your business and in turn, running your business will be a lot more fun and more profitable!

So, take this advice and go find your ideal customer. They are waiting to be discovered! Need help? Contact me for a worksheet that will jumpstart the process for you.

CGC - How to Build an SEO Friendly Site

All About SEO + A Free SEO Tutorial

by Christina Giordano

SEO has become one of those complex technical parts of a website that has become an “expert-only” area. However, I’ve decided it’s time to simplify it for you, at least through a basic approach, so that you can optimize your website yourself.

In this free tutorial, I’m going to talk about the basics of SEO, including how to build an SEO friendly site, with tasks you can do on your site and off your site to maximize your efforts.

But first, a little about SEO…

What is SEO? When you have a question, I’m guessing you go to Google to find the answer. Well, your potential clients and buyers do the same thing! Everyone has questions and problems they want solved, and they use search engines to find the answers. SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is the practice of growing your site’s visibility in the organic search engine results.

How do search engines work? Search engines, such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo, send out robots, also known as spiders, to crawl websites for content. The search engines then store and build an index, or library, out of this info. When someone enters a query into a search box, the search engines use complex proprietary algorithms to display results pulled from their databases. The ranking of these results is affected by the content’s relevance and popularity.

Why should you care about SEO? Most traffic that comes to your site will arrive via search engines. SEO helps boost your rankings so that your site is visible to the right people, in other words, the people you want to attract to your site to buy your products and services. By fine-tuning your SEO, you can increase the quantity and quality of traffic that goes to your site through the search engine results.

Ready to improve your SEO? To unlock and receive this free tutorial, subscribe below.

Subscribe to Receive the SEO Tutorial!

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Keep in mind, SEO is not a one-time job. Whether you’re creating a brand new site or you’re updating your current one, you’ll want to make sure your site has a strong foundation. You’ll also want to review your processes as you create new content and update old info. This training will help you as you go!

CGC - Why Email Marketing Should Be Part of Your Marketing Strategy

Why Email Marketing Should Be Part of Your Marketing Strategy

by Christina Giordano

If email marketing isn’t part of your marketing suite, it should be. Here’s why.

Below are some current statistics taken from leading marketing research institutions:

  • According to the Data & Marketing Association, email marketing averages a 3800% ROI (return on investment).
  • According to Campaign Monitor, you’re 6x more likely to get a click-through from an email campaign than you are from a tweet.
  • According to Radicati, a Technology Market Research Firm, a message is 5x more likely to be seen in an email than via Facebook.
  • According to the Data & Marketing Association, when it comes to purchases made as a result of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate of 66%, when compared to social media, direct mail, and more.

Not convinced yet? Here are 6 reasons why email marketing is a marketing channel you shouldn’t ignore.

  1. It’s more effective than social media, especially when it comes to customer acquisition. Social media is a great way to interact with customers and strengthen your personal relationships with them. In a previous blog though, I talk about why it’s secondary to email marketing. The biggest reason why email marketing is more important is because when it comes to converting people into subscribers, supporters and customers, it is four times more effective than any other digital channel.
  2. It’s easy, effective and inexpensive. Need I say more? Email marketing allows you to reach all of your customers (whether it’s hundreds or thousands) at a rate of nearly nothing per message. Many platforms today, such as MailChimp, are even free to try and start, depending on your list size. For those entrepreneurs on a budget, this is a much better choice than direct mail, TV or radio.
  3. It’s completely personal and entirely customizable. When you’re email marketing, your sending a personalized message to a customer directly to their inbox that will resonate with them. This is different from other methods, such as social media, where you are more or less broadcasting your messages to a larger audience. If your content is friendly, personable and relevant, it’s not going to be spammy.
  4. It’s action-oriented. This is my favorite part about email marketing – there’s always a next step. You can reply, forward, click-through, sign up, or buy. The very nature of email is transactional. It can be used to direct traffic to your website and boost sales.
  5. It’s measurable. Any email marketing software available on the market today offers valuable analytics telling you who opened your email, which links they clicked, and who unsubscribed. This wealth of information gives you the ability to continuously monitor your email marketing campaigns so that you can always make adjustments and improve them.
  6. It’s mobile-friendly. As with any digital marketing campaign, this is a must. Since we are always on the go, mobile devices allow people to check their emails constantly. And they are – whether it’s in line at Starbucks, or in a waiting room, or on their train commute. In fact, a recent study showed that 91% of people use their phones to check email, as opposed to 75% who use their phones to check social media.

Convinced? Then it’s time for you to either start or strengthen your email marketing campaign so that you can generate a following, boost online traffic and increase your business sales. Need help? Check out my Empowered Marketing program where you’ll learn how to set up a successful email marketing plan, along with other marketing tactics. And if you need even more assistance – my consulting services allow for email marketing strategy, design and even implementation.

CGC - 4 Ways to JumpstartYour MarketingThis Season

4 Ways to Jumpstart Your Marketing Strategy this Season

by Christina Giordano

The back to school vibe is all around – we’re heading back indoors, back to full work days (so long, summer hours!), back to the strategy boards and ready to take on the fourth quarter of 2018. Right now is the best time to take advantage of the energy of the season and use it to revitalize and jumpstart your business marketing. Take a look at the four strategies below for some tips on how to freshen up your marketing, prepare for the end of the year, and launch campaigns that will hopefully increase your sales and your bottom line.

  1. Get very clear on your brand. Powerful messaging requires a strong identity. Before you launch any marketing campaign, you must be clear on your brand – what you stand for, how you want to appear in the world, who you are targeting, and why you’re the best solution for them. Now is a great time to do some branding exercises or even attend a branding workshop. By being crystal clear on your brand, you’ll be able to figure out marketing avenues that are more aligned and intentional.
  2. Launch a thoughtful and action-oriented email campaign, and then complement it with social media efforts. As many of you know, I believe email marketing to be paramount to any successful marketing plan. Set up an automated campaign, a drip campaign or just a few e-blasts within a third party email distributor, like MailChimp, and be super intentional with your messaging. When complimenting your efforts on social media, focus on where your ideal customers are located – are they on Facebook? Twitter? Snapchat? Wherever they are is where you need to be.
  3. Find like-minded brands and influencers to collaborate with and cross promote. Once you have figured out your brand identity, including the specific audience you’re targeting, you can align with those businesses that may have similar audiences but provide different services. For example, if you own a yoga studio, check out brands within the “health foods” or “yoga clothing” industries. Broaden your company’s awareness by aligning with them and creating strategic partnerships.
  4. Take a look at what your competition is doing. Instead of trying to look at what they do and snag their ideas, you would create a “strategy canvas,” which is a visual representation of your business in the industry. On this canvas, you would map out what the competition is doing, from their pricing to their offerings, and then map out your business, with the intention of differentiating yourself. I discuss this exercise in depth in my blog post about the Blue Ocean Strategy book. The exercise requires leadership, creativity and really trying to revolutionize the industry.

Through these four tips, you’re well on your way to ending the 2018 on the right foot. Each one does take some time and effort, but none of overwhelming. How do you plan on jumpstarting your business this season?

CGC - 3 Rules to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed with Social Media Marketing

3 Rules to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed with Social Media Marketing

by Christina Giordano

In this blog, I’ll share with you my personal perspective on social media marketing (since I get asked about it so frequently) and then I’ll provide you with access to a social media tutorial that includes three rules to avoid social media overwhelm, along with a few tips and best practices to help you stay efficient with your efforts.  

My Thoughts on Social Media Marketing

My personal opinion of social media marketing is truly based on my experience and the results I’ve seen with my own clients and other successful business owners.

I am personally not a fan of focusing all of your attention and energy on building a social media presence. Of course, this perspective varies a bit if your business depends on social media, such as with influencers and bloggers. However, for those of us with small businesses, and with services that focus on helping others and making their lives better, I believe that email marketing should be your first priority and that social media marketing simply complements your efforts.

I also don’t believe in being everywhere at once on social media. Wherever you are in your business, your time is limited, and you have to be really conscious about how you spend it, (especially if you already have other marketing initiatives to launch from my Empowered Marketing program!) There are so many valuable platforms out there (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and each one has ever-changing features and updates that require even more time getting familiar with. The point is this: I don’t want you to make the mistake of being everywhere at once. It’s difficult to do everything well or see results if you’re spread so thin. Remember, there are only 24 hours in a day and quality is important. The expectation to be on every platform and engage with people and publish regular content is just unrealistic. So, don’t get sucked into that mindset!

How to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed with Social Media Marketing

In this month’s tutorial, you’ll find out the three essential rules to avoiding social media overwhelm. AND, because I value your success and since I just have to share as much as I can with you, I’ve also included three additional bonus tips for managing your time so that you can be super efficient. 🙂

Get ready to learn how to prioritize your efforts, engage with your ideal customers, and create a social media plan that won’t get in the way of running your business.

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