My Best Business Investments (Business Resources + Tools)

I don’t write product reviews, as a general rule, because I’d rather spend time writing about my services, my offerings, and myself. I mean, I am trying to run my business here, right? But – something keeps happening and I figured a blog post might be easier than typing out similar responses each time.

First, people ask me what tools/programs/apps I use. I answer a list of items, and as soon as I say “ ConvertKit ” their eyes light up and they say something like, “Oh I’ve heard of that! How do you like it?” And then, me being me, writes back a small novel of a response that is probably way too much information. But, y’know, that’s me.

My thought was, instead, I am going to write this blog post talking about why I love ConvertKit and, then, I will direct you to check out this awesome resource page I've created with all my favorite tools.

But, moving forward with ConvertKit ... here's why I love it and recommend you use it, too.

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YOUR EMAILS GET SEEN

The biggest difference that I point out to anyone that is thinking of switching over to ConvertKit is that the whole approach to emails is different. Programs like Mailchimp put a heavy emphasis on design, which as a designer, is great. Except that I spend like an hour perfecting this email, and then I send it, and then it goes into everyone’s Junk or Spam folder. I’m not an expert, but whatever algorithms decide if things are spam seem to think all the flash and images and hoop-la means it’s spam. I like hoop-la, but I really like my emails actually being read a lot more.

The idea of a "back to basics" email program might sound strange to you, but when you think about what you actually want and intend your emails to do - suddenly it makes sense. I now prefer the simpler design of my emails and enjoy getting others' more simplistic emails. What's that saying... content is king? Queen? Whatever. Content is what matters, not blinking lights and flashy things that distract from what I really want people to do with my emails.

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YOU AREN’T PAYING FOR DUPLICATES

Other email programs use the concept of lists to divide your subscribers. This is fine when you are starting out, because hey – it’s free! But what happens when you start having multiple opt-ins and the same people signing up through different ones? Well you get duplicates. And then you have to pay more for duplicates. And that’s not fair! It’s the same person, why should you have to pay twice for them?

ConvertKit alleviates that issue by instead using “tagging” and “segments” as a way of organizing your subscribers.

The thing is – say you sign up for every single one of my different offers… you’re on my list just once. But you are tagged as all the different things, through rules that I set up in ConvertKit's automations.

Let me explain further: You signed up for #1WkBrand a month ago, so you are in my list tagged as “#1WkBrand”. You also were automatically enrolled in the #1WkBrand course, so you started getting the emails right away (without me doing a single thing). Then, a few days ago, you saw me tweet about #BrandVixens, and you’re like “DANG I WANT IN!” So you signed up for that, too. Now whatever magical mystery science ConvertKit uses finds your email already in my list, and just adds the tag “#BrandVixen” to your already established subscriber-self versus adding a whole new subscriber. Then, you automatically got that welcome email, too!

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YOU CAN GET SPECIFIC ABOUT WHO GETS WHAT

The real benefit to using things like tags is that when it comes time to send out an email. ConvertKit calls them Broadcasts, but it is basically just a one-off email you can schedule. When you are setting up that email, you can choose which tags receive it. When I launched BrandVixens I wanted to invite all of my subscribers – but not send an email to people who had already signed up for it. Why would I ask them to sign up, if they already had? That would be a completely pointless email to them. So, when I am setting up the broadcast there is this handy, and easy to use, window that I can say:

Send this to people tagged as “#1WkBrand” or “Resource Vault” but eliminate people that are already tagged as “BrandVixen”. Do you see what I did there? Anyone that was in my list and tagged as a BrandVixen wouldn’t get this email asking them to sign up (because they already did sign up).  Talk about detailed. Then, if I sent that broadcast out and 85% of the people opened it, I have the option to easily resend it to anyone who didn’t open it a few days later. With the click of a button. Easy.

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YOUR CONVERSION RATES WILL IMPROVE

People actually getting their emails will definitely help your conversion rates, but another really great thing about ConvertKit is that they basically layout a fantastic way to organize an email sequence that will result in higher conversion rates.

Their template for a “course” (what they call an email sequence, though it might not necessarily be something you call a course) has a pre-built draft of what days you should include super valuable content or a soft sales pitch. They’ve done the research and are just like “hey, this might help you, here.” Like no big deal, handing you an easier way to make money. I like making money, and I like when people make it easier for me to do so.

If you don’t know what a sales funnel is or want to learn more, between the help that ConvertKit offers and Femtrepreneur course “F* Yeah Funnels” you will be set. Sales funnels means making money, and once you have them set up, it’s just working in the background for you.

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IT DOES IT ALL

At this point, I am using ConvertKit as my email system, my subscriber management system, and my landing pages/opt-in system. It does it all. Which is perfect, because all of those things work together.

Every opt-in around my website, from the slide ins to the ones in this blog post are powered through ConvertKit. Whenever you’ve seen a landing page for a webinar or something I’ve hosted, it’s been through ConvertKit. I’ve eliminated the need for a program that does landing pages/opt ins because ConvertKit does that for me.

Setting up the tech or back-end things is probably the least fun for me. I like creating content and being on Twitter MUCH more. But, with ConvertKit it’s really easy to set up all the opt-ins and automatic tags really quickly, and I am doing it all through one program. Meaning more time for doing the things I actually want to do.

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THE SUPPORT TEAM IS THE BEST

I’m kind of hesitant about making decisions, sometimes. Like, convinced I’m doing it wrong, scared to click “save/apply/send” kinda-gal. So, that results in me asking their support team a LOT of questions. But, either they are all really good actors, or they are all genuinely really nice – and I am feeling like it’s the latter. Because they always respond quickly and always are SO NICE, even though some of the questions definitely deserve an eye-roll.

There is even now a Facebook group devoted to helping people out, answering questions, and giving feedback. So I’ve asked, “Hey, does anyone know how I can do XYZ” and had other users offer suggestions for how they would go about it. In the same vein, I’ve answered other people’s questions about ways I’ve set up my tags, or course structure, etc. I like that we’ve become a little family of people all helping each other use ConvertKit to grow our business.

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If you are interested in ConvertKit, I’ll tell you this – better to do it now than wait until your subscriber list is huge and have to move everyone over. Yes, it’s possible, but you are putting more work on yourself in the future. I don’t have the largest list, but my thought was to start with the tool I knew I would end up on eventually anyway. This post does contain affiliate links (for ConvertKit + F* Yeah Funnels, but that doesn’t affect my opinions in any way, shape, or form. If I wasn’t obsessed these products, I would never promote it to y’all.

What other questions do you have about ConvertKit? Did I miss something you are wondering about? Ask away in the comments and I will let you know if it is a service they offer, something I've used, or my honest opinion about it! If you want to know my other top tools, you can click here!

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8 Terms About Branding & What They Really Mean

If you are out there, trying to grow your business, and have no background in graphic design, advertising, or marketing, you might get a little confused with all the words thrown around. Heck, even if you have a background in graphic design, advertising, or marketing you still might get confused. It seems like everyone’s talking about your brand, identity, logo, collateral, content, and so on... but what do all the words even mean?! I’ll tell you, my friend… 

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BRAND

This is the most confusing one, so we are starting here. The easiest way I’ve figured out how to explain a brand to someone is: your brand is how people see you (or your company). For example, you might aim to create a business that promotes “a fit, healthy approach to life.” That would be what you hoped your brand was – but if people see you as “an unhealthy, extremist way of living that results in destructive habits” the people win, and you won’t be successful, because your brand isn’t what you intended.

There are countless elements that go into your brand and cause people to think and feel certain ways about you. By saying “brand” you encompass all of those things. I say that I work as a brand designer, because I want to help my clients think of, design, create, plan, strategize all of these different elements. 

If this is all confusing and overwhelming, just take this one thing away: your brand is NOT your logo. 

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BRANDING

Branding is the action of developing, creating, or designing elements and strategies, in an effort to affect your brand (affect how people perceive you) in a positive way (or in whatever way you want).

Again - your company has a brand – people have a general opinion and feeling about it. But the act of you trying to manipulate and influence that opinion is your branding.

So your branding can include a lot of other confusing words – like your strategy, your content, your approach to social media, your visuals (like a logo), etc. Think of the biggest companies you know – how did you form your opinion of them? Was it just one time you saw one thing about them? No. It was an overall branding experience.

An example I think of is McDonalds and their desperate attempts to act like they’re a healthy choice, as opposed to the fast food chain with greasy fries we all know it as. They didn’t just say “Hey! Folks! We offer salads now, so we are like… kind of healthy. You can totally eat here. It’s definitely real meat, promise!” We all know and have been raised thinking the brand of McDonalds as not even remotely healthy. It's so ingrained into our minds, so hard to change, that they are pumping all their energy and money into their branding, trying to change the public opinion. They have fit, healthy, happy looking people in their ads, they offer fruit and salads in their restaurants, they revamped their physical buildings to feel more light and airy, the signage is always about the newest salad, or a kid's menu with apple slices… these are all elements of their new branding. Whether or not their branding is actually successful is another story – because I, for one, can’t shake the idea that it’s mystery meat and a bad decision.

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VOICE

How you sound to others – in person, in emails, in blog posts, in tweets, on periscope, etc. You want this to be cohesive with the rest of your branding (yes, this is also a PART of your branding).  I, for example, try to always come across very nice and approachable, but I also try to make you laugh (or at least smile!) with a little bit of sarcasm or self-deprecating humor. This is because in real life, I’m generally a nice person, who tries to make people laugh. It was an easy voice to develop, because I’ve had 20-something years of practice.

For you personal brands, it might be just as easy to identify your voice – but make sure you are using a voice that will attract the right kind of people for your business. I know that with my clients, we end up being friends by the end of working together. That's what I strive for. So, I set the tone from day 1 that I am normal, nice, and friendly – but that I’ll also be transparently real and tell you funny stories. I want to make it clear that, if we were in the same city, I’d totes go out for cocktails with you. This helps my business overall. There are enough designers out there that I need to stand out as someone you (potential client that I specifically trying to appeal to) like, think is awesome, want to work with.

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IDENTITY

This is sometimes referred to as brand identity or visual identity. THIS is where the visuals are. This is your logo, your colors, your typography choices, etc. This is what people can actually see (not just feel, or think). Your identity is a part of your branding, but JUST a part. 

This is where a lot of people get stuck – because they think they just need an identity (worse yet, they just need a logo…) For me, a really weird gray area is explaining to clients that I am not going to just create a logo. There are so many different types of designers, and I’m not saying one is better than the other, just that they are all so different. It must be confusing to clients. Like do they want a graphic designer? A brand designer? An identity designer? I always start my conversations with potential clients by clearing up any confusion between what they actually want to accomplish and what I offer. If someone is insistent that they only need a logo, and seem closed off to the idea of developing branding for their business, I will turn away the client.

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COLLATERAL

Collateral pieces are additional, tangible, things you use in your business. Things like business cards, letterheads, thank you cards, price sheets, welcome pamphlets, etc. These are created from the parameters you’ve set while creating your identity, so they visually are cohesive. They are a part of your branding, too, but again, JUST a part.

I might be considered calculating, but for me, every single thing I put out has an ulterior motive for my business (with the exception of some random tweets, like about my cat, Priscilla. That’s just because I’m a cat lady). I say this to mention that even your collateral pieces, something as simple as a thank you card, should work somehow in your strategy to help you achieve your overall business goals.

So, it might just be a nice gesture to send a thank you card to a client. But really, it’s a nice way to remind them you are alive a month or so after a project is done. Y’know, in case they need additional work. If it’s a nicely designed thank you card, they might snap a pic for Instagram, or set it on their counter, and then someone else might see it and say, “Wow, this is beautiful. What is it for?” and then my old client might say “My amazing designer,” and then their friend might say, “Oh, I needed something designed for my business…” and voila. Catching my drift here? I thought so.

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STRATEGY

That last point is a nice lead in to strategy. Strategy is a really general sounding term, and in all honesty, it’s a huge umbrella term. There are a lot of strategies at play in running a business and creating good branding. This is also a part of your branding – JUST a part. Strategy is the plan, or method, to get you from point A to point B in your business. Super vague, I know.

You can’t develop a strong strategy until you develop some concrete goals. Once you know what the end game is, create a path to get there. Is your end game to launch a successful course? Cool. What steps do you need to take across your entire branding spectrum to get you there? What steps do you take to find potential buyers, what steps do you take to promote the course, what steps do you take to get other people to promote the course, what steps do you take to create the content? Map it all out. It sounds overwhelming – but going at it blind is way more overwhelming.

Areas where you should be strategic: blog posts, guest blog posts, opt-ins, the layout of your website, where you promote your opt-ins, what Facebook groups you join, who you do joint-ventures with, what you retweet… just to name a few. If you’re thinking right now, wait, wait, the internet isn’t my ‘deal’ I’m a brick-and-mortar business, so strategy isn’t a thing right? Wrong. What expos are you a part of, what other businesses promote you or have your business cards on display, what newspapers do you run print ads in, what local celebs/influencers/socialites talk about you…? All of this matters, if you want to be successful.

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CONTENT MARKETING

Content Marketing is creating valuable and strategic content that will attract your audience, and potentially lead to sales, customers, clients, subscribers, etc. This blog would be considered content marketing, because I am hopefully showcasing to readers that I am a valuable resource, prompting them to sign up for my email list or invest in my services or products.

This sounds like a super new idea, but it’s actually been around for a long time in traditional advertising. The most popular, and probably noted as one of the oldest, examples of content marketing is John Deere (yeah, the tractor). He put out a magazine about farming related things and how to be a successful farmer, back in the 1890's(!) that is still in publication today. Kind of like the original blog, right? 

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CAMPAIGN

A campaign is specifically promoting one thing within your business. You might have an overall branding strategy in play, to accomplish your overall BIG business goals. But a campaign would be a separate (though, cohesive) plan for a specific thing.

For example, I have overall goals for The Crown Fox and branding and strategy in place to accomplish those. But when I launch a course next year, I will create a separate campaign to promote that. You probably hear people call this “launch” or “launching” something – a book, a course, whatever. What they are really saying is that they are running a really intense campaign to promote the heck out of a new product or service. For Internet businesses a campaign might include doing webinars or periscopes leading up to a launch, or having friends or affiliates talk about your product on social media. It’s different from your overall branding, because it’s happening for a select time to push a select thing. 

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Hopefully this cleared up some confusion! What other terms have you going “huh”? I’d love to help you figure it out. If you're interested, I made a quick workbook that has a glossary, and some questions to help you with your brand. You can check it out by signing up below!

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