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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4 Big Myths About Branding & What The Truth Is

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I’m active on social media and as a general rule, I see that people “want branding.” Though, I hesitate to agree with them – because I think the idea of “wanting branding” might mean something different to them than it does to me. I say this because the sentence usually goes, “I want branding. Any logo designers out there?” Yikes.

Here are 4 misconceptions about branding that are so, so wrong. 

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“I HAVE A BRAND, HERE’S MY LOGO.”

No! No, no, no. I cover this here. I talk about this a lot because it’s the biggest myth and the biggest problem. Your brand isn’t just a logo! A logo is a small portion of your identity, which is a portion of your branding. Your branding helps to create how people perceive your brand. 

You do need an identity, and yes, that identity does need a logo. But you also need colors, typography, and collateral. You also need social media design, website design, and blog design. You also need a voice and a way of communicating your ideas and goals consistently. You also need an overall goal or mission for your company. Branding has a lot of very intangible things involved. Well, no, I should say successful branding has a lot of very intangible things involved. All of those things help to create what/how people perceive your brand.

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“I’M JUST A SMALL BUSINESS, I DON’T EVEN HAVE A BRAND.”

Mhm. Yes you do. You have a brand, and the fact that you aren’t trying to control how people perceive you is a problem. You, as a person, even with no business interest at all have a brand. Therefore, your business, putting out content and advertisements and interacting with people, on any level, certainly has a brand. 

Plus, you are a small business with intentions of growing larger, right? Right! Developing your branding involves developing goals for your company. You can’t grow larger without setting real goals. Your branding, your marketing strategy, and your growth all go hand in hand.

Being a small business, or just starting out, is no excuse to not have branding and not try to develop your  brand. You will stay a small business (or less than that!) forever if you don't put the time and energy into these things.

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“I’M NOT REALLY SELLING ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, I’LL DEAL WITH THIS LATER.”

Your brand has nothing to do with selling anything. It’s how people think and feel about your company overall. It’s about their experience working with, buying from, or seeing your company in action. Ever wonder why the big semi trucks have those “how am I driving?” numbers on the back? Sure, one is to follow through and discipline irresponsible drivers, but also, it turns a potentially bad customer experience into one where they can feel like they are being listened to and helped. If you just had a bad experience with a semi truck from Target, you might think “UGH! TARGET! THE WORST!” but if you could call and someone could apologize and say they will look into and handle it internally, and also here are some coupons for your troubles,” you might think “That driver was bad, but at least Target understands.”

I say all of that to say, I don’t care if you aren’t currently selling something. I don’t care if you are just a blogger, blogging because you love to blog. I don’t care if you are seasonal and do all your selling during the Holidays. I don’t care, because neither will anyone else. Your brand is being determined year-round, 24/7. You need to be developing branding that positively affects that perception all the time.

Plus, okay, if you aren’t selling RIGHT NOW, then you are probably building your customer base. You want those customers to ACTUALLY buy when the time comes, right? I should think so! Building up a relationship between you and your potential customer and your company should be top priority all the time.

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“YEAH, MY BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGY ARE THE SAME THING.”

Negative! Your brand is, as we’ve been talking about before, determined by how people think and feel about you. Your branding is your attempt to affect that. Your marketing strategy and your branding may go hand-in-hand, but they are very different.

Your branding is something you establish before marketing ever comes into play. Your branding is larger than a marketing campaign or your companies overall marketing plan. Your branding is the big umbrella. If you like metaphors – branding is the black trouser you will always need and wear. Marketing is the feather vest, or the knee-high socks, or the scoop neck sweaters that come in and out of fashion. You adjust your marketing depending on what’s hot, what’s trendy, what’s getting noticed. You adjust your marketing to fit the time of the year, the season, the current favorite singer or celebrity. Your brand is consistently the same throughout all of that. 

Your marketing finds potential customers; your branding creates loyal followers out of them. So, yes, definitely have both! But no, they are not the same thing.

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