I don’t usually do this, but I’m about to straight-up promote something here - because I’m unbelievably excited about it and how it can help you grow your business!
As a Doula for Birthing Big Ideas, I’m excited about this new feature, because it empowers you to birth your brilliant ideas & start getting qualified leads IMMEDIATELY.
Seriously, we’re talking within a day… or even hours, if you’re ready to dive in & make it happen!
What is this awesome tool, you ask?
In a word: ConvertKit
You may be familiar with this service, but hold tight because, while this email marketing service has always been awesome... here’s why they just got EXTRA awesome:
They've just added Landing Pages!
Now, if you're new to this & don’t know what an ‘email marketing service’ is or what ‘landing pages’ are, and why they’re a game-changing tool for launching your ideas into reality, then keep reading... I’ll explain it all below!
The Power of Quick Execution (MVP-Style)
First & foremost, I want to explain a term often used in the start-up world:
MVP, which stands for Minimum Viable Product.
This is all about putting the minimum amount of time, money, and effort into creating a viable product. Viable being the keyword here, because when you have a new idea… you need to first TEST the viability of it - the ability it has to be successful - before you go out and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new website, an app, creating an entire e-course, etc.
You might not be a tech start-up, but I can bet you also want to get your ideas out there fast & see results fast without spending a whole bunch of money, am I right?
I see SO many entrepreneurs waste their precious time and energy doing things they think they ‘should’ or ‘have to’ do in order to be successful. But the truth is, you spending $$$$ and months designing and launching a new website, or hundreds of hours creating a beautiful Instagram feed, WILL NOT magically make you money!
In fact, whether you already have the website & Instagram/Facebook profile yet or not, you will STILL need what I’m about to share below… and I’d argue you could ONLY have this solution below, and you’d be OK, if not ahead of the game because you’re not wasting your time on building a bunch of stuff that may not work!
What’s so great about these new Landing Pages?
ConvertKit actually had a version of landing pages before. Meaning, you could create a new sign-up form on CK, and send people to that form to sign up on your list right there. But they were pretty basic (i.e. not pretty, nor compelling... both of which help lead to conversions!).
And “Conversions” are really the name of the game here. Hence why it’s literally in their name: ConvertKit = a Kit to help you Convert interested people into Subscribers!
With this new update, ConvertKit has designed easy-to-use landing pages, based on massive amounts of research, that make it dead simple for you to present your company or new idea beautifully and start getting subscribers TODAY.
This means you can put an idea out there - test a headline, an idea, a new offering, an event - and instantly get people metaphorically raising their hands and exchanging their email address for what you have on offer.
This instantly turns COLD leads into WARM leads because they’ve said, “Yes, I’m interested… tell me more!”
Why do I need an Email Marketing Service?
Essentially, because you don’t want to have your ability to connect and speak with your customers to be regulated/limited by the algorithms of a social platform (e.g. Facebook or Instagram).
Newsflash: There are people who are following you on IG, or have liked your page on FB, or joined your FB Group, but they never see your posts!
This happens all the time. Could be they took a social media break and/or YOU took a break at some point, but either way the algorithm wasn’t seeing activity between the two of you, your posts fell out of their view.
Having direct access to your customers - and giving them the opportunity to ensure they never miss an update from you is key!
Why ConvertKit rocks at All of the Above
ConvertKit isn’t your standard email marketing service. I have used many in my 16+ years in business, the last one being MailChimp. But I moved over to CK years ago, and haven’t looked back… and here’s why!
Tagging
Think of tags like creating buckets for all the main topics you love to talk about and/or your brand represents. What do you stand for? What 3-5 main perspectives do you speak to your audience about?
For example, for Visionary Entrepreneurs, the 3 main topics of interest for an target audience might be:
Knowing this, you could create those as 3 different tags in CK, and then create landing pages for each of them with related offers.*
Once you have a list of subscribers, you can easily see who signed up on what form by their tags... which means from there on out you'll always be able to speak directly to those people knowing they are interested in THAT specific topic.
I've generalized this here, but you can see how this could be really powerful in terms of testing out new ideas. For example, after you put these three out and have been promoting them equally for awhile, you might see that a ton more people signed up for 'Systems' over 'Self-Care', which you could surmise means your audience wants to hear more about Systems from you!
*What do I mean by related offers?
Sure people could go to your landing page just to subscribe to your updates. But I recommend coming up with a high-value deliverable you can offer to send those who sign up.
I'm sure this is nothing new to you, as I'd bet you've signed up for a lot yourself. Start noticing which ones are compelling to you!
Some best practices are to be aware of the pain points & desired outcome they're seeking, and provide them with an offer they can't refuse. Since most of the people you'll be sharing this offer with (aka your Landing Page link) already know, like, and trust you... your goal is to have them see iti & say, "Yes! I want this!" and sign-up in order to receive it.
Don't be afraid of giving away some of your best tips & secrets in your related offer/deliverable, because it's only going to further seat you as the knowledgable expert in their eyes & hearts!
Some ideas are to send them a PDF of Tips or an eBook, a link to a Google doc/sheet/presentation, a free email series full of tips (which you can do in Convertkit as an Automated Sequence), a free video training, a free mini-course, etc.
Don't overthink it, as you must remember that what's common knowledge to you is exactly what your target audience wants guidance or support with... so just share what you know! And make it worth their while, so they're glad they signed up & they're looking forward to more from you.
Iteration Over Perfection
Here's the cool thing. Even if you're starting from scratch, this will work for you. Whether you have a brand new business idea, a new offering in your existing business, OR you're just ready to grow your list like a boss... THIS IS IT.
It saves you from even needing a website, you can iterate and test fast, instantly see who's signing up for what, and then feed them more of what they're hungry for. Win-win!
Let this system work for you and help you grow.
Here's a re-cap of how easy this is:
- 1Sign up for ConvertKit
- 2Whip up a fancy new Landing Page with your first offer & set what to tag the people who subscribe to that form (in Automation > Rules)
- 3Create your deliverable (PDF, Google Doc, video, etc) OR set up an automated sequence of emails with tips and guidance, and set that up to send them after they sign up.
- 4Publish & share the link to your new landing page on your favorite social platform, at your next speaking event, or in the footer of every single one of your emails. (Extra cool strategy would be to redirect a domain name to this page, eg. selfcareforvisionaries.com, and then promote that.)
- 5Grow your list and instantly see data showing you the results of your efforts - BOOM!
If you're feeling nervous about the tech-side of this.... don't worry!
Convertkit’s support team is awesome, and you'll learn fast. This process will be super educational for you and worth it in the end, as you'll always have something to promote.
The best part is that this gets you launching & testing your ideas FAST!!
Click here to learn more about Convertkit's new Landing Pages, and even choose to play in the cool landing page contest they have going on if you'd like.
This link gets you a free trial to see how you like it, so you've got nothing to lose!
As you can tell, from my enthusiasm here, I'm a huge nerd about Systems that Support you & your business... so, if you want more like this, be sure to sign up for my full list!
I even made a quick Landing Page to sign up for my Systems list, too, if you want to see! It was my first one & it took me ~15 minutes start to finish. 😉
Yes, these are affiliate links... but I would NOT promote them if I didn't believe in them. If you have any suggestions for more and/or questions on a specific solution, let me know!