3 Surefire Ways to Create In-Demand Products and Services

If there’s one thing that holds promising entrepreneurs back from launching their business, it’s this: a lack of confidence in their products. Sure, you think that new product or workshop is a great idea, but how do you know it will sell?

Imagine spending weeks or even months of time—plus the cost of document design, video editing and all the other pieces that go along with it—only to discover it’s not what your audience wants or needs. How frustrating would that be?

You don’t have to leave it to chance, though. There are plenty of ways to test your idea before spending the time and energy on a full launch.

1. Ask

This is the simplest way to get a feel for what your market needs and wants. Simply ask them. Create a survey with Survey Monkey (or even a Google form) and send it out to your mailing list. For best results, keep it short, but do ask:

What they’re struggling with?
What problems are these struggles causing in their life?
How would their life be different if they had [insert your product or service here]?
What do they feel your product or service is worth (what would they pay)?

These four pieces will tell you everything you need to know to create a product or program that’s practically guaranteed to sell.

2. Listen

If you have a community (or are part of one) that is full of your ideal clients, pay attention to what they’re asking about the most. These are the things they need help with. For example, if you’re a business coach and your Facebook group is filled with questions about running Facebook ads, then clearly there is a need for some training in that area.

3. Know

Hopefully, you have a list of competitors and you’re reading their blogs and emails, joining in their Facebook groups and getting to know them. Network and build relationships with them, this is a great way to gain insight into what is out there—not to copy them but to discover what’s hot in your industry right now.

Creating products in a vacuum is a great way to waste a lot of time and money on programs that won’t sell. Instead, pay attention to what your market is asking for, find out what they’re willing to pay, and delve into your competition’s offers. The information you gain from these three activities alone will give you incredible insight. Not just into your market but what they want and need, making it easy to create your own hot-selling products.

Now you know what to creat, take a peek at 3 Proven ways to Market Your New Business to help promote your new product!

What kind of content tends to go viral?

If you’re trying to get your content to “spark” and go viral, it really helps to have a strong understanding of what kind of content tends to go viral. Of course, nobody can predict what will go viral, nor can they make something go viral 100% of the time. But by understanding what kind of content tends to go viral, you stand a much better chance of creating something viral yourself.

Here are a few of the main attributes of things that tend to go viral.

It’s Human

It’s rare that a factual, statistical or economical video goes viral. Instead, it’s usually the most human videos that go viral.

The singing homeless man on the street. The baby laughing at something senseless. An incredible display of guitar prowess.

Strong Emotional Content

The more emotions you can arouse in your audience, the better.

Let’s take one of the world’s most viewed videos, the “Charlie Bit My Finger” video. The video features a baby whose brother bit his finger; he sits there laughing and complaining at the same time.

This video has an astounding 863 million views at the time of this writing. That is crazy, I have to admit, I have seen it more than once…

One of the main reasons this video took off so strongly is because of how clear the emotions were in the video. The watcher can almost “follow along” with the baby’s emotions and also experience the joy of playing with your baby brother, not to mention the pain of being bitten by a baby with a fresh set of pearly whites.

Videos That Provide Unique Information

Another type of content that does really well are videos that are informational. The key here is that the videos really have to provide content that can’t be found anywhere else.

My point is, informational videos work in many different industries, but the most important thing is that there’s something truly unique to them.

Content That Appeals to Specific Groups of People

Content that tends to appeal to specific groups of people tends to do very well if they have strong emotional or informational content.

A video that recently went viral was M.J Hegar’s campaign video to become a Democratic candidate for the Congress in a Texas district. The video racked up 4.7 million views on Youtube and Facebook combined as of June 28, 2018. At the time she was challenging 15-year Republican incumbent, John Carter.

Hegar’s video racked up 4.7 million views on Youtube and Facebook combined as of June 28, 2018. I am pretty sure, she did not need half that many votes to win. Which did happen by the way, with 62.2 percent of the vote!

Consider your business niche, something can go viral within the community. Like, new food laws, something which may be seen as boring, could be very interesting to vegans if it affects the foods they’ll be able to purchase. A video about the new laws could really take off among that specific community.

These are some of the factors that go into determining whether or not a video goes viral. At the end of the day, a video going viral really means that a lot of people want to pass on your content. The key, as with many other things in business, is to just create something so amazing that people want to share it.

3 Proven Ways to Market Your New Business

The world is filled with great ideas and broke business owners with fabulous products but no sales. Trust me. So here are 3 Ways to Market Your New Business.

The fact is, ideas are not what drives most business success. Marketing does. So before you quit your day job to branch out on your own, it pays to have a solid marketing plan in place. Start with these 3 ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Free Webinars

For information product sellers, coaches, and service providers, one of the best sources of new clients is in free training webinars. No matter what your niche, the promise of in-depth training at no cost is enough to entice potential clients to part with an email address (which you’ll be able to market to later) and an hour of their time.

Not only that, but webinars are a fantastic way for those potential customers to get to know you better. And the better they know you, the more likely they are to buy.

Content Marketing

Not comfortable hosting a webinar? Hit the keyboard and start sharing your thoughts and ideas via your blog, ebooks, guest articles and other written content. For internet marketers, this gives readers a taste of what they can expect from your product. If you sell physical products, it provides the perfect opportunity to share useful tips and other important information with your buyers.

Of course, there’s another important benefit to content marketing, too: search engine optimization. Google and other search engines index the words on your website and use the information to present search results to their users. Content marketing is a tool you can use to make the most of these results and to bring more potential buyers to your website.

Paid Advertising

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google and plenty of other sites all offer paid placement, and with today’s powerful analytics tools, it’s easy to create ads and drive traffic inexpensively. Consider starting with Facebook, since the cost is low and it’s easy to target your ads to your ideal client. Once you’ve perfected your funnel, you can branch out into more costly ads with a larger reach, such as Google AdWords or another ad network.

Don’t limit yourself to these three marketing methods though. There are dozens of others you can try, including affiliate programs, JV partnerships, automated funnels, direct mail campaigns, and even television advertising. The key is to keep testing and tweaking to make the most of every marketing effort so that your business continues to grow.

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3 Ways to Market Your New Business

6 Reasons to Give Clean Eating a Try

Clean eating comes with a whole load of health benefits that will help you change your life for the better. Not to mention, how it will improve your chances for business success because of how it changes the way you feel. When you start eating clean, you make a decision to enjoy a longer healthier life, free from common ailments caused by garbage found in most processed foods. On the other hand, filling your fridge with organic produce isn’t expensive at all.

However, what is it about clean eating that makes it so important, and why should anyone start eating clean? Here are ten reasons why you should join this growing health trend and start eating clean.

You become more mindful

So many people eat in response to their cravings and appetite, but very few actually make the decision to eat consciously by selecting certain foods and ditching others. When it comes to clean eating, this is not the case. You will have to be mindful of what you decide to eat. There are so many processed foods that are man-made, unnatural and unhealthy. If you decide to eat clean, you will opt for natural foods that are not refined or processed. This makes you more aware of your food choices and therefore ensures improvement in your eating habits.

Improves your concentration

Do you want to stay sharp and focused? You might consider eating more whole foods and avoid too much sugar. Eating processed foods has been associated with feeling foggy and unfocused because of high blood sugar which also reduces your memory. Avoid anything sugary such as bottled salad dressing or your favourite piece of cake.

You become more energized

Most clean foods such as fruits are guaranteed sources of instant energy whenever you feel weak or lacking energy. If you eat fruits for the afternoon, you are likely to overcome the afternoon slump and grogginess since high fibre fruits provide critical vitamins to keep you alert and energized.

Saves you cents

One of the perks of eating clean foods is that you will be able to save more inadvertently. You will not fall sick often and therefore you can scrape away medical bills and use the money elsewhere. It is cost-effective and you will be able to shop locally, being mindful of your budget and expenses. This reduces unnecessary use of money in buying spices, sugars and other refined, processed cost, so you save from all sides.

You will sleep better

Sleep is part of the business of staying healthy, and eating the right things has a direct bearing on the quality of sleep that you get. If you want to sleep soundly, take out the caffeine, juices and replace them with evening fruits and salads. Sleep is vitally important for your health, so eat mindfully for better sleep.

Better mood and stronger body

Do you want to feel revitalized and energized all day long? Studies have shown that people who eat less sugar are more likely to be happy and in a good mood as compared to their opposite counterparts. Eating clean has a direct relation to having a better mood and a stronger body that is immune to diseases.

Make a decision to change your eating habits. Opt for non-sugary, natural food options and start witnessing a positive change in your health and life in general.

Eating clean foods is more than just a dietary change; it will impact positively on your state of mind and physical well-being. Choose clean foods and start enjoying life in full gear!

Be sure to follow the Studio’s Facebook Page, leave a comment and let us know what some of your favourite clean foods are! We’d love to hear from you. The page is a free space where you will find business-focused training and support for female entrepreneurs, as well as inspiration and Studio updates!

9 Principles for Successful Women

No List? No Problem! How to Build an Audience with Paid Ads

We’ve been told (and told and told) for years that “the money is in the list” and that “your mailing list is your biggest business asset.” But if your list numbers are hovering in the low four-figures—or fewer—with no sign of growth on the horizon, such advice can seem a bit unhelpful.

The fact is, building a list is a catch 22: You can’t get signups without traffic and it’s difficult to find traffic when you have no list. What’s a busy entrepreneur to do?

Paid Ads Make List-Building Easy

By strategically placing ads in front of your target audience, you can drive tons of traffic to your opt-in offers and enjoy conversion rates of two or three percent or more. Even better, with some tweaking and split testing of your offers, you can carefully refine your ads and copy so that you’re attracting your exact ideal client and filling your list with buyers who are ready to take action, rather than freebie seekers.

All you need to run paid ads to your opt-in pages is:

A compelling offer, such as a video training series or live webinar
Copy to grab the attention of your target audience

Best Ad Placements

Once you have your components in place, the only question remaining is where to run your ads. You have dozens of choices, from Twitter to Google to YouTube to solo email spots.

The key is to first determine where your market is most likely to be hanging out. If they’re on LinkedIn, then running ads on Twitter will be a waste of time. Keep in mind the cost as well. Ads on Facebook are generally less expensive and less competitive than a Google Adwords placement.

Start Small, Then Refine

Once you’ve decided where to place your ads, it’s time to set your budget and begin running a small set of ads. Consider setting a small daily budget, such as $10 or $20 at the beginning, so you can get a feel for how your ads will perform. Watch the traffic, track your conversions, and create split tests of your landing page and ad sets to determine which performs the best. You can also refine the audience you’re targeting based on the stats you receive. For example, if you find that men between the ages of 20 and 30 are clicking but not opting in, you might want to remove them from your audience.

At least at first, it’s best to avoid running ads for paid products. Conversions for a free offer will far outshine those to a paid product—especially if your program is expensive. After all, those who are clicking on an ad most likely do not know you at all, so it takes a much bigger leap of faith to offer up a credit card number than it will to provide an email address.

Ad Copy Blunders to Avoid

Have you ever clicked on an ad because you saw an adorable pair of sandals that you just had to have, only to land on a page full of sneakers, with not a sandal in sight? It’s frustrating, to say the least, and that kind of ad to landing page mismatch will kill your conversions.

Your ad copy is making a promise to the reader. If your landing page doesn’t fulfill that promise, your readers will click away, and you’ll have wasted the money you spent to get them there. Before running any ads, be sure your ad headline, image, and copy all match the message on the landing page.

Paid advertising was once a tool used only by big companies or marketers with a lot of money to spare, but today they’re more cost-effective than ever, and the technology makes them easy to create and monitor. If you haven’t yet tried your hand at this useful traffic generation method, it’s time to do some experimenting. You might just find your list numbers—and sales—growing.

“You are responsible for your life.” Oprah Winfrey – TRANSFERED

Have you ever thought that you just lived the same year twice? Noticing that you are in the same place today as you were last year or the year before? You are responsible for your life
I have, I had repeated the same problems, my challenges hadn’t changed, my thought process was the same. Total deja-vu, everything was-the-same… I had been working like crazy, putting in a crazy amount of hours but nothing was different than it was the year before. There was no growth and nothing had improved.

When I realized this, in that pivotal moment, I realized that it wasn’t that I was not working hard enough but because I had not been taking 100% responsibility for my life.

It’s a powerful lesson that Oprah says she learned at an early age. If you want to move forward in life, only you can make it happen by taking responsibility. Watch below as Oprah shares her story.

[Tweet “”Only you have the power to take the responsibility to move your life forward. The sooner you get that, the sooner your life gets into gear.” Oprah Winfrey”]

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Inside the Inspired Action Mastermind, we are an intimate group of entrepreneurs, all of which are committed to the success of one another’s businesses. It is a mastermind that provides the support and guidance you need to help you move your business forward. Because, when you’re in the right mastermind group, you can start to see your business and yourself through someone else’s eyes as you support one another and leverage each other’s experiences.

If you are ready and willing to shift your mindset and tackle all the hard questions to accomplish your dreams, then join us.

Learn about the Inspired Action Mastermind

You are responsible for your life

How to stop drowning in personal debt.

When your finances seem to be heading down the wrong path and your debt is getting out of control, be wise and take stock of the direction you are going in. There are steps you can take to prevent you from getting into further debt and to help you eliminate some of what you are currently dealing with. Use these tips to help you begin moving in the right direction financially, they really helped me.

Put Your Credit Card in a Drawer at Home

If you have a difficult time saying no to purchases, I know I do, take your credit card out of your wallet and put it into a safe place at home. Before micro-chip cards, I used to put mine in a bowl of water in the freezer… Wherever you put yours, make the decision that you will leave it there and will only take it out when absolutely necessary. This alone will help force you to be more cautious in your spending.

Cancel Any Retail Credit Cards

Retails credit cards typically have a high-interest rate. They also make it that much easier to spend on because “It isn’t a Visa, right?” and even easier to spend on when you feel like you have several options as to where the money will come from. Get rid of these cards and keep only one main credit card, which is hopefully the one you have taken from your wallet and placed in a safe place at home.

Creatively Find as Many Ways to Save as Possible

Look for every way possible to save money. Whether that is by clipping coupons or shopping only during sales, you can make it work. There are other ways to save in other areas, such as your electricity bill. Be vigilant about turning lights off when you leave the room, unplug appliances that are not in use, hang dry your laundry, put on slippers instead of cranking the heat.

Stop ordering in and no more Timmies! If you must, buy a Timmie’s tin and make a coffee at home before you leave for work. Also, wait 24 hours prior to any purchase, because you may not need it tomorrow.

And, finally:

Pay Back Your Debt with Dave Ramsey’s Snowball Method

List your debts smallest to largest with the payment information next to them. Make your minimum payments on ALL of your debts, except for the smallest one. On this, you will be paying the minimum PLUS extra money every month.

Once the smallest debt is paid off, you roll over the payment you were making on that debt as the added money towards the next smallest debt. This continues until you are debt free!

For example, let’s say you have three debts to pay. Your car loan, Visa and your Walmart Store card as charted below.

Debtor
Visa:
Car Loan:
Walmart Card:

Amount Owed
$500.00 + 13% interest
$1000.00 + 4% interest
$2000.00 + 19% interest

Min Payment
$15.00
$25.00
$50.00

Every month you have to pay out a total of $90.00 but will need to pay more to get out of debt. So you are going to pay an additional $100, on top of the minimum payment, to put toward your principal debt. This will be a total of $190 per month.

What most people do is breakdown that additional $100 into 3 payments of $33 per debt, which is why we feel like we are always paying and not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Because for the next 18 months you know you have three debtors watching over your shoulder.

Using the snowball method it looks like this.

Visa: minimum + max principal payment = $115/month
After 4 months, this debt is gone and not weighing on you.
Car Loan: minimum = $25/month, for 4 months.
Walmart Card: minimum = $50/month, for 4 months.

On the 5th month your payment plan will now look like this:
Carloan: minimum + previous Visa payment= $140/month
After 8 months, this debt is gone and not weighing on you.
Walmart Card: minimum = $50/month, for 7 months.

Finally, on month 8, your payment plan will look like this:
Walmart Card: minimum + previous Car loan payment= $190/month,
10 months from here you are TOTALLY debt free!

With the snowball method, you are paying all the same amounts, only everything is paid off one by one. They are paid off faster individually, saving you a LOT of interest. You can find a break-down of the snowball method on Dave Ramsey’s blog, it is worth the read!

Learning to be smarter with money is not easy, but gets easier as time goes on. It might seem like a chore at first, but the benefits outweigh the anxiety. You will become a more creative person and save your hard-earned money and start to see that living debt free is possible. What better benefits could there possibly be than that?

It is time to stop comparing yourself to others.

Do you ever find yourself comparing yourself to others? Viewing their success as only a way to make yourself look bad? If so, you are not alone. If so, it is time to stop comparing yourself to others. For some, the success of others equates to highlight their own failures.

If you are anything like me, you’ve done it, you’ve compared yourself to others and felt horrible after. The good news is that people out there compare themselves to you and the not-so-good news is that it is a fixed mindset we need to get out of.

Comparing ourselves is part of human nature. It’s how we grow, it’s how we strive, but sometimes, unfortunately, it’s an excuse to give up.

This is something that has to change, today!

Stop Comparing Yourself

Stuck in the Fixed Mindset

If we don’t have something to compare ourselves to, you might reason, then how will we learn to achieve and grow? When we compare ourselves to others, we have something to gauge our success and failure with and, therefore, a measure of where we can do better and achieve more.

Unfortunately, for those with a fixed mindset, this does not occur at all. There is actually a backwards way of thinking. That reverse method tells us since we are not as good as the other person, we might as well just quit. That doesn’t work in the world of intelligence, however. Not to mention, it is ineffective.

We have it in our minds that the other person as being luckier or having it easy. Another excuse is to say everything just falls on that person’s lap or, even worse, use their success to highlight some other unrelated shortcoming. It is that fixed way of thinking that does not propel us forward and keeps us from our own success. But – what if it is only a matter of re-training your brain to adopt a mindset of growth?

Adopt a Mindset of Growth

On the opposite end of the spectrum is a growth mindset. Where we give ourselves the opportunity to change and grow over time, as we learn to re-train our brain into a mindset of growth. By viewing someone else’s success as a way to strive harder, do more, and work harder, we will be re-training our brain to view this not as an excuse to stay status quo, but as a reason to thrive.

Once we choose the thought patterns that intelligence can be developed, we can most certainly train our ourselves to reach higher heights. Then, and only then will we see a radical change in our lives.

A stepping stone to success.

Once you understand that your self-image has nothing to do with failing at something and that this failure is actually a path to higher learning, you will be at ease in your own skin.

Wouldn’t that be nice to be at ease in your own skin? If you change your mind, you can re-train your brain to view failure as a stepping-stone to new successes. You will begin to understand failure as a learning tool and not as a way to define your image.

So, the next time you want to compare yourself to someone else, stop and ask yourself if their success can highlight inspiration for you. Maybe they put a tremendous amount of effort into the realization of dreams and all that hard work paid off. This could be a learning tool for you rather than something viewed as an enemy.

Other people’s success should be a way and a means for you to learn, grow, and, most importantly, be inspired. This is just one more way to empower your entrepreneurial mind.

Now I’d love to hear from you. Where will you find motivation for growth and be inspired where you did not see it before? Join us inside the Studio’s Study Hall and let us know what your passion is or something you don’t like to do – but love when it is done! The group is a community of supportive women, where you will find business-focused training and support for female entrepreneurs.

It is time to stop comparing yourself to others.

How to Simplify Your Business Message

If I were to ask you, what is your business message? Do you have a great answer? Or will you overthink and blubber out both your purpose and mission statement? Have you taken the time to simplify your business message? Me, I was a blubberer for years.

My husband always tells me that I over-communicate. How is that even possible? I don’t know but apparently, I have managed to master it. He is constantly reminding me to use as few words as possible to get my message across. (Still trying to figure out if he is right or just wants me to be quiet…)

That being said; I had to really work on how to simplify my message. My clients are busy, too busy to read through the nose, so the goal is to try and simplify.

Here are three keys to simplify your business message:

Remember what’s important

Break down your business message to what is most important. Can you make it a second or less slogan? Look at Dove’s business message: You are more beautiful than you think. What is the most important message they are getting across to their audience? It is simple, basic and provides women with the confidence that Dove wants to provide through their products.

Provide clarity

Don’t get overly complicated with what you are trying to get across. Be clear, direct and to the point. “You are more beautiful than you think.” With 7 simple words the message here is that you are beautiful, don’t judge yourself, be confident, realize your beauty potential, feel your best, accept yourself for who you are. SO much put into a simple and clear message.

Leave out the tech talk

Speak the language that people understand, there is no better way to muddle up your message than using words that only those in the industry will understand. When you start using industry jargon, your audience will lose interest. Fast.

Remember, you want to kill complexity. Both your clients and your sanity will thank you.

Simplify Your Business Message

Be sure to follow the Studio’s Facebook Page, and share your business message with us! We’d love to hear from you. The page is a free space where you will find business-focused training and support for female entrepreneurs, as well as inspiration and Studio updates!

If you need more support and accountability, join us inside the Studio’s Study Hall and let us know what your passion is or something you don’t like to do – but love when it is done! The group is a community of supportive women, where you will find business-focused training and support for female entrepreneurs.