About this episode.

This episode is part one of a three part series that I have put together for you to help you not only make the most of the Quarter 4 shopping period, however to also help you set yourself up to market your brand for long term success.

Christmas shopping is well and truly underway, you’re probably being reminded daily that this is one of the busiest shopping periods of the year and you can feel the black friday and cyber monday sales looming.

I’m here to assure you that now is actually the perfect time to put a really simple, easy to execute plan in place that’s going to help you get in front of more of the right people and sell more of your product.

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Hello and welcome back to the Business of Perfectionism. In case we’ve not yet previously, my name is Kristy and I am a marketing and mindset coach helping product based small business owners to grow their brands attract more of their dream customers and make more money.

The episode is part one of a 3 part series that I have created for you to help you make the most of the last part of 2021.

OK, so we’re well into quarter 4 now, Christmas shopping is well and truly underway, you’re probably being reminded daily that this is one of the busiest shopping periods of the year and you can feel the black friday and cyber monday sales looming.

If you’re yet to put a solid plan in place, if you’re not really sure how to make the most of this busy shopping time and if you’re feeling behind…

I’m here to assure you that now is actually the perfect time to put a really simple, easy to execute plan in place that’s going to help you get in front of more of the right people and sell more of your product. 

As of today, the 22nd October - there are 9 weeks left until Christmas

If you’re an online retailer that means you currently have about 7 weeks before you start to see a slow in sales, it’s around this time that Australia post ends their pre Christmas delivery guarantee so people want to know their orders are packed and out the door by that cut off date.

As I mentioned earlier. This episode is part one of a three part series that I have put together for you to help you not only make the most of the quarter 4 shopping period, however to also help you set yourself up to market your brand for long term success. 

So today, in part one we’re going to dive into looking at some of the reasons you might NOT be getting the sales that you want right now or reaching the goals you’ve set for yourself, 

Maybe you’re not seeing the sales that you want or achieving the financial success you know you’re capable of, or maybe you’re having a hard time getting in front of the right people and feeling a little lost on what comes next.

I’m going to help you identify the things in your business that might not be working as well as we’d like and I’m going to give you some really simple, actionable steps, things that you can do right now to fix some of these issues and help bring more sales through the door. 

So there are a few things here that we’re going to touch on that you can take a look at to see what is working in your business and what needs a little help.

Number one, is your website

One of the most common questions or concerns I’m seeing online is people commenting on a lack of sales, you might be getting people to your website but you’re not seeing the sales that you want. 

So there could be a number of different things at play here.

The average website conversion rate sits anywhere from 1-3%, which sounds incredibly low, right?! However this is average across all industries. 

Which also means it can be a bit of a numbers game. If you’re getting 100 people to your site every single day and your website is converting at 1%, that’s 1 sale per day. 

So the issue might not actually be with your website, it may just be that we need to drive more traffic to your website to see the sales come through - we send 500 people there and you could see sales anywhere from 5 -15 in a day and the only change was getting more traffic to the site. 

If you’re getting a lot of traffic to your site and you’re not seeing the sales come through you need to look at what specifically is going on, where are people getting stuck, at what point are they leaving the site and deciding they aren’t going to make a purchase?

This could be through lack of transparency, perhaps your site says nothing about shipping but then people get to the checkout and they’re hit with a $20 postage fee they weren’t expecting and aren’t willing to pay. 

The issue could come down to your product images and descriptions, if for example you’re selling a nappy bag, you could describe all the different compartments and how easy it is to be organised with this bag, however you don’t show any images of the inside of the bag and people have no idea what they’re getting, they’re less likely to continue through to purchase with you.

Do a full website audit and look at it through the eyes of your customer. Is your site easy to use, are all of the details they would need to know about shipping and returns, any questions they might want answered before they purchase from you, is that all laid out for the customer to find? 

If you didn’t own this brand would you feel confident shopping from this site? 

Number two - is a look at how people are finding you

The most obvious and the easiest is of course Social Media, I encourage you to look beyond the vanity metrics and pay attention to how many people are coming from your social media profiles through to your website. 

If this number is low, if you’re not driving traffic from socials and you’re spending a lot of time on social media we really want to uncover what is going on here. 

Is your content resonating with the people who do follow you? 

Is your content helping you to reach new people, is it driving brand awareness? 

Are you connecting with your customers and selling the transformation or the outcome - what it is that they get from you when they purchase. What is the desire they are trying to fulfill or the problem they are trying to solve 

To nail this you really need to understand who you are selling to and tap into the way they speak and shop to connect with them. 

Lavender scented candle, $29.95 may be straight to the point however we want to take it further - you’re creating a memorable brand. 

Keep in mind that this is quarter 4, we’re coming up to the end of October - social media is busier than ever, people across the world have upped their game and we’re seeing more brands, more content and more noise, meaning if you’re relying on social media to market your business you really have to make an effort to stand out right now, you probably have to be more present than usual and you’re going to have to be quite active in creating content and selling your product. 

Beyond social media, how else are people finding you? Are you listed in any online or local directories? Are people referring you? Are you on other platforms? 

And number three, do you know who your ideal client is? 

I put social media first because your ideal client is on social media, we know that. But have you really found them? 

Have you nailed your positioning?

Do people understand the value and quality of your product?

Are they willing to pay for what you have to offer?

And we touched on this one above, but are you really communicating with your ideal client? 

Sometimes engagement isn’t the only way to tell, if you’re a really inspirational brand you could be attracting all kinds of people, people who are less likely to purchase your product however they follow you for inspiration and ideas - they’ll comment and like but they might not purchase. 

So where are the people who will purchase? Is there a disconnect between who you think your ideal client is and who they actually are? 

A competitor analysis can be really useful here, taking a look at what others who do similar to you are doing, how they speak, the types of people they are attracting, what they do well, what they don’t do well and really working out where you sit in the market.

And of course one of the best and possibly easiest things you can do, is survey your audience - ask them about themselves, find out if their values align with yours, are they willing to pay for what you’re selling, have they purchased from you before, if not why not, why do they follow you? 

Asking your audience exactly what they want is without a doubt the easiest way to find out what they want. 

The last thing I want to touch on and it’s a little different to the previous points, is really taking a step back and looking at what you really want for yourself and your business for this last part of the year. 

Earlier in the episode I mentioned we’d take a look at the goals you might have also set for yourself for this period and how you’re going to reach those goals. 

Firstly, is your goal realistic, is this something you are able to achieve?

So what I really mean by this is - if you have set yourself an income goal of say $50,000 in sales for quarter 4, do you have $50,000 of stock to sell, is this achievable for you with where you are currently at? 

To make the most of this period, to head in feeling as organised and excited as possible we want to set goals that are actually achievable for us, and no that doesn't mean setting yourself an easy goal you know you won’t miss - stretch yourself, but keep it in the realm of possibility. 

The goal is to go into the end of the year, or into the start of 2022 feeling excited about the possibility of what’s to come. We want to feel empowered, to have clarity on where we are going and what we want to achieve.

I know some of these things may seem really simple, however it’s often the really simple things that we overlook. It’s very common for us to overcomplicate things or believe some things should be harder for us then what they are. 

Taking a look at how your website is converting and conducting a thorough audit to determine the actual issue is going to be a lot quicker, easier and more affordable to fix, than just deciding it’s your branding that needs to be overhauled or believing that the reason you’re not converting is because you built the site yourself and you need to invest $8k on a developer, when really the problem could be solved by hiring a photographer and spending $500 - $1000 to have your product images professionally taken which really show the customer exactly what your product looks like and lifts the entire site.

These foundational things - things like positioning, your ideal client often get left behind once we really get into the nitty gritty of running a business but it’s so important that we’re constantly coming back to them, making sure our business and our brands still align with this and adjusting accordingly, for the best results. 

As I mentioned this episode was part one of a three part series, I will be releasing part 2 mid next week which is all about quick wins - things that you can do right now, that you can take immediate action on to bring in some quick sales and start building momentum for the christmas season and beyond. 

This next episode is going to be hugely beneficial to you if you’re looking for ways to market your business, to stand out in the crowd and to get those sales through the door. 

If you would like me to support you 1:1 as we head into the back end of 2021, please get in touch - I am currently offering 1:1 single sessions where we can dive into a custom plan for your business, I will help you get rid of any overwhelm so you can head into the end of the year with complete clarity and confidence ready to call in all those incredible sales. 

Please head over to Instagram and feel free to DM me, you can find me at Kristy Pask, or contact me via my website - kristy pask . com  

I will include all of the links in the show notes below. 

Make sure you join me again mid next week for part 2 focusing on quick wins for the festive season. 

Thank you for joining me again today, if you have any questions or would like to get in touch, Instagram DM or my website are your go-to destinations, and I look forward to seeing you again next week - for parts 2 and 3 of this series.

Links and resources:

Learn more about my 12 week, 1:1 coaching program: The Holistic Marketing Method

Connect with me on Instagram: @kristypask

Book in a 1:1 single session with me here.