When Ann Perry first got in touch to ask if I could help her with ActiveCampaign, I had no clue what I was in for. But I was hooked right away because she had just under 5000 email subscribers and almost 20K YouTube subscribers. One of my first thoughts was: I want to convert those YouTube subscribers to email subscribers – ooh, a challenge. Our business ‘courtship’ happened fast and before you know it we were creating automations and integrations for list building and for selling online courses and consulting sessions.
A couple of months ago, I woke up to an email with this message about her email subscribers:
On YouTube, Ann now has over 27K subscribers. This is phenomenal growth in a year – without paid advertising.
What is Ann doing that’s creating all this success? Here’s my take on it:
- She’s constantly creating new content: videos, newsletters, social posts, free resources.
- She’s also constantly creating new service offerings.
- And she’s always tweaking and improving the way she does her marketing.
I asked Ann to give us some insight into her content creation success.
Where do you get all your ideas?
“I think it’s super important to create based on your audience’s needs. But I wasn’t always good at tuning into that. My Numerology chart shows that I am very driven and that I have one speed and that’s… ON! But when we come from the masculine energy of always doing and achieving, we find ourselves chasing our business. That’s like pushing a boulder uphill and gets old really fast. So I have worked very hard on trying to stay quiet while allowing my ideas to come to me. Rather than chasing them, I surrender and trust that what is perfect for me to share will come to me. I know to many this may sound contradictory and maybe even a bit flakey! But ideas are inspired thoughts. You have to stop talking and start listening if effective inspiration is to come to you. You have to make space for it. You need to be in a receptive trusting mode that it WILL come in the perfect timing.
Recently, I began creating what I call “Wednesday Pony Webcams”. I get on my horse, I quietly walk around for a while and, because I have set my INTENTION to deliver an inspired message to my audience, the message always comes. I have recently learned that by turning my camera away from me and onto my horse, I don’t have to be worried about having a bad hair day or looking like a mess. I just push record and GO! I find that my messages flow much easier as I am less concerned about how I look and more involved in delivering a positive message. With this approach, the messages just flow more organically. Here’s an example of what I mean.“
What’s your secret to success?
“Perseverance. Persistence. Patience. Repetition. Determination! Oh my. All of the above. I honestly feel that finding the guts to go on YouTube is a key factor in my success. Releasing my fear of judgment and failure, plus a huge need for perfection was key too. I’ve learned that people don’t really gravitate to the “polished” videos. People aren’t buying your business – they are buying YOU. YouTube allows them to get to know you. Your potential customers will either resonate with you or not. Video filters out those who won’t connect well with you and this almost guarantees a positive experience every time. And did I mention it’s FREE?! I also don’t mind the money Google Ads deposits into my bank account each month. But you can’t just post an occasional video. You need to post REGULARLY. What do my Wednesday Pony Webcams have to do with Numerology? Absolutely nothing! But they put me in front of an audience that might not have initially been attracted to Numerology. It also shows my audience a different side of me and provides me with regular content to put in my newsletters. I can also say that once I cleaned off all of the “Numerology pics” from my website and replaced them with personal pics of me and my favourite activities, my business began to grow significantly. Again, they aren’t buying my business. They are buying me, so it’s my job to show them who I am.
In a nutshell, I attribute my success to FINALLY being me. I stopped comparing myself to all the other successful Numerologists online and started doing me. People can see through the veil if you are inauthentic. JUST DO YOU! Through this process, I created a program called JUST DO YOU because I am passionate about sharing my success with others. Everyone has a gift to share but sometimes we need a roadmap and a plan to bring it to life.”
What advice would you give to others who are getting started?
“A while back I realized that I was constantly paralyzed by my lack of knowledge on how to do things. I’d come up with a great idea and I’d discard it just as fast because I didn’t know how to implement it. I didn’t have the skills to make it happen. I learned that it’s not about HOW I’m going to do things but WHO is going to do them for me. Now like many business owners, I felt I couldn’t afford to hire people to manage my mailing list or my website. After just one meeting with Linda Daley, I knew I could not afford to be without her! I am so grateful that we connected and that she continues to brainstorm ideas on how to grow my business. I love that she keeps me accountable to a schedule. When you are a solopreneur, you have no one but yourself to keep you accountable. Linda is one of the best investments I’ve made in my business and she is the gift I give to myself each month. I also hired Paul Dixon to handle my website. This was a suggestion from Linda who, again, is always looking out for my best interest. He has freed up so much time for me. Another great investment!
I would also say that you need to give yourself permission to reinvent yourself occasionally. As your business grows, you grow. As you grow, your business grows. Don’t let your website die on the vine. Keep it current. Shake it up occasionally! Make it different! A website needs to breathe. Don’t worry about it being perfect before you launch it. Perfection is overrated. And perfection is always subjective anyway.
- Pay attention to what works and keep doing it. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
- Treat your website like it’s the Mother Ship. Everything you put out there on social media should be intended to take them back to the Mother Ship because that’s where you can catch their email address and push the PayPal button!
- Create a schedule for your newsletter and stick to it. Don’t be too salesy. Be informative. The more info you give, the more respected you will be and the better chance at engaging your subscribers to do business with you.
- Be yourself. Show them who you are. Share your pain points with them if your pain can benefit them in some way.
- Remember that it’s never about you. It’s always about how you can be of service to your audience. But if they are going to trust you, they need to get to know you. Your talents, gifts, and blunders!”
Isn’t it cool how I got Ann to write a whole blog post for me – and you – to share her advice and tips? You can see that Ann never lets that marketing treadmill get idle. She’s an example we can all aspire to when it comes to creating our own marketing content.