Becky Robinson's Blog, page 30

How to Take Your Newsletter From Mundane to a Must-Read

What is your favorite newsletter to read, and why? I’ll strongly suggest that it’s because of the value you perceive it gives YOU. You find it thought-provoking, inspiring, actionable, or educational. You should write your newsletters with the same value and intentionality that you find in other emails you read.

It’s time to break the barriers of what you “think” you should put in a newsletter and start challenging your creative processes. Here’s some tips to kick your cliche newsletter into something subscribers look forward to.

Open with Intention

I’m sure you’ve written some great blog posts or have an event coming up that you want to share. But instead, ask yourself these two questions before you start crafting your message:

What do I want my recipients to feel when they read my email?
What do I want them to do as a result of my email?

Communicate this first and foremost, so readers know exactly what’s coming and why it should matter to them (and hopefully they’ll keep reading your email!).

Get Personal

What’s been going on in between the hustle bustle of your workday? Sharing a short, impactful story of something you experienced or learned lately is a great strategy to expand outside the cookie cutter newsletter. You can use that story to tie into a key theme of your brand.

Give a Behind-the-Scenes Glimpse

Subscribers want to know YOU. Each subscriber on your list represents a real person who felt a need to connect with you and your work. Take a moment to share something special and intimate with this network. Working on a new project? Writing a new book? Share the news with them before anyone else! Share special photos of your upcoming plans to help create excitement.

Share Something Valuable

It’s likely that your subscribers joined your list from a freebie that you were promoting. Why stop giving? If you have some other valuable resources, sprinkle those in from time to time. This communicates two things to your subscribers: you truly value their growth and you’ll continue adding value to their inbox!

Make it Quick

Chances are, your subscribers have countless other emails in their inbox competing for their attention. Your newsletter doesn’t have to be short, but it should pack a punch in a concise manner!

Your newsletter communications need to be original and thoughtfully crafted. If you want your subscribers to interact and engage with you, take the time to consider what THEY want to receive from being connected to you.

How to Keep Your Remote Team Engaged

As an introvert and a resident of a rural town in Wyoming that has very few people and even fewer jobs, I love being able to do my job remotely. It’s nice to have a commute that just takes me down the hall, to a sunshiny (quiet) office with my own tea kettle and essential oil diffuser. I love having my husband working in the room next to me; and being able to shift between work responsibilities, household chores, short errands, and side hustles, depending on the needs of each individual day.

But working remotely has one serious drawback — it’s very hard to get to know your team members. Even as an introvert, I sometimes miss the personal connections that happen during lunch breaks or morning updates. I miss the shared sense of camaraderie that happens when you face shared crisis situations, check up on sick colleagues, or celebrate birthdays together. While some of us stay connected on Facebook, it’s hard to root for each other’s personal accomplishments or feel much sorrow when they move on to new jobs, if we haven’t been any more personal more than simply assigning tasks to each other. There’s something to be said for the human connection you get working side-by-side on a daily basis.

Some jobs, however, require remote work . . . but they are not doomed to remaining impersonal! Here are a few ways we’ve found to help team members engage with each other on a more personal basis (but not so much that it scares off the introverts!).

Fun (Non-Mandatory) Meetings

Every month we have a stand-up call for whoever is able to attend. It usually includes a brief update on new projects or upcoming changes, and is also a great time to introduce new team members or share farewell wishes with those who are moving on. But the thing that makes these meetings something to look forward to is our more personal discussion questions.

For example, during our last meeting we each shared how we first got connected to Weaving Influence. Some had personal connections with a team member, some met Becky at a job fair, and others quite aptly found the company through social media. It was fun to discover some shared connections and learn how the job met a different need in each of our lives.

Sometimes we discuss “silly” things like our favorite back-to-school or office supply, favorite type of M&Ms, or favorite tv show to binge watch. Other months, we get a little deeper and share things like personal goals for the year, a big dream we’re working towards, or a relationships that blesses us deeply.

For me, these questions are one of the highlights of our month, since it gives us a better sense of who we’re working beside, so to speak, and helps to build connections that last outside working hours and spill over into real-life friendships.

Bonus tip: always allow the introverts plenty of time to think before they have to respond.

Virtual Water-coolers & Bulletin Boards

At Weaving Influence, we rely on Basecamp for project management and team interaction. One of the things we love about it is the ‘Campfire’ feature — basically a virtual watercooler system, with a designated campfire for each project. These discussion boards allow for more interaction than what you normally get within the weeds of an individual project, but still keep things contained to only those people who have an interest in that topic.

For instance, if you have a general question or comment about Client XYZ’s project, only the team members involved in that project will see it. On the other hand, if you have something to share that involves everyone on the team, the main campfire is a great place to post it. We use that space to share personal news, pictures of cute pets or beautiful outdoor workspaces, troubleshoot website issues, ask for backup support or clarification, or anything else that you would normally share around a watercooler or bulletin board.

Another way we love staying engaged with each other is through automated check-ins. We have #MakeItHappenMondays to share goals for the week (work or personal), #TeamTuesdays for shout-outs to fellow coworkers, #WednesdayWins (work or personal), #ThankfulThursday, and #FinishItFriday to share how our week went. Though we don’t all participate in every check-in during the week, it provides a great space to learn what matters to everyone and encourage each other in other areas of life besides work.

Personal Updates from the Top-Down

Those in leadership generally set the tone for the rest of the workplace, even in a remote team. That’s why it’s so critical to have personal updates, even on the little things, from those at the top. A few ways we’ve implemented this is through weekly “Look Ahead” messages that cover upcoming meetings or events, changes in scope or schedules, company-wide questions or announcements, and anything else that’s helpful for everyone to know. We also have regular messages from our boss, letting us know her heart for the company, anything big on her radar (work or personal), and a quote or thought that has impacted her life recently.

It also helps to involve the whole team in making decisions and improving processes. While there obviously needs to be a clear leader, and a final decision-maker, it helps keep everyone engaged when they can all share input on things like improving team communication, developing or refining processes for certain tasks, or better implementing core values in the day-to-day work. We all have opportunities to share our opinions without being belittled or shot down. Discussions are respectful and gracious, even when we disagree, and we end up with a stronger, more cohesive team as a result.

Do you have any other tips for staying engaged with virtual team members?

A Blueprint for Success from ‘The Dentist Who Gets It’

There’s no such thing as a “quick fix” for health or wealth, and the same thing holds true in business (and anyone who tells you differently is probably selling something). Rather, it takes many hours of hard work, cycle after cycle of trial-and-error, and oodles of sweat and tears before we start making — and seeing — progress.

It helps to have a coach to advise, encourage, reassure you — someone who’s been there personally, who knows firsthand the stressors and uncertainties of the journey. This week’s featured book offers such guidance from someone who’s been there, done that, and now shares the insights he learned along the way to help you find the same success he did.

The Dentist Who Gets It

The Dentist Who Gets It is a book for those in specialty healthcare, healthcare, or business in general, who are looking for momentum in their business and life. It looks past “quick fixes” to putting the time in for success, and guides readers to the path where they can marry their head and heart — and be successful professionally and personally. The book fills a void for those in healthcare who are left in an uphill battle for success after graduate school, daunted by debt and lacking business acumen.

Dr. H, a self-made man, shares his tried-and-true methods for success — from keeping pace with the latest healthcare trends, to leading in today’s environment, managing balance sheets, and selling a practice for a profit. Using self-deprecating and smart humor, The Dentist Who Gets It is an enjoyable read that helps readers figure out where they are and where they want to go.

“Quick fixes, like ten-minute abs, do not exist. If you are of a mind to lead, I give some insight into what I feel makes a good leader. If you are looking to sell your practice, you will find some advice about that as well… I’ll also take you through my new passion, the work I presently do that has brought me directly from a full-time practicing endodontist into the next stage of my life.” — Dr. H

Meet the Author

Dr. Steven Hymovitch (aka, “Dr. H”) is the dentist who gets it! Dr. H is no stranger to hard work. He grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Montreal, Canada, the son of hard-working parents who ran a successful “mom and pop” shop. He got his first job at age 10 as a newspaper delivery boy; as a teenager, he sold soda at hockey games in the Montreal Forum. He served with the Canadian Army Reserves for 14 years, and even worked as a meat slicer at a delicatessen in Boston while simultaneously finishing his endodontic residency.

Dr. H received his BS and DDS from McGill University, an MBA from Arizona State University, and a root canal specialty degree from Tufts University. He settled in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1994, and continued his career as a serial entrepreneur. Over the next 10 years, Dr. H grew his Tucson- and Phoenix-based practice, Valley Endodontics and Oral Surgery, into more than twenty offices, making it the largest endodontic/oral surgery practice in the southwestern United States. He received his Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from the Royal Roads University in Canada, and in 2017, co-founded the Scottsdale Leadership & Coaching Center, helping business owners in the U.S. and Canada build their balance sheets and scale their practices to help more people.

Dr. H is a devoted husband to Julie, and loving father to Stefanie, Hannah, Hallie, David, and Evan. He enjoys traveling with his family, reading, and constant continuing education especially in the realm of emotional intelligence and leadership coaching. He finds great joy in sharing his personal and professional experiences to help others, and is equally excited about learning new things and expanding his colleague bases while networking and coaching.

Praise from Readers

“This book should be a bible for every leader aspiring for innovation. Understand and practice the principles in this book and it will substantially increase your chances of winning through innovation. ”  — Nathan Laufer, Medical Director, Heart & Vascular Center of Arizona

“The Dentist Who Gets It is full of takeaways and nuggets of wisdom that any health professional can use right away. Dr. Steve’s reference points that paint physical pictures as his message about the struggles he endured in becoming a dentist and then endodontist are relatable to so many other careers! Can’t wait for his next book!” — Steve Brierley, President & Chief Experience Guy at Real Leader Development

“This book supplies you both with concepts that you can apply immediately, and that you can consider in the future. Hymovitch shares insights into his thought processes as he expanded his business, and explains some of the risks that he took along the way. You may well come away from the book inspired and thinking, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.'”  — Robert Passloff, President, Advanced Root Canal Specialists of MA

“The Dentist Who Gets It is an easy-to-read and entertaining blueprint that will lead practitioners to success! It is filled with lots of helpful ‘pearls’ and is valuable in all healthcare fields, not just dentistry.” — Mehdi Mazaheri, MD, PC, CEO of M Spa

Learn More

Visit Amazon to buy a copy of the book, or leave a short review of it.
Check out the website for more information about the book and its author.

How to Stay Engaged in the Workplace

Earlier this month we hosted an hour-long webinar with bestselling author (and 40 year employee of Chick-fil-A), Mark Miller. His newest book, Win the Heart, was just released on March 5th, and he spent his hour with us sharing about the ways that C.A.R.E. (Connection, Affirmation, Responsibility, Environment) can impact organizations and individuals.

I’ve had the privilege of working behind the scenes on Mark’s projects since our first launch with him, back in 2013, and I still learn something new from him whenever I have the opportunity to hear him speak.

Mark has the unique ability to state things in a way that anyone can understand, and quickly gets to the heart of the most common issues that companies and organizations have to face. Whether it’s a lack of leadership, people in the wrong positions, or finding and communicating your passion, Mark’s got a ready answer and — more importantly — actionable ideas to help leaders at all levels get out of the rut and move forward.

Although I loved learning about the ideas and cornerstones of CARE, it was the final 30 minutes of Q & A with the webinar audience that really stood out for me, as Mark answered real problems from real people. These aren’t just ideas found in a book (even if the book ideas strike a chord); they resonate because the real people asking them are regular Janes and Joes, getting up and going to work everyday, struggling to find their passion in the midst of getting the work done, and attempting to follow leaders who fail to inspire.

Know Your Why

One attendee asked Mark if he had any ideas for the individual leader who is struggling and not engaged. As much as I appreciate my flexible job and enjoy the work that I do now, I’ve certainly been in situations before where I didn’t, and this question for Mark resonated deeply with me. How do you inspire others when you, yourself, struggle to engage in the work at hand? I would suspect each of us has experienced this very thing at one time or another.

Rather than throwing out some patent “leadership book” answer, Mark engaged with the question and encouraged the questioner to get to the root of the WHY, to do some introspection and figure out if they could affirm why they do what they do. That left me with food for thought and some introspection to do.

Step Up and Lead

But I think my favorite question came from the person who asked what Mark would suggest when you’re not in a leadership position, but those in leadership aren’t leading. Oh yes, been there and experienced that! Which is why, despite the numerous leadership books I’ve read over the years, his response stopped me in my tracks: If there’s a leadership void, STEP UP when and where you can. See what you can do to close that gap. Try to add value.

And then the real clincher: Leadership is not a role, it’s a FUNCTION. You can fill that countless ways, and you can function as a leader without being in leadership. Can you begin to imagine how our workplace engagement levels might change if we all viewed the role of leadership as one that we could own, no matter what our title or actual responsibilities?

So yes, Mark Miller knows how to sell chicken. He’s been doing it for a long time. But even more than that, he knows how to engage with people and train others to CARE and lead. There’s no telling how the world could change if each of us followed Mark’s example and began to lovingly and proactively engage with others — in the marketplace, online, and at home.

I’m game to give it a shot, how about you?

What Not to Do on Social Media

Social media is a little like a Clint Eastwood movie—there’s good, bad, and ugly. We like to stay positive and focus on sharing tips to help you constantly and consistently improve your social media game, but sometimes it’s helpful to take a deep dive into what NOT to do.

Make it all about you

This is one of those don’ts that many thought leaders do. You have a new book and you want to promote it—there’s nothing wrong with that; but if all of your content is about you, you, you, why should I or anyone else follow? Remember, people who follow you do so for information, inspiration, or a few laughs. If you don’t deliver value to THEM, you’ll find your social growth is slow or it might even stall out completely.

Want to break this habit? Consider sharing third-party curated content. It brings new information to your followers that you agree with and think they’ll find beneficial. It helps you become the hub for information about your area of expertise. Remember, a high tide raises all boats. Be that high tide.

Ignore comments and questions

Social media is about starting conversations. If people stop to ask a question or make a comment, acknowledge them! Sometimes a simple ‘like’ is all that’s needed to let someone know they’ve been heard. Don’t neglect this engagement.

Post the same content again and again

You’ve probably heard that you can repeat content on social media because the audience is always shifting, and that’s true to some extent. If you have a very successful post, you can share it again, but do so with some tweaks. Freshen the copy, change the image, do something to make it unique, even if it is derivative.

If you don’t have time to write new copy, at least change the image. Our brains tend to register images longer than we register words, so a repeated image signals that content is ‘old’ content and followers will skip on by.

Post whenever

If you want to build a loyal, engaged following, posting whenever you think about it probably won’t cut it. Consistency is one of the keys to social media success, as it is in life: you just need to show up. Using a scheduling tool will help you show up, even when you’re doing other things.

Leave off hashtags or tags

If you want the smallest audience possible for your content, please forget hashtags. If you like to reach new people, hashtag away. Twitter posts do well with 1-2 hashtags; more than that and reach is lowered. On Instagram, anywhere from 3 to 11 hashtags will deliver results. LinkedIn is new to the hashtag game, but experiment; they likely won’t hurt, but keep it to a minimum. On Facebook, hashtags actually lower reach, so we advise against using them on that platform.

You know what works on ALL platforms? Tags!  Tag the company you’re talking about, tag the thought leader you’re referencing, or the media outlet that featured your work.  Tags expand the audience and we all want that!

If you steer clear of these pitfalls, Clint Eastwood might follow you on social media, but you won’t feel like you’ve stumbled into one of his films.

What other don’ts have you spotted on social media?

Boosting Social Media Engagement

Engagement is a hot topic — both engagement in the workplace, and engagement on social media. We’ll leave engagement at the workplace to our skilled and inspiring authors. (Check out Mark Miller’s new book Win the Heart for some great insight.) But when it comes to social media, we do have a few ideas that might help you get more people interacting with the content you’re putting down.

Post Photos and Videos

I know, I know. You’ve heard this advice before, and that’s because it works. According to research from eMarketer, posting photos on Facebook can increase engagement by as much as 85%, and photos bump up retweets up by 35%. Your phone includes a camera, so there’s no excuse NOT to go visual.

Use Humor

Social media can be a real downer — offer up a few laughs, and people will engage. You don’t have to be a stand-up comic, but feel free to use humor in your content regularly. It lets followers know who you are, and makes your ideas more fun and memorable. Just keep it light-hearted. No one likes a mean comic or thought leader.

Ask Away

How do you engage people in conversation? That’s right, you ask questions. Same thing works on social media. Ask thoughtful engaging questions and you’ll receive thoughtful engaging answers.

Polls are another way to ask a question. We don’t recommend using them frequently, but tossing in a poll on Facebook and Twitter around an interesting topic, on occasion, can drive conversation and engagement.

Answer Already

If you have a teenager, you know how frustrating it can be to not get a response. Your followers on social media feel the same way when they ask you something or comment, and you don’t respond. You are half of the engagement equation. Get on your social platforms, ‘like’ comments from your followers, respond to their comments, and reshare when it makes sense.

Give Something Away

Everyone likes to win! Give away some of your books on social media, or other materials, and see your engagement increase. Be sure to make social action part of the giveaway, such as sharing an image or using a specific hashtag.

These tactics can help increase your engagement, but keep in mind, the overall quality of your content is the biggest engagement factor. If your content consistently focuses on your followers and their needs, you’re on the path to long-term community-building success.

How are you trying to increase engagement on your social media channels?

Win the Heart: Creating A Culture of Engagement

From top leaders to front line workers, engagement matters at all levels. Imagine building a culture where everyone showed up fully engaged and excited about the work . . . a culture where the potential of every worker was fully unleashed. The competitive advantage you could create would be staggering. The reality is, it can happen.

This week, we’re excited to launch another great book from bestselling author Mark Miller, which reveals four cornerstones of engagement and how to create a workplace where employees truly want to be.

Win the Heart

Every great company has an engaged workforce, and nurturing a culture of engagement is at the heart of great leadership–employees who really care about their work, their coworkers, and the organization can supercharge a company’s success. But for many years, engagement has been suffering. Gallop reports that 70 percent of employees are not fully engaged on the job. Mark Miller draws on more than forty years of leadership experience to show leaders at all levels how to change the conversation and create real competitive advantage in the process.

In the fourth book in Miller’s High Performance Series, CEO Blake Brown sets out to discover how to create the kind of workplace where everyone feels excited to come to work, passionate about what he or she brings to the company, and energized at the end of the day. It’s a journey that takes him literally all over the world–from Italy to Greece to Green Bay and more. What he discovers from the pages of history is as relevant as the evening news.

Engagement unleashes untapped potential buried deep within the hearts of your people. An engaged workforce is more creative, more driven, and more enthusiastic about reaching company goals. If you put the lessons in this book to work, your people will never look at work, or their leaders, the same way again.

Meet the Author

Mark Miller began writing over a decade ago when he teamed up with Ken Blanchard on The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do. In 2011, he released The Secret of Teams, outlining the key principles that enable some teams to outperform the all the rest. Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life came next in 2012, followed by The Heart of Leadership in October 2013, the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Secret in September 2014, Chess Not Checkers: Elevate Your Leadership Game in April 2016,  Leaders Made Here in March 2017, and Talent Magnet in February 2018.

In his latest book, Win the Heart, Miller uses a clever and entertaining business fable to share these findings. He continues the story of Blake, a young CEO, who sets out on a journey to discover the key to engaging leadership. By the end of his journey, Blake has discovered a powerful philosophy to guide his decisions in the future, and four drivers of engagement to implement today.

In addition to writing, he really loves speaking to leaders. Over the years, he’s traveled extensively around the world teaching for numerous international organizations. His theme is always the same: encouraging and equipping leaders.

He also sells chicken. Mark started his Chick-fil-A career working as an hourly team member back in 1977. In 1978, he joined the corporate staff working in the warehouse and mail room. Since then, he’s provided leadership for Corporate Communications, Field Operations, Quality and Customer Satisfaction, Training and Development, and Organizational Effectiveness. Today he serves as the Vice President of High Performance Leadership. During his time with Chick-fil-A, annual sales have grown to over $5 billion, and the company now has more than 1,700 restaurants in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

Praise from Readers 

“Mark Miller has a unique style of delivering sage advice through storytelling. . . . The concepts are not new, but the delivery is effective.“ — Daryl Delabbio, 5-star Amazon review

“Miller’s modern parable writing style is easy reading, but profound in thought and background. When I read it I was reminded a bit of Simon Sinek’s “Why” in order to see people motivated to their call. Miller does this with heart and does it equally as well as Sinek. If you are a young leader, learn the heart lesson early and your leadership will blossom. Getting to the heart of the matter is what truly matters.”  — DocMyron, 5-star Amazon review

“This is a simple, short, and significant reminder that as leaders, our job is to create an environment of engagement… and that starts with Winning The Heart!”  — Sean Glaze, 5-star Amazon review

“Miller communicates the results of solid research with engaging story so that the reader is quickly engulfed in a virtual experience that closely resembles what most employers and managers experience in their workday environment: many employees approach their work as “just a job.” . . . Anyone who has worked in a great environment will appreciate the practical insight this volume affords for those who lead organizations.”  — SW, 5-star Amazon review

Learn More

Visit Amazon to buy a copy of the book, or leave a short review of it.
Check out the website for more information and free Win the Heart resources.
Watch the recent webinar to learn more about the CARE model of engagement.

Rules of Engagement in Media

What’s your biggest pet peeve? Is it when people chew with their mouths full? Or don’t take their shoes off when they come into your home?

Mine is when people don’t ask questions in a conversation. This isn’t because I like talking about myself, but because it shows a general lack of interest. Not many people like to be talked at or in a one-sided conversation. There should be give-and-take, and writing articles for media placement is not much different.

Many of you reading this have written wonderful books. What’s different about writing for online media is that the attention span is incredibly short—55 percent of visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a webpage. So, it’s imperative to grab attention and keep it by engaging your readers.

Here are 5 rules of engagement when writing for media.

Write a fantastic headline.

This almost goes without saying, but headlines are the first thing people read when deciding whether to spend time reading more. One way to make sure you nail the headline is to work backwards. Come up with your amazing headline and then write the piece to fit it, not the other way around.

Write a fantastic intro.

Once your headline has convinced the reader that they want to spend a little more time on the page, you’ve got to keep them there. Use this space to prove to them what they’re reading will be important to their success, life, happiness, what have you. You can also draw readers in by sharing a controversial stat or opinion—or even better, a short (maybe personal) story that appeals to their emotions. Emotions are great attention-grabbers.

Ask questions.

Here we are, back to asking questions. Did you know readers like it, too? From when we were little, we were taught to pay attention to questions, so when we spot one on a page, we snap back into attention. Use them throughout your piece to ensure focus.

Use bullets and subheads.

This study by Nielsen-Norman Group is a really interesting and useful study that shows that web readers don’t read text word-for-word. They scan it. Think about it: how do you read web pages? Do your eyes jump to headings and lists? You’re not alone. The research shows that using meaningful (not clever) subheadings and bulleted lists are great ways to get your writing read. Other tips—use the inverted pyramid style, hyperlink keywords, and use half the word count that you would for a hard copy piece.

Use transition words.

There’s no quicker way to lose a reader’s attention than to lose them in your writing. Make sure you use transitional words that help readers to the next point. Some good ones include:

In addition to
That’s why
Besides
Likewise
Similarly
Here’s how

I want to close with a note about pitching media, since many of your media writing opportunities will come from pitches to journalists. These rules above apply, as well as a big emphasis on showing the journalist that you’re familiar with their work. In lieu of asking many questions in an email, reference past work by the recipient and explain how what you can write or interview about will benefit them and their audiences.

And, that’s what I have. We’d love to hear your tips for engaging readers by leaving them in the comments!

5 Ways to Improve Engagement on Your Website

When it comes to metrics you should pay attention to, engagement should be one of the big ones. Engagement is going to dictate whether or not all those followers, fans, or website visitors can actually result in a more robust, long-term work relationship.

Your website is your hub, your calling card. So it makes sense to start there when optimizing for engagement. Let’s walk through all the places on your website where you can initiate the call for engagement.

Content

Quite frankly, everything starts with the content on your website. It will set the tone for engagement . . . or not. The exact time varies online, but you have between 7-15 seconds to capture the attention of your website visitors. To create a site that looks engaging, you should follow these simple rules:

Make text easy to read. White text on dark backgrounds is harder on the eyes.
Use white space strategically. Big blocks of text or a crowded and busy layout can be a huge turn off.
Don’t use poor quality images.
Limit fonts and colors used. Quite simply, you want a website that is beautiful to look at.
Don’t use huge pop-ups that cover the page. There are all sorts of gurus who say you can increase subscription rates by having this on your website, but I think the key is to keep it small and to make it pop up after a certain percentage of scrolling. That way the visitor at least knows what you’re about, before an email request pops up. Also, Google will penalize you in search if a pop-up blocks your content on your mobile website, so you want to use something smaller and less obtrusive.

When it comes to words, you want to start light and engaging. Refrain from the use of industry jargon and focus on getting people to know, like, and trust you. Make sure that people can answer these from the homepage:

Who are you?
What product or service do you provide?
Do you provide a solution to their issue?
Is it worth sharing?

Blog

If you have a blog, you can do a few things to encourage engagement with your readers.

Write in an engaging tone. We’re coming away from the strict English writing rules we all grew up with and leaning more to writing how we speak. When you think about it, writing that way plays more like a conversation with the reader. We can almost hear the dialogue in our head. Of course, know who your audience is and how they talk. This requires some familiarity with your target market, but doing so will attract the right people to your content.
If you reference other people’s content, link to it. If they’re paying attention, it’s quite possible they will come to comment on your blog. At the least, it opens the channel for a conversation.
Ask a question at the end of your blog to solicit a response. If people comment on your content, take the time to comment back. Try to respond in a way that can keep the conversation going.

Social

Make sure that social sharing is a part of your engagement strategy. Pre-packaging social shares is a cool tactic. Using a tool like Click to Tweet helps to give people reasons to engage with your content by sharing it with their tribe. Creating beautiful, downloadable graphics for them to share is another way.

Make sure if you see that someone shares your content that you acknowledge it with a “like” or thank you. This will help to encourage future sharing.

Chat Bots

Chat bots are kind of a new thing. Usually used to help with customer support or sales, chat bots are an easy way to engage with people in real-time on your website. There are all sorts of chat bots, including ones that integrate with Facebook Messenger, but they break down into two types — ones that are managed by a live person, and ones that initiate via artificial intelligence (AI) or bots (short for robots).

Live chats are staffed by an individual. You can assign several staff members, certain ones or manage it yourself. They can come in both a desktop and mobile app so that you can handle website visitor questions on the fly.

With AI, you can “train” it to respond to certain keywords or ask certain questions to direct their inquiry. They can collect information and assure the visitor of a human response later or can forward to a live operator then and there.

Contact Page

Last but not least, you want to have a contact page or ways that people can contact you. You can’t claim you want engagement and then give no one a way to engage. A contact page says, “I want to hear from you.” Just make sure that you’re on the other end of the phone or email to continue the conversation.

Engagement is an important piece of online metrics. It’ll give you a quick look if you’re really doing this digital marketing thing right. If you’re engagement doesn’t seem to be happening, maybe making some of the tweaks above can help.

What are some engagement tweaks you can make to your website?

Planning Content for Your Webinar

In our experience, we have discovered webinars to be an important tool in driving interest in your book or product, boosting sales, and helping others understand WHY they should invest in you. You may decide to partner with a marketing agency to help plan and facilitate your webinar, or you may decide to plan and host it yourself. Whatever route you decide to take, planning is an important part to ensure your webinar runs smoothly and makes your point in an effective manner.

Before You Begin — Brainstorm

Think about the type of message you want to convey. Do you want to conduct a more formal keynote-type presentation with slides and a lot of information? Or do you want to be more interactive with your audience and conduct an interview-style webinar? Are you going to record the event for people to watch later? Will you leave time for Q & A at the end? Will you host the event solo or have co-presenters? These are some of the questions you should be asking yourself.

After you determine the type of webinar you plan to conduct, focus on the action you want people to take as a result of joining your webinar.

Analyze Your Goals

Are you trying to sell a book or a product? Maybe you’re just trying to get an idea or body of work into the world, or maybe you’re just wanting people to get to know you. Whatever your goals are, write them down. Be clear and concise about what you want to accomplish.

Next, think about what you can do to support those goals. If your goal is to get people to buy your book, create a slide that encourages people to buy. If the goal is to convert people to your email list, make sure you direct them to an area where they can sign up. Offering something free (like a one-page sheet supporting your ideas, or a book study guide) in exchange for signing up always helps!

Create a Landing Page

Now that you have a theme and goals, it’s time to put it all together. Use a platform like Zoom or GoToWebinar to create a landing page for your event. The landing page should include details such as the webinar topic, the date and time the event is taking place, and a form for people to register. Add graphics or logos to make the page more interesting and appealing. Don’t forget to include a headshot and bio on the page – people want to know who is presenting!

Market Your Event

This is the most important part! Once the registration link is ready, share that link in emails and on social media. Send personal invites to your contacts asking them to sign-up and share the event with others. You may even want to include a Click to Tweet in your emails so that people can easily share your event with their networks. We recommend sending a series of emails to invite your network. Consider sending an email 3-4 weeks before the event, and another email one week before the event.

Send Follow-Up Materials

After the event, we highly recommend following up with the people who registered. Use an email platform like Mailchimp to send an email to everyone who registered to thank them for their interest. Be sure to include any follow-up materials such as a PDF of your slides and a link to the replay video (if you are offering these). And, don’t forget to include some calls-to-action in the email that support the goals you outlined earlier.

With great planning and practice, you can have a successful webinar event. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged, but if you take care in preparing for and planning your event, chances are it’ll be better than you expected!

Have you conducted a successful webinar? Comment below, and let us know what you found most valuable in while planning for your webinar!