http://www.nextleveldigital.io/

Next Level Digital, Palmerston City (2024)

24/02/2021

what is the #1 thing you should focus on as a business and entrepreneur?

3 things...

1. have a lead generation system
2. convert those leads into customers
3. retarget those leads that did not convert the first time
4. rinse and repeat.

but why do so many businesses rely on referrals and complain there business is not growing..

22/02/2021

Came across an awesome suggestion low cost strategy to test if you have a winning marketing campaign for your product or service that I would like to share...

Use flyers....

Before spending any money on digital platforms, you should go back to old school direct response marketing.

The argument was that the costs are fixed and relatively cheap ( paper and copy) and the conversion rate is relatively constant - say 0.5%. So that for every 200 flyers you would get 1 sale. If the product was $50 and marketing costs are say $10, then you are $40 in profit.

By putting say a QR code on the flyer people can go to your website directly and you can track where you are getting most sales.

I had never thought about this before, but can see this old school direct response marketing would be great for testing out whether there is demand in your local market.

16/02/2021

Remember the 3 rules of selling

people don't like being sold
people buy things for emotional not rational reasons
once sold, people need to satisfy their emotional decisions with logic

So connect with your prospect at an emotional level not with features and benefits.

14/02/2021

What is the difference between marketing and sales?

I remember someone told me the caparison with a game of golf.

Marketing is trying to get the hole as close to the pin as possible while sales is the final put into the hole.

But the main thing is...you can't have one without the other.

Good marketing does not make up for bad sales.

Only when both are working will the process work..

Before looking into improving your marketing, look at your sales process first. If you have a better closing script you could double your sales close rate without spending a penny on more marketing.

Too many digital marketers try and sell the front end when the actual problem is the back end sales process.

The back end sales process could be email marketing and having segmented lists to talking to a specific type of customer.

Don't just look at the obvious front end marketing when your sales process could be the real problem.

07/02/2021

Are leading with value in your marketing?

The concept of leading with value takes courage when all you are thinking about is the sale.

The days of shot gun marketing are gone......no one will buy your product or service if you are not offering or more importantly demonstrating value first.

This happened to me over the past week, where I was helping a fellow marketer on his You Tube ad script.

I helped him redraft his script without asking anything in return and his response was to promote my services within his network.

If I had asked for compensation, it would have ruined the dynamic.

This is how to sell to be people when they don't necessarily want to be sold.

The $$$ will follow the value you add. The greater the value the greater the reward.

Are you demonstrating value or just telling your prospective customer you have a great product or service and hoping you will get sales?

04/02/2021

What is a funnel and what can it do for your business?

The way I see a funnel is a process that consistently brings your business customers who have a problem that you can solve with your product or service.

You drive traffic in one end and you get customers and sales out the other end.

Note: A funnel is not a website.

There are different types of funnel depending on what outcome you want to achieve.

lead generation (lead magnet/survey)
education (mini class/webinar)
sales (product/application)

The best funnels have the right balance of curiosity and scarcity with an awesome offer that you would be crazy to pass up.

A good funnel can change you business overnight, but so many businesses are unaware of the power of a good sales funnel.

They are still reliant on website traffic or maybe running a few Facebook ads that barely covering their costs or even losing money.

If you want me to plan and design a funnel that could 10X your business just drop me a line below.

03/02/2021

I love clubhouse...

I get so much nuggets of information each time I log in.

Today I was listening to Grant Cardone (I seem to be stalking the man) again talking about how the education system is broken and he is actually home schooling his children.

He states correctly that schools are not preparing young people for the real world and talking about wealth creation.

Schools are very good and telling you about all sorts of complex mathematics but very little as to how to create wealth.

This was very true in my own education, where I learned zero about entrepreneurship with the whole education system geared towards trading your time for money at a job.

What a waste that young people are not exposed to critical thinking and exploring new ways of earning a living.

Thankfully I believe the world is changing and the 9 to 5 career that everyone so aspired to is changing and more people are exploring a side hustle.

02/02/2021

Please remember if you market to everyone you market to no one

Business owners jump mistakenly believe they need to show there product or service in front of as many people as possible to generate sales.

Not truly understanding your customers needs and wants and stereotyping that person will result in failure on digital platforms.

Facebook and Google have a wealth of information on your ideal customer and you can target that person by a few clicks.

If you need ad copy ideas of what to say to move your ideal customer to buy your product or service a good resource is the Facebook Ads library which is free service

you can spy on your competitors on what they are advertising and get ideas for your own marketing campaigns.

https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/

But before you start with any ad copy get clear on your customer and where they hang out and what is your unique selling proposition.

If you need help with your marketing campaign drop me a line below.

01/02/2021

Are you levelling up your business?

Or are you just settling...

I am remember I met a fellow digital marketer for coffee and he was thankfully busy in these challenging times....but one thing that struck me was that he had settled.

He was making enough money and was content to stick to what he knew.

Up to that point I had welcomed his advice and sharing ideas, but was surprised by this comment and actually made me rethink the nature of our relationship.

Hang around people that who not growing and you won't see yourself grow either.

That's why I have always interacted with people who are ahead of me, so they can pull me up.

Only then will I realise my full potential.

Are you surrounding yourself with the right people?

Is you business playing small when it could be playing bigger?

Are you investing in yourself?

Business is probably the most competitive space to be in and yet business owners feel they don't need to invest in say a business coach....crazy!

Don't be like the boiling frog metaphor when what you don't know might put you out of business..

30/01/2021

Giving is the secret of living both in business and life.

I love this phrase and is the main the reason I started adding value with this FB business page.

Even if I help one person it would have been worth it...

For instance, I am just off a call with someone to help him understand Youtube advertising and how it could explode his business.

No hard sell just adding value...

When you help another person without expecting anything in return the law of the universe has a habit of repaying you greater than you thought.

29/01/2021

Do you know who your ideal customer is?

I mean really know them.

Understand them better than they know themselves.

Really understand how your product or service is going to make their life better..

A lot of businesses do not spend sufficient time dialling into who their ideal customer is and consequently miss the mark with their marketing and advertising.

Then throw up their hands and say digital advertising does not work for my industry

To ensure you have the best chance to sell you product or service you need to meet you customer where they are at..

And that means stereotyping your customer using an avatar.

The avatar is an ideal version of your dream customer.

Get as specific as possible - gender, age, demographic, social group, interests, job, likes and dislikes, where they like to hang out..

Once you have brainstormed your avatar you can input these details into Facebook targeting and it will find people who are like this and will show them your ad.

Unfortunately too many businesses are jumping onto Facebook without doing this front end work and are therefore wasting $$$$ on targeting the wrong people.

Don't be one of those businesses.

If you want me to help you dial into your avatar drop me line or give me a comment.

27/01/2021

Money follows attention not best product or service..

We live in a world where every business is competing for attention and the ones that are making more offers to prospective clients win.

so....

How does your business get attention?

Are you making offers that will attract clients to your business?

Do you have process to transform prospects into raving buyers that will buy from you again?

Or are you just relying on referrals...

If you don't have answers to these questions you may find yourself out of business....it is as simple as that.

If you want to know how to get customers on demand drop me line or comment below...

My purpose is to add value to your business so you don't go out of business....

27/01/2021

Have you heard about the new app called Clubhouse that is taking social media by storm?

It is actually quite old school in using voice only and rooms to discuss set topics and giving value. No self promotion is allowed.

I was in a room the other day with Grant Cardone talking about big multi $$$ real estate deals.

Normally I would never be in the presence of people like that and it was great to get inspired by people like that.

But the real value of Clubhouse is finding a small room on an interest that you can value and becoming a panelist and engaging with people directly.

I did this other night in a room called "monitizing your superpower" on how we can all win at life by intersection of these three areas

1. What you're passionate about
2. What your best at
3. What drives your economic engine

I think it is the best networking opportunity on the web today where you can make connections really fast.

Currently the app is invitation only and for iphone users only, but expect this to be for all devices shortly.

Check it out for yourself

23/01/2021

Remember good copy always trumps good design

Don't be lured into thinking that a website with images coming from the side and quivering buttons will get you more customers.

People rarely buy because of a good image alone but how you present the overwhelming value of your offer and/or product or service

Good copy can make or break your offer.

If you looking to upgrade your website focus on the core messages you want to convey from your website than support them with images - not the other way around.

Remember you only have about 5 secs to make an impression on what you do, what problem you are solving and what you want your prospective customer to do next.

Fancy graphics are a distraction and will confuse the customer

Once your customer is confused they will not buy and you lose sales.

22/01/2021

What type of creative (images/videos) should you use when your are doing Facebook ads/posts?

Well it depends...

Facebook is a platform people come to be entertained not be shown ads. Although Facebook users have become comfortable with ads, the sheer volume of ads means you need to stand out ore and more.

The creative has one thing to do...make you stop scrolling long enough for your prospective customer to take action.

The choice of creative depends on the product or service.

A funny cat meme imitating an aspect of your product or service may do just as well as say a still picture of your product or service.

As with anything on Facebook, testing is essential.

A rapid test campaign should always be done to test creative, copy and offer to determine the winning campaign

Creative should be tested when other parameters are fixed.

Once you know which creative resonates with your audience, then test your copy and offer.

20/01/2021

What is wrong with this sentence - we under promise and over deliver?

For a start it is completely out of integrity.

Why would anyone knowingly make a promise and not deliver make this kind of statement.

If you want your business to stand out from your competition you should always over promise and over deliver.

By saying this you are making a statement that you dominate your space and you don't need to compete.

The businesses that will thrive through tough economic times are the ones that dominate their particular niche and consistently over promise and over deliver.

These types of businesses don't worry about competing on price because they know their exceptional experience means clients will come back again and again.

So when describing your business, product or service avoid saying things like " we're very competitive" and " we're as good as anyone else" and instead work on giving an exceptional experience and see your sales grow.

19/01/2021

Are you following up with your clients?

Too often we focus on the front end of a marketing campaign and underestimate that the fortune is actually in the follow up.

This was borne out by one of the people I follow on twitter Peep Laja who says that follow should you go to tool in most situations.

If you have a list of subscribers and you are not engaging with at least on a weekly basis by adding value you are most definitely missing out on sales.

Start today by sending out a broadcast to your subscriber list and help them solve their problems and you will be amazed at the response.

17/01/2021

Are you doing any upsells, down-sells, cross-sells or one time offers?

A lot of businesses are leaving a lot of money on the table by not maximising the attention of their customers by asking them to buy more of their stuff.

This is by far the easiest way to get more sales by adding additional offers to your original offer.

Once your customers has bought from you once they are more likely to buy something from you again especially if you are adding more value.

Adding additional offers to your marketing funnel will increase the lifetime value of your customer and sky rocket your sales.

16/01/2021

Are you using video in your marketing mix?

I am a big fan of video marketing to get your message out to the market, whether that be using social proof videos or driving traffic from youtube videos.

I feel so many businesses could 10x there business if they only started using video.

You don't need a fancy camera to do video. All you need is your phone and a good microphone. People want to hear from real people and not from a word perfect presentation.

So why are businesses not using video more?

The simple truth...people are scared to go on camera.

They have a misplaced belief they will be ridiculed or be subject to negative comments.

Let me be clear - your potential customer does not care about you.

They only care about how you are going to solve their problem.

They actually don't care about your product or service only the result this will achieve for their business.

So stop stop be afraid of how you look or sound and start showing how great your product and service is by demonstrating this on camera.

14/01/2021

Do you have Facebook Pixel on your page?

You are missing out on sales if you don't have a FB pixel on your website even if you are not doing FB advertising. The FB pixel tracks people who have visited your website but not taken action so you can retarget them with the same offer or other offers.

Remember most people do not buy on the first occasion. It may take 6 or 7 touch points for people to buy your product or service. So it is a no brainer to spend 5 minutes to put the pixel on your website.

Here is short video of how you can put a FB pixel on your website, that I posted on a business FB group recently.

13/01/2021

A great way to understand the problems of your customers is to ask the past, present and future questions.

Here is a video of me rehearsing asking a potential client (Steve) on what they have done in past and what they are currently doing to get customers. Then paint a picture for them of what an ideal future could look like.

13/01/2021

How do you turn a lead into a paying customer?

Through A Sales Bridge and by following the 90/10 rule.

By the 90/10 rule I mean that you ask questions only (10%) and the customers gives you all the information you need to close the sale (90%).

The sales bridge is the process of finding out their current situation and what their desired situation looks like. Within that conversation you should be aware how your product or service will solve their problem and find out what they have done in the past that has not worked.

The conversation should start out - " So what made you reach out today.....and the customer then answers with his product and service and then you ask a series of Why questions till you get to a deeper level on the real reason they reached out to you.

This process might be uncomfortable ( and needs practice) but through this process you will really find out the real problems of your customers and they will also feel you truly understand them.

And when people feel understood, they are more likely to buy from you.

Warning ** keep the conversation on topic as time will kill the deal if you spend too much time with small talk ***

11/01/2021

Have you tried Facebook advertising and failed miserably and declare that Facebook does not work for your industry?

Well you are not the only business to have tried and failed with Facebook ads.

Unfortunately a lot of businesses try FaceBook ads and don't get much traction because they don't fully understand the platform.

First of all, I would strongly advise business owners (especially small business owners) to outsource FB ads to a professional.

Don't waste valuable time learning a complex platform when you could be spending time refining your product or services to be as attractive as possible.

**Disclaimer I am not a FB ads specialist but have the self awareness to outsource to people who can optimise a FB campaign better than me**

Now the purpose of this post is not to give you a lesson on FB ads but to tell you that FB ads still work for any business, but it does take time and money to get a winning campaign.

There are so many variables with the Facebook AI that there is no silver bullet to get a winning campaign and requires you to test, test and test. Test the copy, test the creative and test the offer.

Now this might mean you losing some $$ up front to understand what works in the market.

A good FB ads professional will tell you this up front and not lead you on that they can get your customers out of the gate.

10/01/2021

How do you sell when no one wants to be sold?

With so many people online trying to sell you their stuff, the noise can be deafening....how do you cut through the noise?

Old school selling of the door to door salesman variety is thankfully past, but the online version seems alive and well ....spamming feeds and cluttering up emails with the fantastical offers that are out of integrity.

So how do you sell online without coming across as spammy and creepy?

Demonstrate not Proclomate !

Instead of telling what a great product or service you have show it to your prospective customers.

For example...if your a SaaS company that has a really great product that can visually map any marketing funnel like Funnelytics (www.Funnelytics.io)...would it not be better to demonstrate the power of the tool through showing clients rather than tell them about all the features and benefits.

How many more customers would you think that would generate?

Show not tell is how you succeed in selling online

09/01/2021

I took a call today from an awesome guy called Nicky who has an awesome brand centred around beards and creative artwork (https://www.instagram.com/onthechinsta/) and through his artwork help men find their voice.

His instagram account has blown up and has a loyal following of over 14.4k and wants to take it to the next level.

So he reached out to a supposedly "professional digital marketing agency" who have not lead with value...in fact he feels completely let down after paying 1000's of dollars for very little.

Unfortunately this is all too common within the digital marketing space that clients ignorant of digital marketing are taken in by big (and small) agencies who are more interested in making sales than actually delivering value and working their clients best interests.

The brand is strong and with the right marketing strategy will take off

Lesson learned - thoroughly check out who you are dealing with is actually working in your best interests. Do you own research - actually talk to previous clients on their experience - don't rely on text based testimonials on their website - if they don't have video testimonials from past clients be very sceptical.

08/01/2021

In my experience any business journey cannot be separated from a personal development journey.

This might mean finding some new people to hang out with.

I remember when I first started my digital agency, I knew I needed to get some new friends as my new mindset was incompatible with the people I was hanging around with.

As a consequence of this I also stopped focusing on making money as my primary goal.

I learned early on that only by leading with value will you get what you want. The money will be a byproduct of adding value and helping people solve their problems.

I love the quote from professional development coach Zig Ziglar - you can have everything in life you want if you help enough people get they want.

Are you helping people get they want first?

07/01/2021

Believe it or not in 2021 some businesses are still not using video to market their products or services.

Or if they are using video...it is some slick corporate video that companies stick on their homepage hoping it will be played.

Now, I am not knocking those types of videos...but would it not be better to use video to demonstrate how your product or service could help solve your customers problem.

Even better, how about running a live webinar on Facebook and inviting your followers to attend with added incentives for people to stack around until the end.

How many more sales do you think you would achieve doing a free Facebook live rather than spending thousands on a static marketing video?

Comments welcome

06/01/2021

How are you dealing with objections from your customers?

Dealing with objections is crucial if you are to build up trust with your prospective customers so they will buy from you.

Unfortunately a lot of businesses do not practice objection handling and consequently leave a lot of money on the table.

In an earlier post I mentioned that if you want to grow your business without spending more on marketing just improve your sales training.

By increasing your close rate from 1 in 10 to say 2 in 10 you have doubled your business without spending a cent more on marketing.

I find practicing objection handling by filming myself to be best way to see how I come across and see if I come across as authentic.

Here is an example of dealing with the most common objection around not having sufficient money to proceed with a purchase.

If you want me to help you improve your objection handling just drop me a comment below

06/01/2021

Have you asked anyone to buy your product or service today?

Sounds an obvious question but you would be amazed that business owners are not or afraid to ask people to buy their stuff.

Also the number of sales you make is directly related to the amount of offers you make.

Do you have an offer that will make people want to buy?

By an offer I don't mean a 10% discount...for people to take action your offer has to be outrageous.

For example I recently saw an Facebook ad campaign for a tyre company that was offering 4 tyres for the price of 2 plus FREE fitting....now that is an outrageous offer.

Unfortunately too many clients are afraid to have an outrageous offer as they see at as loss leader.....but the alternative is you have no customers!

No customers = no cash flow = no business

Get creative with your offers to bring in customers and then upsell on the back end.

If you want be to help you an outrageous offer just drop a line or comment below.

05/01/2021

Do you stereotype your ideal customer?

I know no-one likes to be stereotyped...but believe it or not, human beings are one of the most predictable creatures on the planet

By taking the time understand who is your target audience, you will truly understand how your product or service can solve their particular problem. This will will then help you with your messaging throughout your sales funnel.

Remember when a customer feels you understand them they are more likely to buy from you

Stereotyping categories include

Where do they live
What do they like to buy
When is their birthday
What is their financial status
Where they work,
What politics do they follow,
What education level are they.

So before you start any form of marketing ask yourself "do I really understand my target audience and will they buy my product or service"

Seems obvious but too many businesses just assume they know who their customer is and consequently leave a lot of money on the table.

05/01/2021

Note to business owners

A good marketing funnel cannot save a bad sales process

Too often clients think a tech solution will solve their sales problem. Despite the dithering array of tech solutions out there, most sales are still conducted in person with real people talking about how their product or service can solve their clients problem.

A good marketing process can certainly start the conversation but it takes a good sales person to convert those leads into paying customers.

If your sales process sucks then no amount of fancy funnels, a digital marketer will try and sell you, will compensate for a poor sales process.

So please check your sales process process is up to scratch first before spending $$$ on more digital assets.

Even better than that...improve your sales close out rate.

If you improve close rate from say 1 in 10 to 2 in 10 and you have doubled your business without spending a penny.

04/01/2021

So many clients don't have a landing page or if they do it really sucks... A landing page should be congruent with what you are selling and the copy of your offer if you want people to take action.

Sounds simple but how many times have you clicked on an ad or link only to be taken to something that is confusing or unclear what to do next.

I recently came across a 16 point checklist used by Digital Marketer that gives a guide on what your landing page should contain which I thought was really good.

03/01/2021

There are basically 6 types of sales funnels

Webinar Funnel
Mini-Class Funnel
Product Sales Funnel
Survey Funnel
Lead Magnet Funnel
Application Funnel

I have client who is looking to take his personal training business to the next level with an application funnel.

The funnel would target middle age professionals who want to get fit by opting in and directing them to a sales page with testimonials and a video from the trainer saying how he can change their body image in 90 days through a bespoke exercise routine and tailored nutrition plan.

Traffic will be generated from YouTube advertising as Facebook is a bit funny about before and after claims.

The goal of the funnel is to get prospects on a discovery call and into the Facebook group to demonstrate the value of the program.

We will map the funnel using Funnelytics to see planned against actual conversions. Funnelytics will show drop off and scroll depth of pages. Below is a diagram of the proposed funnel.

28/12/2020

In an earlier post I had mapped out a Shopify store website using Funnelytics.

Demonstrating the flow with the client showed that shipping did not need to be on the home page and could be included within the cart page to clean up the homepage and focus on the product range.

The power of illustrating and tracking actual traffic with clients in real time showed where pages were broken and/or redundant and what pages and products that will drive sales.

28/12/2020

Despite my best efforts to advise clients that their homepage should be drop dead awesome and make people want to stick around (see my earlier post on the 7 second test), some people will always have their own ideas.

This homepage for an ecomm watch store looks clunky with the main image cut off. Although copy should always trump design, both need to be right for people to know, like and trust you. Only then will people buy from you.

28/12/2020

Does you website have a high converting homepage?

You have less than 7 seconds to make a first impression on your website and if that does not tell your customer who you are, how you are going to solve their problem and what you want them to do next, you are in trouble.

If you want to know if your website is high converting try doing the 7 second test with someone not connected with your business. Show them an image of your homepage on mobile and desktop and ask them those 3 questions.

If you don't get the answers you want, you may have some work to do.

28/12/2020

A sales funnel does not have to be complicated. In fact a website is a sales funnel. Unfortunately most websites are unstructured with poorly defined core messages that either confuse or don't ask people to buy the product or service.

Here is an example of a simple sales funnel selling Youtube marketing services I recently ran from a Google Search ad. The funnel has a sales page and thank you page only. The sales page has 25, 50, 75 and 90% scroll triggers to see if people actually engaged with the content.

This is especially important as the Call to Action (CTA) was at the bottom of the sales page. A powerful metric to check if your sales page is truly congruent with your ad.