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Why does your company need to be building marketing assets? It's a question I often get asked by rookie entrepreneurs. Here's what these startup owners don't get: if you don’t own marketing assets, you are the asset.

But what do I mean by this?

You're an asset if you’ve got to put in the time, money, and effort to generate leads and build your business. Now that's okay in your startup phase when you're fresh and eager to tackle every facet of your business. But it's not sustainable.

What happens when you want to double your revenue? You have to double the hours you work in a day. And if you don’t want to use your time to increase your revenue, you need marketing assets.

So what is a marketing asset, and how can it help your sales team sell your product or service more often?

In this article, I will explain the benefits of assets and the type of marketing assets you need to be building in order to grow your brand and customer base.

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What is a marketing asset?

Marketing assets are the tools and resources you use to attract leads, build relationships, and make sales. Marketing assets include social media accounts, white papers, blog content, case studies, videos, published articles, industry reports, brochures, online ads, data, ebooks, digital campaigns, your CRM, and CMS.

You want to treat your marketing assets like employees, except they never need time off. They work while you sleep, but that doesn't mean you should build them once, and that's it. Each asset needs to be assigned a KPI. Then you need to routinely check in to see how your marketing assets are performing.

What are the main types of marketing assets?

Marketing assets can be divided into internal and external assets.

Internal Marketing Assets

Internal marketing assets are company assets or processes that are strictly for internal use by team members. You'd have your typical marketing collateral like business cards (check out free business card template here), letterheads, sell sheets, interactive brochures, support procedures, etc. It could be a management guide or a client onboarding process. These are the standard operating procedures or gold standards for how you do business.

For example, you could have an asset specifically designed to educate and inform your sales team about the benefits of your products or services so they can better assist potential customers.

External Marketing Assets

These are the marketing assets your brand uses to attract potential customers. For example, your company's marketing asset material could encompass a lead magnet, landing page, ultimate guide, report, blog article, marketing campaign, whatever.

These assets target your customer's pain points. They solve a problem and establish you as a credible source—an authority they can trust to help them get a result. It gets prospects to raise their hands and indicate interest in your company's services or products.

More importantly, assets drive action, and if you've set up your analytics, you can track exactly where that opt-in or sale originated.

Why are assets important?

Apart from the obvious—which is they free up your time—marketing assets build trust. Most potential customers don't trust you. They've been duped by brand after brand looking to make a quick sale, so they're naturally skeptical.

Your assets position you as an authority, someone they can trust to educate, entertain, and put their best interests first. That's powerful. A good asset makes the sales process so much easier because you're not overcoming objections all of the time.

You're giving your prospect free advice you'd normally charge for—helping them get results before using your product or service. Now that's a powerful strategy for scaling your business.

10 examples of marketing assets you should be building

Whether you're managing the marketing for a large corporation or you're a startup, you need to be building assets. Marketers will tell you that marketing assets are no different from financial assets.

If you nurture and monitor these assets closely, making vital changes when necessary, they will deliver massive returns for your company. These are just a few assets you want to think about adding to your marketing mix.

1. Social Media Marketing

Like it or not, social media marketing is here to stay, and your clients are active on it right this very minute. So you need to make a concerted effort to build your social media assets.

But don't just jump on any social media network. Be strategic about it.

Are your customers actively engaging on the networks you're targeting? If you don't know, you need to be speaking with your existing customer base and investing time and energy in market research. It's a great way to identify which social media channels your customers love to hang out on.

For example, as a business-to-business (B2B) brand, I know my customers are active on social sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. So those are three social media channels I need to invest my marketing efforts in.

But it's not just about showing up. You need to create content your potential customers want to engage with, and it needs to be channel appropriate.

• Instagram is big on visual content.
• LinkedIn favors text-based posts.
• Unsurprisingly, YouTube and TikTok audiences love videos.

So whatever social media channel you choose, make sure you're creating valuable and relevant content.

Also, using AI shorts maker can significantly enhance your video content creation, enabling you to produce engaging and high-quality shorts effortlessly for platforms like YouTube and TikTok. This tool is a game-changer for marketers looking to quickly adapt and share trending content.

PLUS, don't forget to focus on building relationships. Your social media audience values relationships.

• They want to be educated and entertained. Can you share hot tips and industry insights?
• They want a personalized service. You need to take an interest in them. If your social media strategy is focused entirely on sales, you'll never gain traction.
• And they want to be spoiled. What free stuff can you give away? How can they be the first to know about new products or services?

Which social media assets should you be building?

2. Digital Marketing (Website, Landing Page, Blog)

Your company's website is one of your greatest digital marketing assets. If anything, it's one of the first marketing assets you need to build because it will drive your inbound strategy. I wrote a blog about that here.

The entire purpose of my company’s website is to capture high-value leads.

Almost every web page includes a call-to-action. It could be a link to opt-in to my email newsletter or download a piece of content like worksheets, how-to guides, or infographics. It could also be a redirect to a sales page or some other related article that my readers would be interested in checking out.

Having my website and using cookies allows me to track where leads originate. Did this customer come from social media, a podcast, Amazon, an affiliate link, or one of my campaign ads?

This gives me invaluable insight into my customers and the management of my assets.

So make sure you include digital marketing in your marketing strategy and invest in a lead-generating website. It's money well spent.

3. Business Systems (Training Manuals)

Every business process needs to be mapped out. Your team needs to know what to do at every stage of a campaign, customer service, sales process, team management, employee onboarding, and much more. These processes make scaling your business and delivering a consistent experience simple.

And consistency is key to customer retention. If they never know what to expect, you'll dramatically reduce your customer lifetime value. Creating your systems doesn't need to be hard. I go into detail on how to build a world-class business system here.

Just know that your system needs to include:

• Helpful images
• Written examples they can follow
• The tools they'll need (check out this blog on tools for startups and small businesses)
• Who will implement (which employees)
• Demonstrative videos

Remember, systems are valuable to you, the owner, your management team and employees, customers, and investors. It's IP they're willing to spend millions of dollars on to own.

4. Videos

Another marketing asset you need to add is video. About a year ago, I hired a fitness trainer to help me get in shape and, more importantly, instill healthy habits. Now my fitness trainer lives on the other side of the world. Right?

Doesn’t matter. We connect via video regularly. He checks my form. We discuss how I’m doing on the nutritional plan, all of that sort of stuff. It's all done online through video.

And as 85% of internet users watch video content monthly, you need to be using it to create content and disseminate your company's messaging.

But you can also use video creatively. It can be used for more than just marketing campaigns. For example, I use video to:

• Respond to prospects over email
• Introduce new products and services on my website
• Share social media tips
• Answer frequently-asked customer questions
• Work with people on a sale or for tech support

But I've also seen companies create video brochures, which I think look super slick.

Best of all, you don’t need a high-tech camera or lighting and sound system. Not initially. You need your phone. So if you want to be seen as an authority in your industry, you need to add video content to your list of marketing materials.

5. Cornerstone Content (Freebie Assets)

Cornerstone content is any piece of content that you use to build your brand authority and get prospects to self-identify. It could be a checklist, how-to guide, template, framework, report, or ebook. It's a free asset that prospects will barter their contact details for to acquire.

White papers, reports, case studies, free trials (software), and ebooks are some of the most popular cornerstone content your company can have.

Mine is a bestselling book, The 1-Page Marketing Plan and my 1PMP framework. Every company needs to include cornerstone content as a major part of its marketing strategy. It's an asset that will bring in leads year after year. It's also a great way to get featured in magazines, on podcasts, blogs, whatever.

Read this blog to learn more about how to create cornerstone content.

6. Content Marketing (SEO Blog Posts)

Every company needs to invest in content marketing and every website needs a blog. It's just one of those marketing assets you need. But writing articles for the sake of creating content is a waste of your time.

Your blog posts need to be search engine optimized (SEO) and human-friendly. So many companies get this wrong. As much as you want to write for search engines, people will be reading your articles at the end of the day. If it's poorly written and keyword-stuffed, your target audience will bounce.

I've written blogs that, almost a decade later, still bring in new leads every month. Sure, I've had to optimize and update them slightly, but apart from that, I've invested very little time and energy into these key posts.

I go into detail about how to craft articles that rank, but here's a quick summary.

Your blog post needs to include:

• New ideas
• Infographics
• Images
• Data
• An opt-in form
• Downloadable materials (e.g., a worksheet, case study, step-by-step guide)

It also needs to be relevant, deliver value, create interest, and help the reader get a result. And again, consistency is key. Your brand needs to be posting new blogs at least once a month.

If you need help optimizing your blog, check out Page Optimizer Pro. I’ve used this tool to optimize many of my blog articles and they rank as a result. You’ll get a report that looks a little something like this.

Now you just need to add in the missing keywords. It’s that easy.

7. Email Lead Nurturing Sequence

You want to think of your email list as an asset that gets more valuable over time. If you do it right, your audience comes to know you, like you, and trust you more over time...and some of them will want to do business with you.

But to build this marketing asset, you need to create trust, provide value, and most importantly, give more than you take. Because as soon as someone feels like all you do is take, they'll opt-out or ignore you.

So let’s put yourself in their shoes.

After a bit of googling, someone arrives on your website and sees something they need. Maybe it's a checklist, framework, how-to guide, free trial, whatever.

They know this could be the solution to their problem, BUT they've been down this road before. In the past, they've signed up for freebies only to be bombarded by endless promotions.

They're hesitant, cautious, and skeptical about opening up their inbox to you.  

So be different.

As they begin to read your email, they're looking for the same red flags as before. But you know better. Instead of hitting them with a hard sell, you offer them value, entertainment, opinion, and education.

Remember, you want to build an asset rather than destroy trust. And, of course, when the time is right for them, you'll be the person they trust to take the relationship further and potentially become your client. If you'd like to learn more about building an email asset, check out this article.

8. Brand Style Guide & Messaging Guide

Consistency.

I've mentioned this before, and I'll mention it again. Every marketing asset you create needs to be consistent in the type of images you use, the tone of voice, messaging style, font, colors, etc. Getting this right requires management, or more importantly, a brand style guide.

A good brand style guide will include your logo and how to use it. For example, how much white space to leave around the logo, when to use a plain white logo and when to use the full-color version.

It'll also detail your company's visual direction—the images that are appropriate for your brand and look/feel you want to convey in your marketing campaigns.

It'll list your brand font, as well as the font size and color for headlines, subheadings, headers, hyperlinks, bold text, body copy.

Here's an example of a brand style guide that you can use when building your own brand.

9. Marketing Plan

Without a marketing strategy, you just have tactics (ads, social media posts, landing pages). Essentially, you have a campaign without any goal or direction. And randomly investing in marketing without a roadmap is a recipe for disaster or a chance to blow a ton of money.

Now, if you don't want to do that, you need a plan.

Think of your marketing strategy as the foundation for everything you do in business. It outlines:

• who your target audience is
• your messaging
• the media you'll use to reach your customers
• the resources you'll need to capture their information and build a relationship
• how you'll deliver a world-class experience
• increase customer lifetime value
• orchestrate referrals.

This plan is crucial to the success of your marketing. If you need a fillable template, get it below:

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10. eBooks

If you're looking to get into coaching or build your personal brand, you need an ebook. Practically every mentor or consultant I deal with has written an ebook.

For me, an ebook is the ultimate business card and introduction to who you are, what you do, and why you're the right choice.

I've sold over 500,000 copies of my ebook. And through it, I've built an engaged email list, been invited to speak at conferences all over the world, been interviewed on podcasts and radio shows, and landed many clients.

Having read my book, they’re already familiar with my methodology and my background. I've established credibility upfront, and I've built trust.

Most clients come to me asking to be coached. I don't have to go out hunting for them, and that's a far better way to do business.  

I share tips on how to write your book here.

Start Building Your Assets!

Remember, it's not just about creating marketing assets. The management of these assets is equally important. Just like your employees, you need to track their performance. Are they doing what you need them to do? And the only way to be sure is to know your data.

For example, there was a time I discovered that I didn't have a lead generation problem. I had a conversion problem. So, I had my management team go through every email, sales page, and our entire sales process to optimize.

I wouldn't have known what to prioritize without a clear view of the data (and an iron-tight infrastructure that would allow for it).

Start building your social presence. Invest in SEO and digital marketing. And good luck as you build your marketing assets.

If you want powerful, effective marketing, you need to stand out. If you don’t, you’re going to lose opportunities. It’s that simple.

Building my first two businesses taught me that the only way to get in front of the people who need you is to master marketing, and that has nothing to do with mastering an actual marketing plan. Your marketing plan is just fiction if you can’t get prospects’ attention in the first place.

Our fear of standing out is the number one reason why we struggle to get noticed. People lose the game of marketing because they play by the rules—rules that don’t even exist.

If you’re looking to nail your marketing strategies, you must be different. Human minds are designed to ignore what’s common and filter out the static. It’s not a new phenomenon.

It dates back to the evolution of man. It's hardwired into our minds. The hunter mind was efficiently designed to filter out all of the common noise in order to notice the thing that stood out that could serve them. While we have certainly evolved since then, we still operate this way.

When your audience sees your marketing, they’re going through these mental calculations within seconds:

• Block out the common noise.
• Does this serve me now?
• Should I take action?

For your marketing to be successful, your prospects need to be guided fast.

According to Time Magazine, the average website holds visitors’ attention for a mere fifteen seconds. Instagram reports people spend less than ten seconds on a post. And what about more tactile marketing? I’ll bet you riffle through your junk mail at warp speed.

If you market just like everyone else, you’re going to blend into that white noise. I should know, I’ve been there.

When my marketing wasn’t delivering the results I wanted, I started to research more of the psychology of marketing and eventually developed The DAD Method. It’s a fast, 3 step process to get noticed and move your prospects to take action immediately. And I'm going to walk you through exactly how to to that.

1. Differentiate - Get different to get noticed

This first step in the framework is to identify a marketing approach that stands out in a sea of sameness. You need it to be clear and somewhat disruptive to get attention. What will make your prospect’s minds stop and look? How can you engage them during those milliseconds of marketing?

One place to begin is whatever idea you have, elevate it. If you are sending something, be it swag or a digital download, call it something clever that stands out and represents you at the same time. For instance, if you were sending a hat, you could call it a thinking cap. Little moves like this make you stand out from the rest.

Getting different starts at the micro-level. You don’t have to come up with a huge, time-consuming marketing plan right off the bat. Make small changes to logos, copy, ads, and videos. Use those as a beta test to see what’s converting for you.

2. Attract - In a way that attracts your ideal prospects

Next, ensure that your approach will appeal to the people you want to serve, not turn them off. How will you establish your marketing as an opportunity they will consider, instead of a threat they will avoid? Make how you are attracting works for who your community is. Remember, you only have a millisecond.

3. Direct - Illustrate a clear message of what action you want your prospects to take

Finally, your strategy must compel your ideal prospects to take a specific action you desire. Now that you have the prospect’s attention and they are engaged, you need to tell them what the heck to do. Marketing guru Jeff Walker says that marketing is every step you take to get the customer to the buying decision, and the sale is the final action on their decision to buy. So your clear, singular directive should get them to the next step.

Does the prospect see the reward of doing what you ask as greater than the risk of taking that action? And will their compliance with your directive help you achieve your marketing goals? Forgetting to include a specific call to action is one of the most common marketing mistakes I’ve seen (and done).

Along with being specific, the Direct step must be reasonable. Maybe my marketing win is to sell you a house, but, once I have your attention, I wouldn’t immediately ask you to plop down a million bucks on the spot. It’s way too much, way too soon, and unreasonable. An excessive ask will cause prospects to walk (or run) away.

Conversely, inadequate asks will slow down (or stop) any progress toward the outcome you want. Once I catch your attention with uniqueness and maintain it with relevance, the Direct step must be specific so you know what to do, and reasonable, so you feel safe doing it and you move efficiently toward your goal.

Recapping DAD

To sum up the DAD: Get different to get noticed in a way that attracts your ideal prospects and directs them to act. That’s it. That’s the framework. It’s simple, yet powerful. When you follow it, you will land new prospects. Every. Single. Time.

Better isn’t better, different is better. So get different.

If I had to do it all over again, and I could choose any business, I’d choose to be a marketing business coach. Coaching is one of the most rewarding careers. You get to spend your days helping people achieve success in their business or life. And your earning potential is limitless.

Did I mention that it doesn’t feel like a job? It feels like a vacation.

But getting to this point has not been without its challenges. I’ve made many mistakes and lost clients as a result. I’ve taken on the wrong clients. I’ve wasted time on coaching programs that didn’t work and didn’t feed my soul.

It’s really only been in the last two years that my team and I have refined our coaching program to the six-figure business it is today. And I’ve decided to share our process with you, because I want you to succeed. I want your coaching clients to get the best out of their sessions with you.

So let’s get into the five ways I bring in over $50K a month in coaching revenue.

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Step 1: How we convert clients

If you want to convert more people to customers, you need to be having more conversations more regularly because conversations lead to conversions.

Through conversation you’re able to identify problems early, answer your prospects' questions, and overcome objections. Then you can use this information to deliver a world-class experience. Here’s what you need to know.

Start with conversations

1. Engage leads through social media

Whether you like it or not you need to be on social media. But make sure you choose a social network that your clients are active on. My team monitors social media chatter. They post a ton of value-add content and they engage with people all the time.

Anyone who expresses interest in my coaching program or who looks like a good fit is loaded into my PipeDrive Coaching Lead Board. But first, my team will check to see if this person is legitimate. Basically, we want to know:

• Do they have a company website?
• How many people do they employ?
• Where are they based?
• What field are they in?

While we’ve coached entrepreneurs from all walks of life, we do have a sweet spot. For example, most of my coaching clients are in eCommerce, tech, medicine or dentistry, and law. These are clients that we know we can get results for, and quickly.

Someone who’s an artist wouldn’t be a good fit. We don’t really know that industry, and it would be a lot more work for me and my team.

So knowing whom you work best with is important. If you need help identifying which media channels your target audience is active on, read this blog on market segmentation and finding your target audience.

2. Write lead-generating blogs

In the past, most of my coaching clients have come through my email list and word-of-mouth. We’ve had a few that had heard me on a podcast or had read about me in the news, but generally these are individuals who had bought my book, read it, joined my mailing list, and eventually asked to be coached.

SEO has changed that. I started writing blogs detailing the benefits of coaching, the difference between group and individual coaching, and how to build your coaching business, and it led to an influx of new coaching leads.

So creating educational content has been super helpful in attracting more high-value leads. But I don’t just write the blog. I added a bonus worksheet which readers can download. In exchange I ask for their email address.

Anyone who opts-in or completes the coaching form is funneled into my PipeDrive Coaching Leads Board, and someone in my team will be in touch to continue the conversation.

• So think about how you can attract high-value leads?
• What do they care about?
• What are their frequently asked questions?

3. Respond to emails

For me, email support is vital. I constantly get emails from people on my list saying I can’t believe you’re actually responding. Email delivers 40x the return of any other advertising media—make sure you’re using it properly.

You might not close a sale the first time you interact with a prospect. Or the second or third, But if they fall within your target audience, and you nurture that relationship, they may eventually commit.

If you don’t have time to monitor your mail, get a virtual assistant to do it. My communications manager monitors my inbox. She’ll identify potential coaching leads and flag these for my sales director, to follow up with. We’ve connected Ontraport to Pipedrive, so by adding a tag, the information and the email chain is automatically captured.

Claire can then see the conversation chain and set up a call.

Are you using email to its maximum potential? Learn all the tricks of the trade by clicking the link.

Follow up with prospects

Following up is key to closing more sales. You need to build a relationship. Demonstrate your abilities and win their trust. Otherwise, it’s unlikely they’ll commit.

So once we’ve identified a coaching lead, their details and all past conversations are loaded into our PipeDrive Leads Board which looks a little something like this screenshot below. Before we created this pipeline, my team had everything on an Excel spreadsheet.

Now, we can see who are new leads, who’s been responded to, if a call is scheduled, if someone has said yes to coaching and has paid.

So, at a glance, she knows whom to reach out to, whom to follow up with, and when to move on. And it’s quick and easy to shift someone from lead in, to response sent, or call scheduled.

Without this board, we wouldn’t know how often we’ve engaged with a lead, and where they are in the buyer’s cycle. We wouldn’t be able to see the entire conversation chain at a glance. In the past, this led to confusion, unhappy prospects, and high churn rates.

Now, everything is clearly mapped out. It’s clear who is responsible for each step. So really, it’s changed the way we shortlist coaching leads, and of course, it’s increased our conversion rate.

It’s something I’d really encourage you to add if you’re thinking about starting or building your coaching business. Having a pipeline of prospects and knowing where they are in the buyer's journey is vital.

Jump on a discovery call

This is the final step before converting a prospect into a customer. By now, we’ve done our due diligence. We’ve gone through our PipeDrive Template for incoming leads and the action items we need to take.  

My team knows who falls into our coaching lane and whether they can afford us. They’ve responded to our emails.

All that’s left to do is to set up a discovery call.

Having that system in place saves you time and money. You’re still going to get a few people who either can’t afford you or aren’t the right fit for your coaching, but it will be far less than if you weren’t using this system.

Step 2: Deliver a strong experience From The First Moment

Your first interaction with a potential coaching client sets the tone for the entire relationship. That’s why it’s so important to deliver a strong experience.

There are two ways we do just that, and this is a process that my coaching team has refined over the years.

Start things out right with an onboarding questionnaire

I used to field all incoming coaching requests. I’d put together an email explaining the benefits of coaching, the time commitment, whatever. Included was a link to my coaching calendar for those who wanted to book a discovery call.

Quickly, I found I was jumping onto hour-long conversations with people who just wanted to pick my brain. They weren’t actually serious about investing in coaching. You may have experienced this too.

To solve this problem, the team and I came up with an onboarding questionnaire. It’s a series of questions that my team uses to gain invaluable insight into a prospective client's business.

You want to do a deep dive into:

• What industry they are in?
• What are the challenges they face?
• What is the structure of their business?
• How do they problem solve?
• Who implements the action points?
• How big is their team?
• Where do they see themselves in a year’s time?

I use this questionnaire to get an understanding of where my clients are now, where they need to be in six months, and what their potential roadblocks are. So what’s going to keep us from getting results?

Knowing this information helps me to gauge whether the prospect would be a good fit for coaching and what measures we’d need to implement to keep moving the needle. So don’t be scared to ask tough questions.

And if they’re not the right fit, point them to a resource that could benefit them now.

Agree on an expectations contract

The next step is to agree on an expectations contract. Now, this isn’t a contract written by lawyers, it’s a document that:

1. Ensures we know the best way to get in touch with the client
2. Helps the client understand how communication works with us

This document covers:

• What we do and don’t do
• How we work with the client and what tools they need
• Our available hours and how long it takes to get back to their queries
• What to expect during a coaching session
• How we hold clients accountable
• What needs to be done to achieve 90-day goals

Each client is assigned a dedicated coach and an Asana board with deliverables. They can also set up weekly coaching calls, and get unlimited access to all our standard operating procedures. It’s how we help them stay committed.

So how can you deliver a great first impression?

Step 3: How we move them along

If you’re not moving your client along, you’re wasting their time and your own.

It used to be that when I’d jump on a coaching call, we’d discuss problem areas, I’d ask what kind of goals my clients wanted to achieve, and we’d agree on a strategy and the next steps to move things forward.  

Then we’d set up a meeting for the same time the next week to see how they were progressing. Sometimes a week, two weeks, even a month would go by with very little to show for it.  

Maybe they’d get stuck, or they’d be spinning too many plates, or they didn’t have the people power to implement, but things just weren’t getting done.

I tried the usual “coaching” tools like accountability buddies, reminders, pushing, but nothing worked. I’d be frustrated and the client would be frustrated. And within six months, they’d cancel coaching services because they weren’t getting a result. Something had to change.

Clients pay you to help them get results. But if they’re not putting in the time or implementing your teachings, you might as well call it quits.

To avoid having to do this, my team and I  devised a coaching roadmap. It’s changed the way we do business. It’s also ensured that the lifetime value of a coaching client has substantially increased.

You can create something similar.

This is my 7-step framework for delivering a world-class coaching service:

1. Detailed Diagnostic

Start with a detailed diagnostic. This is a questionnaire that tackles:

• A quick overview of the client’s business
• Their business model and structure
• Their current marketing and sales strategy
• Whether or not they have a team
• The systems they use
• Cash flow management

The point of this call is to get an understanding of where the coaching client is right now—what are their current roadblocks, goals, and future plans? And what does success look like for them?

Knowing this will influence any decisions you make, as well as the type of results you’re able to achieve.

2. Gap Analysis

The next step in the process is to perform a gap analysis. It leads you through an examination of where the client is now versus where they want to be. This is a very important distinction.

Coaching clients can have very unrealistic ideas of what can be achieved in a month or two. If they’re a one-person show, and you’re asking them to spend time building their LinkedIn following, redo their website, and start an email campaign, you’ll break them.

It’s just not possible. So you need to work together to identify and bridge the gaps between these two states to achieve their business goals.

3. Team

Part of the gap analysis is to identify whether your client needs a team. Business is a team sport. Entrepreneurs can’t do it alone. They can try, but it’ll take them far longer to scale.

At Lean Marketing, we help our clients build their internal marketing capabilities for lasting, sustainable growth. And we do that by consulting, hiring, onboarding, and strategizing with the client and their new team.

So depending on what your coaching business is, you may need to consider if your client can achieve results on their own or if they need help.

4. 90-Day Goals

I’ve found that to keep momentum and motivation high, clients need a mix of short-term and long-term goals. And achieving small wins are a vital part of the coaching process.

So it’s vital that you nail down 90-day goals and keep track of them over the course of your consulting. The best way to track their progress is with a project management tool like Asana. We have a coaching board so my team and I know exactly what to do when and how we’re progressing towards goals.

5. Strategic Plan

Next, you want to build a strategy—and it’s not about stringing together a bunch of random tactics. Strategy is the big-picture planning that will become the foundation of your client's business.

During this stage, we help our clients create a strategic plan using The 1-Page Marketing Plan framework. Yours might be a content plan, a workout program and nutrition plan, whatever.

6. Tactical Plan

Once you’ve agreed on your strategic plan, you’ll need to break it up into a tactical plan. These are the actions they need to take. Here’s what ours looks like:

• Tools: This is where we choose appropriate tools that will help our clients run and scale their businesses more efficiently.
• Assets: We'll work together on building and managing their marketing assets—so their websites, blogs, email lists and so on.
• Processes: We help our clients create processes they need to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis because persistence beats creative genius every time.

Start jotting down the steps you’d want your clients to take.

7. Measuring Metrics

Lastly, we focus on numbers. Knowing our clients’ numbers is vital to understanding whether our coaching is benefiting them. We measure lead and lag metrics. But if you're a personal trainer, you might measure weight loss, muscle gain, lost inches, BMI.

So that’s the seven-step coaching framework. Use it as inspiration to build out your coaching framework.

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Step 4: How we keep our clients on track

Keeping your clients firmly on the path to success takes systems and a coaching board.

In an ideal world, I’d be handling all the coaching. It can be hard to let go of the reins, but there just aren’t enough hours in a day for me to deal with each and every client. And I suspect the same is true for you.

As a coach, you need to be on your game and be present. If you’re spending eight hours coaching people every day, you’ll quickly burn out. And no matter how hard you try, those three, four, and five o’clock clients won’t get the same level of attention or energy as your early morning clients.

So how do you get around this? Here’s what I do.

Get help. I’ve hired coaches with different strengths and skillsets to take some of my load. It’s allowed me to offer more to my coaching clients, and retention rates have improved.

Where I help with building overall strategy, Claire does wonders with building their team, and Anna is amazing with branding and messaging.

They’re also based in different locations, which has allowed me to take on coaching clients in different timezones.

Before, I was limited to the US and AUS/NZ. I had to turn away many clients. Now I’m bringing on my UK/European clients, and you can too.

But this is where having a system becomes crucial.

I need to know:

• Who is handling what?
• What’s been said and agreed upon in a meeting?
• What are the barriers to success?
• Do I need to jump in and troubleshoot?
• Is the client happy?

And having the Asana board helps massively. At a glance, I can see exactly where the client is in the process. I know what’s coming, what we’re waiting on, and whether or not I’m a bottleneck or the client is.

This information is priceless. It’s helped me to transform my coaching program, and client retention has increased three-fold.

So if you’re aiming to make $50k in coaching revenue, you need to have an airtight system and a way to track progress. And you need to realize that it will take a team.

No, you don’t have to hire more coaches, but you do need to think about hiring a coaching assistant.‍

Do you need help building your coaching business? We've shared our top tips for starting and growing your coaching business in this how-to article. Just click the link.

Step 5: How we surprise and delight

I’m a firm believer in the power of a shock and awe package, particularly for high-value clients. I’m talking about customers willing to spend thousands of dollars each month.

Email can be a little impersonal and, well, meh. Whereas a physical gift—like a personalized shock and awe package—has what I like to call a WOW factor.

It's unexpected. It's something you know they'll love, and chances are it’s going to further your relationship with that prospect.

I like to send a shock and awe package to every new coaching client. Mine includes:

• My metal business card
• One copy of Lean Marketing and The 1-Page Marketing Plan (Lean Marketing is for the client and The 1-Page Marketing Plan is for them to give to a friend or team member. This works for two reasons. It makes your client look good, and it could lead to a new potential client.)
• A branded handwritten note
• A personalized triangle book stand

It doesn’t need to be expensive. Investing $20 or $30 is more than enough. It’s all about creating stand-out moments for your customers—letting them know that you appreciate their business and that you’re going to do a great job.

And it’s a tactic that other people use too.

Take America’s version of The Voice. If you’ve ever watched it, you’ll have seen their coaches often gift new team members with something unique. Kelly Clarkson does branded jackets. John Legend wrote a personalized song for his new singers. And Ariana Grande gave her team members a voice health pack.

It’s a small gift. But it kicks off the coaching relationship on a feel-good note. It reinforces that these singers made the right choice.

So think about what you could do to surprise and delight your customers. What are you willing to spend? What would they appreciate?

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Are you ready to Scale Your Coaching Business

Scaling your coaching business doesn’t have to be hard. All you need is a system. A system for generating the right kind of coaching prospect and a template for converting those leads into coaching clients.

Once you have this in place, you need to focus on retaining them. Strong experiences are key. But that alone isn’t enough if you don’t get your clients results. So make sure you’re moving them along. Your job is to give them what they want, but also what they need.

And make your coaching life easier. Invest in project management software, especially if your coaching team is growing. You’re juggling many balls and it’s easy to drop a few.

My final tip, add a wow factor to doing business with you. People love getting an unexpected package in the mail. It creates a standout moment—a point of difference that keeps coaching clients coming back for more.

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If I had to start all over, I'd choose coaching as a career. Starting a coaching business is a lot easier than you think. But it's very hard to scale, get traction, and gain credibility―especially if you don’t have a framework or structure.

In this article, I'll walk you through the exact tools and tricks I've used to start and grow my seven-figure online coaching business. It's a life and a business that feeds my soul. I wear what I want, work with whomever I want, when I want, from wherever I want.

If you want that too, keep reading.

Here's how to start a coaching business from scratch.

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How to build a successful coaching business

The world of business coaching has changed tremendously in the last few years. It used to be that you had to wear a suit and tie. You had an office. Or you'd meet your client in person to coach or consult.

With the rise of the internet and tools like Zoom, a whole new world has opened up for people wanting to start a coaching business and sell their services. You don't have to travel to your clients anymore. You're no longer limited to working within your city or district.

You can easily coach people on a completely different continent. I do. I'm based in Australia, and I regularly talk to people from the US, UK, India, you name it.

I've built an online coaching business that serves a global target audience. Since massive opportunities have opened up with virtual and remote delivery, you simply need to tap into your coaching niche. Relationship coach? Life coach? Marketing coach?  It really comes down to what your skillset is and what you can bring to the market.

Now let's talk about what you need to do to build a successful coaching business from scratch. Click this link to learn more about scaling your coaching business to $50K coaching revenue a month.

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1. Define your goals.

If you had to imagine what your life looks like in five years, what would it be? For me, that was a house with a beach view, waking up on a Monday morning rearing to start my day, working no more than 25 hours a week, never having to wear a suit and tie for work again, working with clients I genuinely like and want to see successful.

There were a ton more. But these were the stand-out goals.

I also knew I wanted to help more business owners succeed. I struggled for years to scale my IT business. I know what it's like to go without. I've done my time worrying about making payroll or keeping the lights on.

But unlike most startups who struggle, I survived to build a profitable business. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) 90 percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. My personal goal is to change this statistic. That's why I built my coaching business.

2. Choose your niche.

Whom will you work with? Think about your skills and work experience. Is there a gap in the market that you can fill? The best online coaching businesses solve a problem, and they know that the riches are in the niches.

For example, Neil Patel teaches you how to grow your organic web traffic using SEO. Laura Belgray of Talking Shrimp helps you master email marketing and triple your income. Amy Porterfield coaches you on how to build an online course. David Jenyns helps you systemize your business. They all have one thing in common: They create value for their potential clients.

So, how can you create value? What knowledge, skills, and business experience can you share to connect with like-minded people and grow your online coaching business?

Also, is it a profitable niche? You want a target audience that's willing to pay handsomely for your advice and guidance. If they don't see value in the services you deliver, you'll never build a profitable coaching business.

Examples of coaching fields that earn well include life coaching, business coaching, and team coaching.

3. Figure out how to price and package yourself.

Pricing and packaging are massively important when starting a coaching business because they impact the type of client you attract.

1. Firstly, you need to decide whether you charge by the hour or a retainer. Here's why I'd advise against hourly billing. You earn according to the number of hours you work. If you want to earn more, you have to work more, and there are only so many hours in a day. So I'd advise against per hour billing. Rather look at month-to-month billing.
2. You also don't want to lock your client into a set contract. That's an extra hurdle you're making people jump through. And they might want to get their lawyer involved because they don't agree with some of the terminologies. It's just not worth it.
3. Instead offer a retainer. You could do something like an unlimited package offer. I do this in my coaching business and it's the kind of package that a client who is risk-reverse will like. So unlimited could mean unlimited access to your coaching team, training, mentoring, whatever. A lot of coaches freak out about this. They think, will clients book a call with me every day? The truth is, people often overestimate how much they'll use your service. You need to be clear with your client. Yes, it's unlimited, but you're not just getting on a call to chit-chat and shoot the breeze. You're getting on to assess how they're progressing with action items and answer questions. So when you switch to unlimited calls, your clients will only book to speak with you when they have something to show.

4. Pick your business model.

Group coaching or one-on-one. There are benefits to both models, but you need to decide which you enjoy most. Maybe you'll offer a combination. I do. Group coaching is generally more affordable. But the majority of my revenue comes from 1:1 coaching.

Read up on the unique differences and benefits of group and one-on-one coaching before making your decision.

And as you scale your coaching model, don't be afraid to hire other coaches with unique skills that your clients can tap into. This will also free up your time to focus on developing new ideas.

5. Position yourself for success.

Positioning is the key to being able to charge what you're worth. If "How much is it?" is the first question you get from your prospects, you're positioning yourself poorly.

You could be considered the safe option or the risky option or the premium option or the discount option. The important thing is to be deliberate about how you position your coaching business because your clients and prospects actually want to pay a lot of money, but they need you to give them a good reason. If not, the discussion will default to price.

6. Have a plan.

If you want to successfully start a coaching business from scratch, you need to have a plan. You need to know:

• What's your niche? Before launching your coaching business, you want to know the type of client you'd prefer to work with. What's their age, earning potential, location, whatever? Why would they use your service?
• How do you plan to attract leads? For example, what’s your message to market and what media will you use?
• How will you capture and nurture your prospects? What CRM and CMS will you use? Will you include opt-in forms on your website and blog? How often will you stay in touch? Looking at your intellectual property, what will you give away for free and what will you charge for?
• What's your sales conversion strategy? You need an email lead nurturing sequence, and having an iron-clad customer onboarding process is massively important. (Learn how to build a business process here.)
• How can you increase your customer lifetime value? Will you upsell a higher-tiered product or bundle on certain items? For example, access to guest coaches.
• How will you deliver a world-class experience? What tools will you use to enhance your clients' experiences? What will they get access to? For example, you could create a network of like-minded individuals they could connect with and share experiences. Or you could create a series of gold-standard training manuals for your clients to use in their businesses.

Every successful business coach has a plan. What's yours?

If you need help building your marketing plan for your business, check out our signature 1-Page Marketing Plan template. It's the smartest and quickest way to market your business.

7. Choose your business name and set up a website.

1. Choose a name that you love. It's really hard to rebrand and it costs a ton of money.
2. Choose clarity. You want your business name and domain to spell out exactly what you do. Otherwise, you'll need to spend a small fortune on branding and educating your target audience. Remember, if you confuse them, you lose them.
3. Decide whether you want a .com or something local like a .com.uk or .com.au? It really depends on the target audience you want to attract. So if you're looking to sell your services to a global audience you'll want to purchase a .com. If you'll only be offering coaching services locally, choose a local domain.
4. Check to see if your domain name is available. You can use name.com or Go Daddy to check this out. If it's not available, look for a name that's similar.
5. Trademark your domain and register your name. You really don't want to receive a letter of demand from a legal department telling you to change your name. So if you don't want to kiss your money goodbye, trademark your name. And be prepared to actively defend your trademark.
6. Choose a reputable website host. They need to be reliable and fast. You don't want your website going down because it's been hacked or there was some sort of technical issue. You also don't want your site to be slow. Not only will it impact your user experience, but it will also impact your SEO rankings.

8. Make it easy to do business with you.

So many coaches make their clients jump through all sorts of hoops to book a discovery meeting with them or pay for their services. You want to make it easy for your clients to do business with you and technology is key.

1. Invest in Calendly. My clients can see when I'm available and book a time then and there. They don't need to email me and ask when I have a spot open. It's also great if your clients live in different time zones because it factors that in.
2. Create a shared email. I get emails from people all over the world, and if I were to respond to all of them myself, I'd never get anything done. So my sales team handles sales emails, my communications manager handles personal emails, and I respond to emails earmarked to my attention. This is vital when scaling your coaching business.
3. Consider adding live chat. This isn't something you need to think about when you start your coaching business, but I would consider adding it once you're generating good money consistently. You'll need a template of responses, but it can really smooth out the response time to potential clients.
4. Simplify your payment process. I use ThriveCart which plugs beautifully into Stripe for accepting credit cards and PayPal for accepting PayPal transfers. You won't have to worry about sending and receiving invoices. It does all of that for you, which is a massive time saver. You don't want to be chasing payments. And, as much as possible, avoid wire transfers.

9. Start marketing.

You can rely on word-of-mouth marketing to grow your online coaching business but it can take years to gain traction. Instead, you need to actively market your business.

That's where your marketing plan becomes critical. It breaks down every step of your buyer's journey, the systems you need to deliver a world-class experience, your message, the media you advertise in and much more.

If you need guidance on how to build out your marketing plan, check out this article.

Part of building your authority and credibility as a trusted business coach is delivering a quality audio and visual experience online. You want to recreate that in-person experience, but if your sound crackles and the video is sketchy that's going to impact your audience's experience.

To level up my business coaching game I built a studio space for podcast recording and content creation. If you want to do the same, read it now.

10. Build your authority and establish credibility.

It's one thing to start a coaching business, but if you're an unknown, why would people trust you? This is where a cornerstone piece of content becomes vital. It solves a problem, demonstrates your skills, and starts the conversation.

I wrote a bestselling book, but you could create a framework, start a podcast, share a guide, whatever. Invest in a PR campaign. Reach out to bloggers to contribute content. Say yes to speaking events. Post your customer testimonials on your site. Create a series of how-to videos. Be prolific.

11. Build a team.

As your online business expands, you'll need help. Coaching is time-consuming and without help, you'll stunt your business growth. Consider hiring a marketing coordinator or account manager―someone who can take over day-to-day tasks, freeing you up to focus on revenue-generating projects.

If you're not sure when to hire a team, read this article.

12. Systemize your coaching business.

Systems are the key to expanding, escaping, and exiting your business one day. A good coach has a system for onboarding clients, defining goals, setting up a payment plan, responding to coaching queries, and marketing. Practically everything can and should be systemized.

Learn how to systemize your coaching business here.

13. Present your prices before your discovery call.

There are a lot of time-wasters out there―people who aren't serious about working with you. And jumping on an hour-long zoom session with someone who can't afford your coaching services is just plain frustrating. To avoid this, present pricing before the call. You can do this via email or on your website.

Only set up a discovery call with people who look legitimate, especially if you're targeting six- or seven-figure clients. Here are a few ways to weed out the time-wasters.

1. Do they have a business website?
2. Can you find customer testimonials on their website and social media pages?
3. Do they have a team of five or more people?
4. Send an email asking a few probing questions: Where do you see yourself in 12 months? What's your biggest challenge? If you don't get an answer, they're not that interested.

TOP TIP: Present pricing as an investment. And offer a discount to customers who pay for a year in advance. It increases their commitment.

14. Get to the truth.

Conversations lead to conversions―especially from a sales perspective. Your goal is to get to the truth, to understand their situation. A discovery call is a great way to do this. Use it to determine whether a person is a good fit for your coaching services.

My best advice:

• Have a template of talking points that you run through on the call. These are mostly probing questions that help you determine if you can get the customer a result. For example, on my discovery calls, I'll ask:
• What marketing are you currently doing.
• What's working and what isn't?
• Who's responsible for bringing in most clients?
• Do you have a team?
• Do you have an exit strategy?
• What's your annual revenue?
• Let the prospective client do most of the talking. Your goal is to listen.
• Be prepared to answer questions. Some of the most common questions I get are: How often will we speak? How long will we work together? Will you be implementing it on our behalf?
• Set very clear boundaries and expectations. You need to be open and honest. It can take time to get your coaching clients results. Some clients think after one month of coaching they'll double or triple their income, and if they don't they're being ripped off. That's not how it works, and it's up to you to set that expectation upfront.
• Avoid leading questions. You don't want to coerce the prospect into buying your service. Instead, ask something low-key like, so where do we go from here?
• Get a commitment before going into logistics.

15. Send an awesome shock and awe package.

Follow up your discovery call with a personalized, hand-written note letting the customer know you're looking forward to working with them. It delivers a WOW experience and customers appreciate it.

16. Foolproof your onboarding process.

Having a successful onboarding process is crucial to building a seven-figure coaching business. It guarantees that your customer knows what to expect and how to get the best out of your services. Here's how I foolproof our onboarding process:

• Have a standard operating procedure for working with clients.
• Use a project management tool like Asana or Trello and create a coaching board filled with every procedure, document, and contact detail your client may need. This ensures that their action items are always extremely clear.
• Include short step-by-step Loom videos on how to use the coaching board.
• Ask clients to fill out your onboarding questionnaire. This helps you get a high-level overview of their business and shows you where to ask more probing questions.
• You’ll also want your clients to complete an expectations contract. This ensures that everyone is on the same page in terms of communication styles, goals, deliverables, and accountability.

17. Identify how to get your clients consistent results.

It starts with a coaching roadmap. This is an important part of your service. But before we dive into what mine looks like, you first need to perform a customer journey mapping. This helps you to understand the entire business ecosystem around your clients.

My team uses the 1-Page Marketing Plan.

Now on to the coaching roadmap. This is what it looks like.

• Detailed diagnostic - Deep dive into their business or personal life to really understand what their pain points are.
• Gap analysis - Identify where you can make a difference quickly. What are the key areas you need to focus on now?
• Team - Do they need to build a team to help them achieve their business goals? (Not relevant to life coaching)
• 90-day goals - Agree on short-term and long-term goals. These short bursts are important for achieving quick wins. It also helps coaching clients stay motivated.
• Strategic - What is the plan? Map out each process before implementing.
• Tactical - What do they need to do? Do they need to flesh out systems, invest in market research, hire people?
• Metrics - What gets measured gets managed. If you're not measuring their performance, you won't know if there's any improvement.

18. Adjust your services according to the client's needs.

No coaching client is the same and what you do depends on where you can bring value to their business. Some clients are very sophisticated. They already have all of their systems in place. Others are barely able to open Microsoft Word. So you'll need to be more hands-on with the less knowledgeable clients.

Cookie-cutter training won't work for every client, and it'll do more damage to your business reputation than good.

19. Don't be afraid to say no.

A good coach isn't afraid to tell it like it is. You're not doing your coaching clients any favors by saying YES to everything. Sometimes they need to hear NO. You need to coach them on how to separate the majors from the minors.

Here's what a good coaching program looks like.

• It must give clarity so your clients know exactly what to prioritize.
• It must have a definitive structure, so your clients don't waste time on tasks that won't get results.

It needs to be simple. If they need an MBA or PhD to implement it, they'll give up.

20. Hold them accountable.

If you're going to start a coaching business, you need to be willing to hold people accountable. If they don't put the work in, they won't get the results they want. When this happens, people feel shortchanged like they've been duped into a service that didn't work. This can affect your reputation.

Implementation is key. If you want to build your coaching practice, you need to hold your customers accountable.

Do you need a license to do coaching?

Nope, you don't need a license or certificate to become a business coach. All you need is a coaching niche, a framework, and the ability to get your clients results.

Without a framework, it's a lot harder to start your coaching business and attract paying clients.

Instead, what many coaches do is they enroll in a coaching program or certification course that trains them on how to use and implement another business coach’s framework. I do this in my Certification Program.

My certification students graduate as 1-Page Marketing Plan Certified Coaches. They can use my business model, methodology, and coaching framework to create wealth for their clients and their business. They also get a dedicated page on my website, an embeddable certification badge to use on social media, and lifetime access to all my training webinars.

That's a massive leg up in the coaching world. It takes all the guesswork out of starting a coaching business and my students have a mentor to turn to for advice or to bounce an idea off when scaling their coaching businesses.

So while you don't need a license to become a business coach, enrolling in a certification program can help hone your coaching skills, build your network, and scale your online coaching business faster.

How to get coaching clients

So now you've decided to start a coaching business, you need to figure out how to get clients.

1. Be prepared to give away ideas for free.

There needs to be some form of IP that you give away for free. It could be an eBook, checklist, framework, how-to video series, report, whatever. Think about what will get your ideal target market to raise their hand and self-identify.

If you can get them a result before they do business with you, that's an excellent way to increase your clientele.

2. Be prolific.

Social media, online publications, podcasts, webinars, or speaker events. Your goal as a business coach is to be prolific. You want to create content that's fresh, informative, and helpful. And there are a few ways you can do that:

• Write guest contributions for blogs and publications that your audience engages in.
• Reach out to niche podcasts. Ask if they'd be interested in interviewing you. You'll want to give them a reason why you'd be a great fit for their show. And don't be afraid to offer something of value for their listeners.
• Open social media accounts on the sites your audience is active on―Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, whatever. This is your chance to share your knowledge and experiences, and start building personal relationships.
• Say yes to speaker events, whether in person or virtual. This is also a great way to gain valuable insight into the problems of your ideal customers.

3. Leverage your network.

Use your business network to attract clients. Think about which businesses have your customers before you. How can you get access to their network?

For example, say you're a nutritional coach. Why not start a joint venture with a personal trainer. Together, you'll increase your client's chance of getting results. As a marketing coach, you know your clients need a team to get results. So it might be worthwhile partnering with a company that places remote workers.

Essentially, you've got someone who's saying to their email list, I trust this person. I trust them to get you results, so you can too. That's massively powerful.

4. Focus on building relationships.

You'll never make money if you view every relationship as a transaction. The best coaches care about their client's success. So if you want to start a sought-after coaching business, invest time building strong relationships.

Take the next step and start your coaching business

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If you want to start a coaching business, this is the only toolbox you'll ever need. Take the guesswork out of building an online coaching business, and start your coaching career now.

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Upselling is a clever little sales technique that every eCommerce or online store uses to get existing customers to upgrade or purchase a premium product or service.

And before you think it's all about making more money (although it’s a happy byproduct), the practice of upselling is to elevate your customer's experience and improve relationships.

It focuses on delivering more value to your customer and getting them faster results. For example:

• Would a little extra 1:1 coaching help them implement your product better?
• Would a nutritional plan and your training program help them achieve a stronger and healthier body faster?

Upselling helps you increase your customer lifetime value and your profitability.

So take a look at your price strategy, and instead of offering a discount, can you upsell a related service as a limited offer?

And remember, when your customer is in the buying mode, they’re more open to spending on things they wouldn't normally consider purchasing. This is the time to upsell to your customers—to get them to upgrade to a higher-tiered product.

But how is it different from cross-selling?

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What is upselling? Plus the difference between upselling and cross-selling

Upselling is a sales technique that entices customers to buy a premium or higher-end product or service than what they originally intended to purchase.

Most companies implementing upselling as a strategy will include a comparison chart, showing the different features and benefits of each product and service. I've included an example below.

Airlines are a great example of companies that are always upselling. While booking your next vacation, you might be encouraged to upgrade your economy-class ticket to a business-class ticket.

The business-class fare is 110 pounds more expensive, but then again, it comes with certain perks such as more legroom, a guaranteed window seat, extra baggage, access to business-class lounges prior to takeoff, AND the privilege of being a business-class flyer.

Cross-selling encourages a customer to buy a complementary, but non-competitive or related product.

For example, let's say you're browsing Amazon, and suddenly you see a product you like. Maybe it's that new Canon camera you've been lusting over. You read the reviews, check out the product specs, and add it to your checkout cart.

But then you notice that most shoppers who bought the exact product you've just added to your checkout cart also purchased the tripod you're currently eyeballing. After mulling it over for a bit, click. You add it to your cart.

Congratulations, you've just spent $500 more than you had originally intended, and it feels good.

That, my friend, is the power of upselling and cross-selling.

Why is upselling important to sales?

Upselling is crucial because it enhances your customer's experience. It's not something that entrepreneurs and businesses do selfishly. It's not about encouraging customers to purchase more to increase revenue. (Although it's a nice benefit…)

It's about making the original product BETTER.

For example, imagine you purchase a shiny new VR headset online. When it gets delivered, you slash open the seal and carefully remove it from its box. Only, hang on, where are the batteries? Surely, there must be batteries?

What do you mean by batteries not included? Now you're stuck with a brand new toy that you can't use. Maybe the shops are closing soon, AND it's rush hour traffic.

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to get batteries and finally use that headset you've been waiting for.

And that good feeling you had, well, it's rapidly deflating. Consider it gone, crushed under a weight of disappointment and frustration.

If only they'd asked if you wanted to add batteries to your purchase.

That's why you should be upselling. It increases your customer lifetime value and adds dollars to your bottom line, making your venture more profitable.

What are the benefits of upselling products or services?

1. Both increase customer retention because you're selling value, not features and benefits.
2. Cross-selling and upselling increase the transactional value, which generates more revenue for your business.
3. You attract a more premium customer, one that doesn't buy on price.
4. You deliver a more personalized service, which ultimately improves customer relationships.

So let's look at ways you can use upselling to get your customers to buy more, more often.

Three ways to use upselling or cross-selling in your business

1. Consider bundling add-on items to your primary product or service.

McDonald's is a great example of bundling add-on items. Asking customers, "Would you like fries with that?" has made them hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

So take a closer look at your products or services and determine where you can deliver extra value. Where can you offer an item that will enhance their overall experience?

2. Utilize the contrast principle.

Say you need to buy a new suit. If you've ever bought a suit, you know it may cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. So you find one that fits. BUT then the salesperson asks if you'd like to buy a new tie. It's $100.

Usually, you'd balk at that amount of money, but because you're paying $1,000 for the suit, the $100 tie seems reasonable. Then you're asked to look at shirts and socks, and by the end of the transaction, you've doubled what you intended to pay.

So how did you get here?

Well, the contrast principle made you feel like these items were reasonably priced, whereas if you were shopping for them separately, you'd think they were expensive.

Remember, when someone is in the buying mode, that's when you want to get them to buy more.

3. Create social pressure by selling a complementary but non-competitive product.

And really, Amazon has mastered this process. So, while you're browsing their eCommerce store, you'll notice that most customers who bought X also bought Y.

The intent is to create social pressure and convince you that you won't get the same experience without product Y. The thing about people, we're a lot less price-sensitive to add-ons when it enhances our overall experience.

3 Examples of Upselling

1. Limited-time offer

Specify the urgency of an offer. Adding a time limit to an offer can increase sales, but timing is everything. Again, you want to think through your customer's journey.

Let's analyze the process after a potential customer has opted into a lead magnet. You've just given something for free that's going to help them level up. So they're feeling good about your company and upselling a related product that delivers added value could actually save them dollars in the long run.

You're also creating pressure because if the customer doesn't act now, it could cost them in the future when they would have to pay full price for your package. So don't be afraid to upsell to a new email subscriber.

2. Upgrade to a higher-tier option

Technology companies do this really well. For example, do you have multi-tiered products—an entry-level, an advanced, and a pro version?

You want to specify the difference between each version and the benefits of each. Most eCommerce and online businesses use a comparison table.

And think about personalizing your offer. For example, would your current customer be better served if you upgraded them to a higher-tier account? Or would it be a good idea to reward existing customers by upgrading them without charging them a higher fee?

So spend time reviewing your company model. Are there opportunities to double, even triple, revenue? Where can you deliver more value for your customers?

3. Bundling Add-On

As good practice, you should always bundle add-on items to your online offer. And specify the added value you deliver. For example, in the offer below, you can see that Rachel Pedersen lists the current value of the package you're purchasing.

So your current purchase costs $28.50, but the real value is closer to $200. And now she's upselling 50 content ideas which could be super helpful in your marketing strategy. It's only $13, so you grab it now. The point is to over-deliver and make the value seem more than the current sale price.

It makes the decision to spend a little more a lot easier. So strike while the time is right. Upsell, upsell, upsell.

Can you use upselling in your business?

So instead of investing all your energy, money, and resources into attracting new leads, is there the potential to upsell or cross-sell to existing customers?

Take a moment to think through your customer's journey. How can you deliver more value and enhance their experience?

Because if you're not implementing ways to increase your customer lifetime value, you're leaving money on the table.

A lot like the guy who sold his farm to search all over the world for diamonds, but as it turned out, he actually had a massive diamond field in his backyard. There are acres of diamonds in your backyard (existing customers).

You just need to mine them.

If you enjoyed this, then you might be interested in learning how to reactivate past customers. Check out the link to discover our top tips.

It used to be that you paid a PR team a ton of money to get you featured in the press.

Now, with sites like HARO and SourceBottle, you can pitch the media directly and get published in Forbes, Huffington Post, the New York Times, Business Insider, and even Oprah and it'll only cost you time.

I'm going to show you how.

I've spent years building my media pitching strategy. I've heard “no” many times, but I've also received that all-important “yes” email. And with over 100 press mentions, I know what it takes to become the news.

Here's the kicker, once you're known, journalists start approaching you to write contributor pieces. Free press is a great way to build your authority, scale your customer base, and get more media coverage. So let's get started.

Get My Free Press Release Template

Just tell me where to send it...

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What is a media pitch?

A media pitch is a concise, personalized message to an editor or journalist at a magazine, newspaper, blog, podcast, radio, or television station. It's designed to entice the reporter or editor to contact you and learn more about your small business or brand.

It can be sent via email; or through direct messages on social media networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; or you can call the journalist. You can also respond directly to a media pitch on sites like HARO, JustReachOut, and SourceBottle, to name a few.

Are media pitches the same as press releases?

No. A media pitch differs from a press release in its format and objective.

Think of your pitch as a snippet. The purpose of a media pitch is to spark interest in a reporter, enough that they want to know more and are prepared to contact you to get the full story.

So your pitch needs to deliver value and be relevant. An example of a great media pitch is to lead with data. Journalists are always on the lookout for compelling data trends.

You can also lead with personal stories and insights you gained. A few years ago a couple got a ton of media coverage by opening multiple credit cards and using them to get enough air miles to travel around the world for free.

Press releases, on the other hand, tell the whole story. They don't necessarily require a follow-up interview and can be published as-is. For example, your press release will include who, what, where, when, why, and how. It's the full message.

5 reasons to get on the media train and pitch your story

If you're wondering why pitch the media, I have five excellent reasons.

1. Social proof

Imagine being able to say, I got featured in Forbes Magazine, Marie Claire, The Wall Street Journal, or Oprah. That would be huge.

Press mentions instantly elevate your credibility to a potential lead. Because if Forbes trusts you as an authority, a potential customer is more likely to trust you.

It also shortcuts the time it takes them to decide to buy.

‍70% of customers read up to 6 reviews before buying the product. They might speak to a salesperson, or sign up for your newsletter. The considering phase can take weeks. But not when you have some of the most influential publications vouching for you. Then it can take minutes.

Plus, you can then the media you've been interviewed by on the homepage of your website just like Susie Moore.

If you struggle with confidence, you're going to trust Susie to help you, because Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and the Today show all do. So media is crucial for elevating your social status.

2. Increase traffic to your website

Every published article typically includes a shirttail (this is your author bio) at the end of the article.

If the journalist just featured a quote from you, they'll include a backlink.

Curious readers can follow that link to your website to learn more about you which can lead to email sign-ups and product purchases. Money in your account.

These publications will also share your article on their social channels, and they might even syndicate the article to other publications.

You're getting in front of a whole new audience and it's cost you absolutely nothing. So you could spend thousands of dollars on paid advertising, or you could take a few hours to write a really great article that brings in consistent traffic every month.

I'll give you an example. I wrote an article a couple of years ago for Forbes on the importance of business systems. It's the #1 article for the keyword business systems. I also hold the #4 position. So I'm getting traffic from two sources.

So press mentions can lead to long-term traffic gains.

3. Backlinks

This is a term SEO experts love to throw around. A backlink is a hyperlink from one site to another.

However, not all backlinks are created equally. A backlink from a site with a high domain authority (your well-known media publications) is worth far more than a link from a low domain authority (a blogger).

Links from credible media sources boost your authority and domain ranking. This means Google and other search engines are more likely to rank new content you publish faster.

My article on What is direct response marketing has over 20,000 inbound links (backlinks). That's 20,000 chances of being found by leads looking to grow with marketing.

4. Scale your business

I started my media journey back in July of 2018. For the next year, I did at least four podcasts a month, and wrote contributor pieces in Business. com, Thrive Global, Lifehack, Forbes Magazine. I spoke at industry events, shared my book with Facebook Groups, and you know what, I doubled traffic to my website.

When I started my PR journey, I had one full-time team member and two part-time employees. By 2020 my team had grown to five full-time members.

More media coverage gets you in front of new audiences. High-value leads that might never have heard of you. Suddenly, my email list was getting 900 new leads every month.

Today, I typically get 1800 new email subscribers each month. I have a team of 12 employees, over 30 coaching clients, a course, a certification program, and great JV partners.

I fully credit my press mentions for building my authority and helping to scale my business to an 8-figure coaching consultancy. So if you want to grow your brand, invest in media opportunities.

‍

5. More press opportunities & event invitations

Getting featured in the press can lead to more media opportunities and invitations to present at events like a Ted Talk.

As an unknown CNN won't invite you to share your opinion on a matter, even if you're an expert. But, if you've been featured in multiple well-known and respected publications, that call is certainly possible.

You can also charge to give a talk at an industry event. Imagine making $5,000 for talking to an audience, and your travel expenses were covered by the event. It doesn't have to be a dream.

I've spoken at SuperFastBusiness Live twice, and FORO-Go 3 in Mexico. I've also been featured in over 100 podcasts and media publications.

So it's much easier to be invited as a guest contributor or speaker once you've built a name for yourself in the media.

P. S. can you spot me? I'm giving a talk to over 2000 business owners in Mexico. That could be you.

Responding to press opportunities vs Cold pitching

What I love most about responding to media requests is you don't have to build a relationship with the journalist.

‍All you need is a pitch with a great hook.

‍The journalist already has an angle for their article. They're looking for a source to provide a new idea, data, or story to bolster their news piece.

Here are a few sites you can use to respond to media requests:

Free resources:

1. HARO - https://www.helpareporter.com (strong US focus)
2. SourceBottle - https://www.sourcebottle.com (strong Australian focus)
3. JournoRequests - https://www.journorequests.com (#JournoRequests on Twitter, strong UK focus)

Paid-for resources:

• JustReachOut - https://justreachout.io (strong US focus)
• Packages are tiered to cater to your needs - choose between Simple Outreach, Advanced Outreach, or Guided Outreach.
• Includes one-on-one guidance from former journalists on how to respond, which publications to target, reviewing content, and much more.
• ResponseSource - https://www.responsesource.com (strong UK focus)
• Cost - varies depending on which category you’d like to monitor.
• Includes direct contact details of the journalist, the size of the publication, and the value of the article.

For cold pitching, it’s your job to come up with a newsworthy idea or angle for a story. It needs to be relevant to the publication’s audience, and you have to sell it to the news team.

It's a lot more time-intensive than media pitching because you need to...

• research the journalist’s written work
• build a relationship
• write a compelling pitch
• have your news article ready to send if the editor agrees to review it.

Pro tip: Ask an existing contributor or someone who has a relationship with that news outlet to introduce you. This gives you the best chance of getting your email opened, read, and your story published.

How to write a media pitch in 7 steps

A successful media pitch includes 7 key elements. These are vital if you want to get your story featured.

1. Make your subject line count.

Just like in email marketing, subject lines are the heartbeat of your media pitch. Get it wrong and the journalist won't open your email. Journalists are masters at crafting eye-catching headlines, so make your subject line stand out.

Sites like Sharethrough Headline Optimizer help you to fine-tune your subject line.

2. Establish Credibility.

To become a media source, you need to establish credibility. Explain what makes you qualified to speak on the story you're pitching. For example, what relevant information can you share that would make a journalist give your story a second look?

• Are you famous?
• Have you written a best-selling book or pioneered some social movement?
• Have you built a multimillion-dollar company in a year?
• Are you a contributor to other media outlets (for example, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Financial Times)?

For example, to establish credibility you could write something like:

‍Hi (insert name),

I handle PR for Allan Dib, a successful entrepreneur and the bestselling author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, named by Huffington Post as one of the top ten marketing books for small businesses.

‍Your previous work is vital to establishing you as an authority, so mention it early in your media pitch.

3. State your lead.

A lead is the story or idea. It's the juicy bit of information that gets journalists interested.  It can be a news peg or a time peg. So a news peg focuses on a trending topic, whereas a time peg focuses on an upcoming event or date.

Was your brand picked up by a celebrity and featured on their Instagram account? Has your company created a viral moment?

4. Include a call to action.

What do you want the journalist to do next?

• Arrange an interview (for example, on their podcast)
• Write a product review
• Mention your brand or company
• Use your quote in a story they're writing

Be clear about the next steps. If you’ve enticed the editor with a few stats from a survey, offer to send the full report. They’ll know to contact you.

5. Add a soundbite quote.

Take a stance. Include a contrary opinion. Even if the reporter doesn't feature your story, they may use your quote in a relevant article. Particularly when responding to HARO requests, you want to include a quote the publication can copy and paste into the articles they're writing.

6. Keep it brief.

Media pitching requires precision. It's not a time to waffle or show your talent for description. My tip is to be clear and concise but also demonstrate your value proposition. The best pitches create impact quickly. Using data is a great way to do this. Also consider taking a stand, sharing an opposing view, or whatever.

Here’s an example of a brief pitch.

7. Sign off by recapping important details.

Before signing off, you want to recap who the pitch is for, their title, and company URL, and include a headshot if possible.

• Name
• Founder of
• Website URL
• Headshot - Link to a shared Google Drive
• Social media links (bonus)

And don't forget to thank the journalist for their time.

Steal my 8-step process to effectively pitch the media

To stand out, you need to create interest and deliver value. Follow these top tips for pitching success.

1. Research the media outlet.

When pitching media outlets, you want to follow their pitching guidelines. Most online publications will tell you if you must submit your media pitch to the editorial team or if you can email pitches directly to a journalist.

So in the research phase, you want to search for the following.

• Who are the media giants in your industry?
• Who are the journalists that cover your industry? Which reporters are most likely to pick up your story and run with it?
• What topics interest them and their audience? Do they like feel-good stories or hard-hitting ones?
• Can you email your pitch directly to the journalist, or do you need to send it to a generic email address? For example, you can search for the media's contact details on sites like Hunter. You also want to show you've done your research. For example, if you're pitching to be on a podcast, make sure you've listened to a few of the episodes.

You also want to show you've done your research. For example, if you're pitching to be on a podcast, make sure you've listened to a few of the episodes.

2. Include the journalist's name in your subject line.

HubSpot's Not Another State of Marketing Report found that emails with the reader's first name in the subject line had a higher clickthrough rate than those that didn't.

Remember, editors and journalists may receive hundreds of pitches each day, so personalizing the subject line gives you a leg up.

3. Be clear on your intentions.

Do you want to pitch a news story, or is your goal to become a regular contributor? Your media pitch needs to convey your point clearly. So be direct but professional. Here's an example,

‍I'd like to write for Entrepreneur magazine as a contributor. What is the best way to apply?

or

I am looking to apply to write for Entrepreneur as a contributor. Are you the correct person to chat with?

4. Build a relationship.

Journalists who know you and like you are more open to running your story. Think about your inbox. You're more likely to open an email from someone you know, so it's vital to stay in touch with a journalist long after they've accepted your pitch.

Whether this means following their social account and liking or commenting on their posts, or emailing them to say you enjoyed an article they wrote, keep in touch.

5. Be first to respond to press opportunities.

Most journalist requests are time-sensitive. For the best chance of success, respond within 15 to 30 minutes of a HARO post going live. If you're cold pitching and the journalist likes your idea, you need to send through a completed article within 48 hours. Take too long, and they'll have forgotten about your story and will have moved on.

6. Give them a compelling reason to choose you.

Do you have a substantial email database? Maybe you have a podcast that gets a ton of views or a social media page with tens of thousands of engaged followers?

Offering to share the published article or interview with your connections can give your media pitch the edge over someone who maybe doesn’t have a large target audience to promote it. So don’t be afraid to persuade. I would like to include this as a P.S., but you can add it above your contact details.

For example,

‍P. S. My email list comprises 45,000 owners/entrepreneurs of small businesses whom I’d share your article with. I’m also happy to promote the post on my social networks.

7. Format your pitch.

How you lay out your pitch can influence whether the journalist reads it or closes the email before looking at it.

Make the email as easy to read as possible. Approach it like you would a blog article (learn how to write a blog post for beginners here). Format your response to include:

• all caps
• bold text
• unweighted fonts
• bullet points
• quotes
• italics

8. Follow up.

Journalists are incredibly busy, and they receive thousands of pitches each week.  You want to follow up on your pitch two or three days after emailing it. But don't make your subject line Re: (Original pitch subject line).

Avoid these 6 common mistakes when pitching the media via HARO or independently

1. Responding to media pitches where you don't meet the basic requirements

Read the requirements before doing anything. What is the journalist looking for? In the below example, they specifically say don't pitch if you're not a certified career coach or career expert.

You're just wasting your time and the journalists if you don’t meet those requirements.

Also, if they ask for 150 words on the benefits of email marketing, don’t overshoot and send them a mini-essay totaling 400 words. They won’t even read it.

Plus, you'll get a black mark in their book. So any future pitches will just go into their trash folder.

2. Not checking the pitch deadline

When is the pitch due? If you're using HARO they'll always state when the pitch is needed by.

If that's 11 PM EST on the 16th of March, emailing at 11 PM PST is too late.

I've done this before, where I haven't checked the deadline and spent time crafting a really great response. After hitting send, HARO quickly let me know submissions are closed.

Now it's not all doom and gloom. You can keep that pitch for future press opportunities, although there's no guarantee when a similar request will become available.

Lastly, can you make yourself available for an interview? If you’re not in the right time zone or prepared to get up in the wee hours of the morning, don’t pitch.

3. Pitching the wrong person or publication

Media outlets have an editorial inquiries or editorial guidelines section. Sometimes, this can be a brief sentence in the tertiary menu of the site or an entire page.

Here they’ll list whom to pitch your ideas to.

Do your homework before emailing your pitch or reaching out to a journalist on Twitter. If you send it to the wrong person, it’ll get ignored. Send it to too many, and you’ll get blacklisted.

For example, in Forbes's editorial inquiries section, they lists exactly how to get in touch with their journalists.

4. Having nothing new to share

Journalists are looking for sources with fresh ideas or a new take on a particular subject. They don’t want generic responses they’ve seen a couple hundred times.

They want to break the news. So don't pitch if you don’t have something compelling to share.

Remember, compelling could be a new take on an old idea. For example, the media gives a lot of attention to entrepreneurs who make their first million in their twenties.

But Laura Belgrade wrote an article about how she only made her first million in her 50s and why it's better. It speaks to millions of readers who are in their mid-40s or late 30s trying to start a viable business.

So using your personal story and giving a new spin on an old idea can be newsworthy.

5. Forgetting to proofread your pitch

There is no excuse bottle for spelling and grammar mistakes. With editorial assistant apps like Grammarly or the Hemingway App, you don't need to hire an editor to proofread your writing.

Mistakes make you look unprofessional and lazy. Also, be aware of American spelling vs British English.

As an Aussie, I'm constantly switching between the two. So make sure you spellcheck before hitting send on your pitch.

6. Not formatting your pitch

Make your pitch easy to read. If you send a wall of text, they’re not going to look at it. So use short sentences. Introduce bullet points, italics, numbers, bold, uppercase text, quotes, etc.

Use this framework:

‍Hi Name,

Short, brief introduction. Mention why you'd be a great expert.

Restate the journalist questions example - What unique and inviting ways have you remade your office to make it more appealing to employees?

Suggest three or four ideas as a list or bullet points.

Author bio

contact details - email, business URL, point of contact. S

P.S. Give them a reason to choose you. For example, if you have a large social media following, or an engaged email list, mention you'll share the article with your audience if they choose you.

Media pitch examples for HARO, Podcasts, and Cold Pitching

Media pitching doesn't need to be scary or the job of PR professionals. I've used these templates to get featured in over 60 media publications and about the same number of podcasts.

‍

Cold pitch example template

Hi (journalist’s name),

I know you're one of the editors at Entrepreneur, I'm a good friend of (state the mutual connection) who (contributes to your magazine, was featured on your show, etc). He/she mentioned I should reach out.

(Introduce yourself and establish credibility. If you’ve been mentioned in the press or are a regular contributor to a particular publication, list it).

Every day I help small to medium-sized businesses across the U. S. troubleshoot their marketing. These four mistakes kept cropping up, so I wrote a piece on how to fail at small business marketing, and actionable tips to turn it around.

Check it out here: (include clickable link)

If you like what you see, and you’re interested, here are three other ideas that I want to flesh out for your (name of magazine/show).

• Title of article
• Title of article
• Title of article

Happy to chat if you need more info, I’ve got tons of great insight and data to share with the readers of (publication or podcast name).

All the best,

- (Insert name)

P. S. My mailing list comprises roughly X (state who your target audience is) whom I’d share the article with. I’m also happy to promote the post on my social networks. (If you have a podcast, include it here as well. )

‍

Podcast example template

Hey (insert name),

(Business name or authority) is a fan of (insert podcast name) and loved the recent episode where you talked about (podcast topic).

(Establish credibility and mention why you’re a good fit guest for the podcast. Tailor this part to the podcast as well.)

Here's why (he/she) would be an excellent fit for your show.

• (list only compelling information)

Would you be interested in having (him/her) on as a guest? (Name) has been interviewed on several podcasts, here are just some of them:

1. List and hyperlink to episode
2. ____
3. ____

Here are two ideas we’d love to focus on during the interview:

Topic #1—

(Review the podcast episode titles and write a topic that fits in but still creates buzz. Make sure it’s relevant to their audience.)

Topic #2—

(...And another one here.)

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Thanks so much,

- (Your name)

P. S. We’d be happy to share your podcast with (mention # of email list subscribers), and we’d include a short audio clip on social media, linking to your account and the full podcast.

‍Here’s an example of a podcast pitch that resulted in a response.

Warm pitch (responding to HARO) template

Subject line: Pitch: (Include the journalist’s request)

Hi (insert name),

(Introduce who you are and establish credibility—basically a short bio that highlights your experience and mentions noteworthy info. Tell the journalist why they should choose your pitch.)

(Include a teaser line that relates to the journalist’s request and possibly takes a stand.)

(REPEAT/REPHRASE THE JOURNALIST’S QUESTION.)

(Add your sound bite quote. Keep it short and punchy. Use emotive language. Add personality to your response. Remember the journalist should be able to copy and paste your quote directly into their article.)

• (Back up your argument. Use relevant stats, reasons why, examples of, etc. Bullet points work best.)
• Another stat, etc.
• Another stat, etc.

(Include another great quote. One sentence is best.)

...

(Then sign off your email pitch and let them know if you’re available to chat. Mention you’ve got tons of great advice and data to back up their story, and if you have a large social following or customer database, you’ll want to let the journalist know (as this can influence their decision to use your post or not). Say you’d be happy to share the article with this list.

All the best,

(Your name)

(Business name or your designation)

(Web address)

(Include a link to a cloud-based folder that contains web-ready visuals for the journalist.)

‍Take a look at this example. It highlights the journalist’s questions in bold and includes short, compelling answers.

How to get featured in Forbes?

Getting featured in Forbes isn't easy. I could have waited years and never been approached to write for the publication.

I joined the Forbes Coaches Council, a paid program. It was worth it to be able to say, I'm a Forbes published writer. I've had several publicity pieces published.

But much like HARO, their journalists are always looking for expert opinions. You can pitch one tip and have that published in a story they're running. I've included an example below.

Some of these stories get featured on the home page, so if you're a coach or consultant looking to elevate your brand, I'd definitely consider it.

Make your media pitches count

Writing a media pitch doesn't have to be hard, but it is a numbers game.

Businesses worldwide are trying to get coverage for their brand. Many use PR agencies who've spent years writing media pitches and building relationships with journalists.

Follow the tips listed above, and you'll give your stories a fighting chance.

Remember, media pitches and press releases are not the same, but both should be a part of your PR strategy. If you want to learn how to write a press release, check out the link.

Congratulations on deciding to write a blog. It can be daunting, staring at a blank page wondering where to start. But writing search engine optimized (SEO) blog articles is a great way to generate a steady stream of high-value leads to your website without having to spend a ton on advertising.

But not just any content will do. The last thing you want is to spend hours or days researching and writing a post that gets five or so views a month. Great content is only great if it gets results.

That's why I'm going to show you how to write a blog post that ranks on Google and, more importantly, grows your business.

How do I know this process works? Because I've used it repeatedly to rank for keywords and phrases in the top ten positions on Google. So, let's get started.

What is a blog post?

A blog post is an article that's published in the blog section of a website. It can be a how-to guide, news piece, event announcement, or podcast link. It covers a specific topic in detail and can range anywhere from 600 to 3,000+ words.

A great post educates and delivers value while also entertaining the readers. It answers your target audience's questions, demonstrates your expertise, builds your credibility, and it can boost your revenue.

To do that, it needs to rank on Google. And for the blog content to rank, it will need to include some, if not all, of the following:

• Images (e.g., an infographic)
• Some form of downloadable intellectual property (IP) (e.g., a template, worksheet, guide, or data)
• Informational or entertaining videos
• Interactive charts

Some posts perform better than others. It all depends on your market segment. What might be the go-to style of blog writing for one niche market could crash and burn in another.

So if you're new to writing a blog post, you need to research your niche to be sure you're crafting content in the format your audience prefers.

Here are a few types of popular blog post ideas:

• The "How-to" post (e.g., How To Write A Lead Nurturing Email Sequence). The purpose of this type of blog post is to explain step by step how to do something, like baking a cake or building a website. It gives the reader the tools and instructions they need to execute effectively.
• The "What is" post (e.g., What Is Direct Response Marketing?) This type of post aims to educate and inform its audience about a particular topic.
• The "Pillar topic" post (e.g., Business Systems 101). A pillar article is the main topic you want to rank for. The purpose of a pillar blog post is to teach. Typically a long article, a pillar post covers the topic in-depth, is packed with valuable information, examples, processes, and much more.
• The "List-based" post (e.g., 9 Steps To Build A Sophisticated Marketing Plan). Checklist blog posts break down the items you need or steps you have to take to fulfill a task, such as writing a LinkedIn post or sculpting your abs. It's simple, straightforward, and effective.

Now that you know the types of blog articles to write, how do you ensure that your blog post gets read.

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What makes a good blog post? (7 key elements)

Understanding how to write a blog post is only the start of your writing journey. More importantly, is how to write a GREAT blog post.

Blogging is all about solving a problem in an engaging and compelling way. Your blog post needs to answer the questions, Why would my audience care about this topic? and What do I need to do to keep them reading?

If you want to write a great blog post, here's what you need to do.

1. Target a niche audience

If you've been a part of your target audience, then you know their struggles. You've experienced,  and hopefully, have overcome those challenges yourself. So you'd know better than anyone else what to write about and what information to share. When you write about a topic that you're intimately familiar with, that's how you build a relationship with your readers and win their trust.

Also, you want to target your niche because those are the people who are most likely to buy your products or services. That's the end goal, right—to sell!

So, if you target everyone, you'll be attracting the wrong kind of traffic to your website. While it might feel good to boost your traffic numbers, if they're not potential leads, your article is essentially a dud.

2. Focus on the pain points early and provide a solution

Start with a bang. You want to get your readers to self-identify immediately. Remember, when you're in pain, you want pain relief. Your post needs to be the aspirin to their headache. So draw them in by stating the problem or challenge and explain how you'll share your secrets to solving it.

If you've done your keyword research, you’ll know that your keyword needs to appear in the opening sentence.

3. Add an intriguing or compelling headline

Believe it or not, headlines can mean the difference between someone reading your post or clicking out of your site.  Search engines don't like it when readers do that. It's a warning signal that your content sucks (even though it may not).

While there are dedicated sites and tons of advice online on how to write a great headline, the best advice I can give you is to answer your target audience's questions.

In fact, a recent study revealed that 14.1% of all Google searches are in the form of a question. With "How" blog posts averaging 8.07% of all searches and "What" posts averaging 4.3%.

So once you settle on the type of post you're going to write, come up with roughly ten potential headlines. Sure, you'll discard most of them, but you'll want to use a different headline for your title tag and article headline.

Here are a few examples of great headlines:

• 33 non-sucky subject lines for emails that people actually open and read
• A little mistake that cost this business owner $85,000
• Direct response copywriting: 7 vital ways to ensure your copy hits the spot and closes the sale
• How to win back dormant customers using an email reactivation campaign

Remember, a great headline solves a problem and brings a little personality or intrigue. Go on, give it a try.

4. Grab your reader's attention

How you write your blog post directly impacts the time your readers spend reading your words. You need to include keywords, to be SEO compliant, and make it gripping. If there’s no hook, your readers won't read your post.

They want to be entertained, to laugh, or to be shocked. So here are a few writing top tips:

• Use original analogies. Cliches are overdone. People want something new; so give it to them.
• Don't be afraid to tell a story. Everybody loves a good story.
• Add personality to your writing. Think about the books you love to read. What is it about the writing that keeps you coming back for more? Maybe it's humor or a self-deprecating tone. Pay attention to the way your audience responds to you.
• Write so a 14-year-old can understand what you're saying. That means short, snappy sentences. Forget the jargon or high-brow language.
• Use an active voice. A passive voice will put you to sleep. Here’s an example of an active voice. Millions of people love chocolate. Now, if I were to write in a passive voice, it would look something like this. Chocolate is loved by millions of people.
• Treat your writing like a conversation. Imagine you're sitting at a coffee shop having lunch with a friend. How would you share your story? That's what you want to keep in mind when writing. Your readers want to feel like they're having a casual conversation with a friend they know, like, and trust, not like they're sitting in an auditorium being lectured to.

5. Meet the word count

This is a tricky subject. No offense, but the typical online user has the attention span of a gnat unless, of course, they find something that intrigues them. Then they have all the time in the world. So what does this have to do with word count?

If you want to stand any chance of getting eyes on your article, it needs to rank in search engines. To do that, it needs to meet the average number of words for that keyword. If that's 600, lucky you. If that's 4,760, you've got your work cut out for you.

Your writing needs to maintain a rhythm without adding words for the sake of word count. A good idea is to add a “contents” section to your blog. Your reader can use it to skip ahead to related topics.

For example, say your post topic is What is a target audience? If you've done your keyword research, you'll know that you also need to answer the questions:

• What is the difference between a target audience and target market?
• Why do you need to define your target audience?
• How do you find your target audience?

So make sure when you're writing blog posts that you address all relevant points.

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6. Add images (designed, not stock visuals)

People consume information in very different ways. Some prefer written text, others like video, and some engage best with visual content. To craft a winning blog post, it's never a bad idea to include all three.

Added to this, Google indexes images, making it another way for readers to find your blog articles. But whatever you design, the visual must include your logo or website URL.

It also needs to be shareable. Look at the visuals that perform well on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. They're not cheesy stock visuals. They’re often illustrations or a beautiful photographs of a scene with an inspirational quote or thought.

You can also use images to break down complex tasks into simple, easy-to-follow visual steps. For example, how to write a marketing plan or how to build a website.

So use images to draw attention to essential stats, processes, ideas, or simply to give the reader a breather.

7. Include a call to action

What do you want the reader to do next? Google wants to see a conversion, and simply reading the post doesn't qualify. You need the readers to take some sort of action.

Adding a call to action is an opportunity to get readers to opt into your email list, download a lead magnet, request a quote, enroll in your course, whatever. This equals dollars in your bank account so make sure you're adding a content upgrade to your post.

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And mix it up. You'll want to include multiple CTAs throughout your blog post. I like to position these just after the introduction, in the middle of the blog, and at the end. This means that I don't lose any readers who jump off within the first few seconds.

Every blog post should include a CTA to join your newsletter and either download a free piece of content or purchase a product or service.

So those are the bones of a good blog post. Now, let's discuss why you want to write a post for your readers.

Why write a blog post? (5 excellent reasons)

There are many reasons why writing a blog post is good for business. Most of these I've mentioned before, but to recap, here's why you want to publish blog articles.

1. It demonstrates your expertise and boosts your credibility.

By sharing advice based on actual experiences, you build trust with your readers. You're also able to bring something new to your market. So much of what's online is regurgitated fluff.

Readers are hungry for new ideas and ways of doing things. When you show proof that you get results, you build your authority and credibility.

2. It attracts and drives high-value traffic to your website.

Blogging is an opportunity to drive qualified traffic or leads to your site. These are your niche readers. They're typing questions into Google for which you have the answers. Your goal is to get them to take a look at your blog posts.

If you publish quality content that delivers a result in advance, you'll become their go-to source for advice and help.

3. It helps you to rank in search engines.

Every blog post is a chance to rank in the top ten for search terms. And before you ask, Does it matter whether or not your writing ranks? Yes, it does.

You want your writing to rank because, to a search engine, you become a trusted source, and this boosts your domain authority.

Publishers and other businesses are more likely to link back to your content, ask you for an interview, or submit a contributor piece.  This means you get exposed to readers who might have not ever heard of your business otherwise.

So, you get more leads and potential customers.

4. It increases your conversion rate and grows your company revenue.

Using your blog to upsell a product or service is a great way to increase your company revenue.

For example, say someone is looking up the benefits of business coaching. You've created a blog that covers that and includes a call-to-action to determine if they'd be a good fit for your coaching program. They click the CTA link, fill in the form, and one of your team members contacts them to learn more about their business, the challenges they face, and where you could help them to level up.

They're impressed and decide to hire you. If you hadn’t created this blog post, they may never have learned of your coaching services and hired you. So blogging is an ideal way to grow your company revenue.

5. It provides content that you can repurpose.

If you're thinking about starting a blog for your business, chances are you already have active social accounts. Sometimes knowing what to say on a Facebook post can be challenging. But not anymore.

Most blogs are long-form. If you cover multiple related topics to your keywords in your blogs, you can repurpose this content for social media, a book, course, even webinars.

You want to use a multi-approach to the media because not everyone consumes information in the same way. So there can be people in your target audience who only ever read Instagram posts or watch YouTube videos. By repurposing your content, you reach a wider audience.

Now that you know the five reasons you want to write a blog post, let's look at how to write a blog post that readers can't wait to share.

Blogging for beginners: 12 best practices for writing blog posts that convert

Every blog writer is unique, and what works for some may not work for others. My advice, use this blogging methodology to get you started. As you create more blogs, you'll begin to develop a writing process that works for you.

Here’s my step-by-step method on how to write a blog post:

1. Build your content plan

A content plan is a spreadsheet of topics your audience is interested in. It lays out the strategy you'll use for writing and promoting your blog content in the coming months.

Your content plan needs to cater to the different buyer journeys. Remember, not everyone in your target market is ready to buy immediately. Some might just be looking to educate themselves. Others might only be interested in your basic plan, whereas a few will want to purchase your premium solution.

So when building out your content plan, you want to craft articles that answer your readers' questions at each stage in the buying process.

Keep in mind the following:

• Whom will you be writing for? You want to create topic clusters based on the different needs of your target audience at every stage of their buying journey.
• What are their burning questions? A great way to build out ideas is to answer your clients’ frequently asked questions. These are the questions they type into Google every day. Start listing these FAQs in your content plan. If you're stumped, you need to do market research. Arrange to speak with your top customers, send a questionnaire to your email list, check out social channels or forums to see what your ideal customer is talking about. Figure out why they buy and why they would buy from you.
• Based on your research, brainstorm content ideas. I explain how to infiltrate your target audience here. Check it out.

Let’s talk about the bones of your content plant. It’ll be broken into topic clusters, pillar articles, and cluster content, with internal links pointing from the cluster content to the pillar article.

Important terminology

• Topic cluster - The broad topic you want to rank for. It focuses on a specific buyer journey.
• Pillar article - The main topic or keyword you want to rank for.
• Sub-topic / Cluster content - A keyword-relevant article that supports (is related to) the pillar article. These can be short 600 - 1000 word articles.
• Hyperlinks - Internal links from the pillar article to the cluster content to build broad search engine authority.

For example, your content plan could look something like this:

• Topic cluster: small business marketing
• Pillar article: What is direct response marketing and why it works?
• Cluster content:
• 8 Characteristics of a direct response ad
• Emotional direct response copywriting
• Powerful examples of direct response marketing
• What are direct response emails?

Make sure you develop smaller articles around your content plan.

2. Choose a topic that interests your ideal target audience

Before you sit down to write your blog article, you need to choose a topic that engages your readers. If you've already fleshed out your content plan, then select a topic from there.

Make sure it appeals to your readers' wants and needs.

For example, if you’re a specialist cycling shop, you could create a listicle type blog post that details the items a beginner cyclist will need to start off-road cycling. The blog would include a freebie downloadable checklist that the reader can print and bring to a store to check off their purchase items.

3. Identify your focus keyword or phrase

The keyword or phrase is the topic you want to rank for. It's what your readers (potential customers) are searching for each month. This keyword will need to be included in your title tag, article headline, and throughout your blog.

Keyword research is crucial because you want to select a keyword that receives a lot of organic traffic. Remember, organic traffic equals high-value leads.

Choosing something obscure with minimal traffic signals that your readers aren't interested in that topic. So don't waste your time blogging about it.

What is worth considering is the type of keyword you attempt to rank for. Neil Patel found that it's easier to rank for questions or long-tailed keywords than it is to rank for two-word keywords.

For example, by zeroing in on beginner cyclist tips, we can see the potential to get 3,500 organic searches for this topic each month.

The keyword cyclist tips is searched 6,600 times a month. It’s a popular search term which means other sites will be competing for it.

Bike riding tips for beginners receive far less traffic, so this could be a great long-tailed keyword to try and rank for if you’re new to blogging. Your domain authority won’t negatively impact your chance of appearing in the top 10.

Once you've finished with your keyword research, you need to take things a step further.

4. Research

Having identified the topic you want to write about, it's time to see which blogs rank for that keyword and why. AHREFS, Neilpatel.com, and , are all excellent for researching popular keywords.

I'm using Surfer SEO as an example. The image below shows you the top five blog articles ranking on Google for that keyword. These are organic competitors. Here are some of the site benefits:

• It gives you the Title text, URL, and meta-description.
• It also shows the content score out of 100 for that keyword. This number represents how relevant the information within the blog is and the quality of writing. The first article has a ranking of 88 out of 100.
• The following number is the domain authority of the site. It's ranked out of 10, with eight and above high scores.
• And it also shows the article’s word count. SurferSEO will then give you an average word limit to target.

Your goal must be to read at least the top three articles. See what topics they cover. What are the H2 and H3 tags? How many images do they include? Is there an opt-in?

You don't need an SEO program to help you optimize your blog post, but it will massively reduce your research time. For example, includes a SurferSEO includes a BRIEF section listing topics and questions you need to cover.

It also lists words that need to appear in your blog, as well as where they need to appear. For example, the algorithm might say you need to mention the focus keyword every 150 words. Or that the word bike should occur at least 24 times in your blog article. Knowing this helps you to draft your blog post outline.

4. Create a blog outline

Some call it an outline. I prefer the term skeleton structure. It's a rough outline of what you want to write. You’ll want to develop a process that works best for you. Here’s what I like to do:

• Create your skeleton draft (outline).
• Write the headline or post title.
• Determine the H2 and H3 header sections. These are the subtopic ideas that you'll need to flesh out. For example, it could answer the question How do I get better at cycling? And What is a good cycling distance for beginners?
• Within each H2 and H3 section, list keywords or topic ideas that you want to cover. You also want to include some relatable story that makes your readers sit up and say, Yup, this is for me.
• Are you offering a free download? Determine where you'll include this CTA and any others you'd like to drive the reader to.
• Add your conclusion. A conclusion needs to wrap up the gist of your blog post. It should highlight the main points and give the reader something to do. For example, if the post speaks about how to make choux pastry, the conclusion should tell the reader to try it and share their feedback. Was it a success? Can they share their finished product as an image on social? This creates meaningful engagements which lead to social shares and drives organic traffic to your post.

Remember, the purpose of an outline is to show you exactly what information to cover in your post. It makes the process of writing your first draft much easier.

5.  Write your first draft

Now it's time to start writing and flesh out your outline. Again, every writer has a unique process.

I like to edit as I write. So I'll work on a section until I feel it's 95% perfect. Other bloggers prefer just to write and get their rough draft done. Then they'll go back over their writing and finesse it.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Set yourself a deadline

Most writers work best on a deadline. You know you need to have completed keyword research by this date, a draft by another date, etc. Adding a deadline means you have to get your act together and get things done.

Block off time to write

It can easily take an hour to get into a writing zone, so block off a day just to write. It'll take you far longer to complete your blog if you're allocating an hour here and there.

Leave your headline until last

Writing headlines is an art form. It takes skill. Not only do you need to entice your readers, but you also have to answer to search engines.

So you need to include your keywords in the headline and make it clickbait-able. I’ll only finalize the headline once the first draft is completed. I don't necessarily know how many steps or points I'll share, so leave your headline until last.

Craft a compelling introduction

The best bloggers craft an introduction that readers literally cannot look away from.

Think of a car accident. A truck ploughs into a 4x4. You know it's a gruesome scene. Somebody has likely died. But still, you've slowed down to 5 miles an hour—not to be safe but so you can crane your neck and eyeball the damage.

So you want your introduction to be unmissable because if it's not, your readers won’t keep reading. Make sure your introduction includes your keywords in the opening line, states the problem you'll solve, and contains a little story.

Add interesting stats (data your readers can trust)

Readers love data. It gives your advice or suggestions credibility. For example, why would I take up email writing just because you say I should. But if you include a stat like email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spent, well, you've got my attention.

The thing is, you need reputable information. If only 100 people were surveyed, taking data as the gospel truth isn't concrete evidence that the wider population shares those opinions. So make sure you check your facts.

• Who conducted the research?
• How many people took part in the focus group or survey?
• Are they part of the target market?
• Was evidence given to confirm the claims made? For example, did the report show examples of different company's campaign results? Don't blindly accept information—question everything.

Give away stuff for free

Let's be honest. People love free stuff. Whether that's a coupon, free trial, eBook, t-shirt, whatever, people love it. IP intellectual property is just as powerful. It's something you own and can brand. It could be a:

• Guide to blogging
• Checklist
• Template for building out your content plan or writing your first press release
• List of the best performing subject lines
• Video series

It gets leads to opt into your website. From there, you just need to market to them until they buy. So make sure you're grabbing your readers’ attention with a free giveaway.

Be prepared to walk away

Writer's block is a reality. There will be times when it feels like you've vomited nonsense onto the page. Step away and do something else. Trying to push through will only result in frustration and feeling like you've achieved nothing that day.

Double-check the final document

Once you've finished writing, you want to re-read your blog post and ask yourself the following:

• Have you answered the question?
• Does it flow? Is there any area where the writing is clunky or disjointed? Are there sentences that you can break up or shorten?
• Have you used transition words?
• Are your subheadings distributed evenly?
• Is it in your company's voice?
• Is it written in first-person narration and second-person narration? We want to address the audience directly, so use words like you and your.
• Have you broken up large chunks of texts? Walls of text are scary for most readers. It feels overwhelming, and this can be a turnoff. Instead, you want to use bullet points, numbers, bold, and italics to break the content into bite-size pieces of information which are easy to digest.

Use Grammarly to help you iron out confusing sentences, incorrect grammar, spelling mistakes, and get rid of plagiarized sentences.

Don't be afraid to reorganize your outline

If you think a topic needs to come higher up, move it. If something feels unnecessary, cut it. Basically, if you're questioning why you've included something, it probably doesn't need to be there.

6. Optimize your blog post using an SEO tool like SurferSEO or Page Optimizer Pro

The best way to optimize your blog post is to use a content editor like SurferSEO. It highlights words and phrases you need to cover in your article, and it will give you a content score out of 100, so you know where improvements can be made.

Here's how you can make sure your blog post is SEO compliant:

• Does it link to your pillar article?
• Does it meet the word limit?
• Have you met the header and bolded text count?
• Have you used enough images? Again, images can break up walls of black and white text.
• Have you ticked most of the keywords? (SurferSEO gives you the keywords that need to appear in your blog post. They will turn green once you’ve met the count for that particular word. See the image below.)
• Are there any keywords that you’ve used too much (in red)? Can you replace some of these with similar words?

7. Edit your writing

The best editors don't write. They specialize in taking your shiny blog post and turning it into a masterpiece. They'll identify where you need to build on a statement, or remove something. They'll pick up grammar and spelling mistakes or deviations from your copywriting style guide.

But if you can't afford an editor, consider purchasing a subscription to Grammarly. It'll do much of the legwork that an editor would. You can also use Hemingways Editor to determine the reading level of your writing. It'll help you to rewrite complex sentences, so they're more readable.

Top tip: If you can't afford an editor, give yourself a day or two between completing the final draft and editing it. You need fresh eyes to edit, and you're more likely to miss obvious mistakes if you immediately dive into editing.

8. Design images for your blog

Long-form blogs need images. Even short-form blogs should include a picture.

Images form a vital component of your blog article. Visuals draw the reader in, break up walls of text, highlight important points or ideas, and explain complex ideas. Plus, Google indexes them.

So be sure to add designed visuals. You can use a program like Canva to create professional-looking visuals without needing a design degree.

9. Format your blog and write your SEO title, slug, and meta description

Once your images and copy deck is approved, place your article into the Content Management System and format it.

• Format it into H1, H2, H3 tags, etc.
• Add in your images and fill in the alt text (alternative text).
• Check all hyperlinks work.
• Include CTAs in your post.
• Write an SEO title that differs from your blog headline.
• Write an enticing meta-description that encourages the reader to click to learn more. Don't assume they will. Include some sort of instruction like, “See for yourself; click to find out more.”
• Choose a featured image for social sharing.
• Add the publishing date.

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10. Hit Publish

Once you've completed your checks, publish the post. Do a final once-over to ensure all links are opening in new tabs and to make sure the opt-ins work.

11. Add internal links to your blog article

Until your blog goes live, you can't add internal links. But make no mistake, internal linking is a vital part of writing. It says to Google that it's an important topic. So straight after publishing your post, add five to 10 internal links to your new blog post.

Then submit it to Google Search Console. This allows your blog to be crawled and hopefully for search engines to start sending organic traffic your way.

12. Promote your blog post on social media

Lastly, you want to promote your blog post on social media. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Create a similar article on LinkedIn and include a backlink to the original post. The more social shares, the more likely it is for your blog post to be found online.

So that's my exact process on how to write a blog post that doesn't just rank. It also gets read and shared. Now let's take a quick look at some of the tools new bloggers and seasoned ones need to succeed.

Tools every blogger needs to write a great blog post

Take a look at the following must-have tools:

• Make sure to use Grammarly to check spelling and grammar.
• You can also use Hemingways Editor to determine the reading level of your writing.
• Optimize your article with a tool like SurferSEO or Page Optimizer Pro.
• AHREFS and Quora are great for researching topic ideas.

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And that's how to write a post

It doesn't matter if you're new to blogging or you’ve been blogging for years. Following these steps will help you to bring your A-game to every blog post you write.

Remember, it’s about drawing your readers in, piquing their interest early, and giving them something valuable to take away and a reason to come back for more.

Do you really need a business process?

As a startup, probably not. But as your organization grows and takes on bigger accounts or hires new employees, business processes become crucial to productivity, efficiency, and achieving your business goals.

But do you actually know what a business process is or why they're necessary for growing and sustaining a successful business?

Don't worry. This article will bring you up to speed quickly and help you build your internal business processes. So let's get started.

What is a business process?

A business process is a system or structure an organization implements to produce a specific outcome. It outlines the exact series of steps each employee must take to achieve a particular goal and consistent results.

Every task in a business process is defined and documented in a Standard Operation Procedure (SOP). Mapping out a good process requires the input of the team members who'll use the system. Once you have an effective business process, your employees will be more productive and require less management. Most importantly, they'll produce value.

So what would you use a business process for?

Everything, really. From onboarding new employees to sending out customer invoices to writing an email lead nurturing sequence, you need business processes. It's what keeps your business running smoothly.

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Is business process management the same as a business process?

The short answer is no. A business process is a series of interrelated tasks organizations use to achieve a business goal.

The purpose of business process management (BPM) is to improve business processes and more readily achieve business goals. It requires management to review and assess all processes to determine the most efficient way of doing things.

For example,

• What tasks can be automated, what tools do they need to achieve this, and which are manual (requiring human intervention)?
• Where are there delays?
• Why do they consistently see breakdowns in certain phases of a process, etc.?

After using BMP to analyze a process, it's up to management to refine the workflow.

But while processes are vital to expanding and escaping your business, they can cost a lot and demand more resources than a company can afford. In this case, a process will often be outsourced.

For example, a small business with fewer than five employees might outsource its accounting or legal needs to a third party. This is known as business process outsourcing.

Why are business processes so important?

Creating a well-documented and repeatable business process is what sets your business up for rapid business growth. Here are just four ways it positively impacts your business.

1. Automation

Automating specific tasks allows you, the owner, to take a break from your business without worrying that things will fall apart. It also makes your day-to-day role much more manageable because your time is freed up to go after bigger customers and take bigger risks.

And let's be honest, your business would run more efficiently without you handling everything.

2. Consistent Experience

It ensures your customers receive a consistent experience when using your service or product. This is key when scaling your business.

You want to deliver value and do it consistently. Look at the processes you can automate. For example, an email welcome message for new subscribers and an automated thank you message when someone purchases a product.

The development of these supporting processes is crucial in delivering a personalized experience.

3. Attracts investors

It's also very attractive to potential investors. Exiting your business will be your biggest payday, but only if you have processes in place.

Investors want to purchase a well-oiled machine that only requires a little maintenance. If the running of your business resides in your memory banks, you'll never sell it.

4. Easy To Follow Process

But most importantly, it's the gold standard for how things should be done in your organization. Your employees feel empowered because they're not reliant on you for approval at every stage in a task. They take responsibility for their tasks.

Management spends less time policing and more time improving management processes (goal-setting, planning, implementing, and executing activities to achieve a positive ROI). And it improves efficiency across the organizational structure.

And a key to building world-class processes is to automate.

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Why do you need business process automation?

Technology augments your abilities. Think Tony Stark. He's a billionaire playboy genius philanthropist. But with a bit of help from technology, he becomes Iron Man. A badass superhero capable of saving the day.

Organizations use business process automation to enhance and streamline their operations. Leaders love automation because it frees up their time to focus on management processes.

It reduces costs (software takes on the role of certain tasks), there is less need for manual intervention (which reduces the potential for things to go wrong), and your people are more efficient and productive (so it enhances output).

A great example of business process automation is your marketing system. Things like website opt-in forms, email lead nurturing sequences, calendar bookings, and payment gateways continue to work while you sleep.

These are supporting processes that you create once and then don't need to think about again, giving you the freedom to shift from self-employed to entrepreneur.

Types of business processes

Regardless of industry, virtually every facet of running an organization should have a business process.  From invoicing customers to employee onboarding processes, the development of these processes makes doing business much more straightforward. They give your business credibility and are crucial to customer satisfaction.

Here are a few types of business processes, but this list is by no means exhaustive:

• Human resources process
• Marketing process
• Sales process
• Accounting process
• Affiliate programs or JV process
• Product development process
• Recruitment process
• Direct mail process

An example of a business process

Business processes can be found in every successful company. Here’s what a client onboarding process might look like:

Step 1: A lead fills in a web form.

You create a form on your website specifically for warm leads interested in working with you. It captures the following information:

• First name and last name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Business name
• Tell us a bit about your business

Step 2: Management assesses the lead and reaches out over email.

Management or sales receives the email and follows a series of checks. For example, they might check out the potential client's website and social media channels. If the company falls into the list of organizations they work with, they'll send a follow-up Q&A email.

It's a personalized deep-dive into their business. So it will establish how many people work for the company, how long they've been in business, annual turnover, etc.

This helps them to determine if the organization in question is a good fit.

Step 3: If the lead meets specific criteria, arrange a Discovery Call.

After reviewing all the data, you'll know if this is a serious prospect. Now, you have the expertise to understand what this organization is doing well and where they need improvement.

Nail down goals and objectives. Explain where you can deliver value, how you provide support, and what resources they expect from you.

In my business, not only do my clients get access to my advisors, but I also give them all my SOPs. This is my intellectual property handed over on a silver platter to implement directly into their business so they can start seeing results. But I don't work with just anyone. So this discovery call is a vital step in my customer onboarding process.

Step 4: Draft a contract.

You'll likely have a standard contract already drawn up. But based on discussions, you'll need to adjust it to support your new client's needs.

Include details about deliverables, terms of payment, company policies, and other essential details. Make sure everyone that needs a copy of the contract gets one. This could be your legal team, IT, and other departments.

Step 5: Prepare your team.

Every employee that will be handling the new client and their project must be appraised. Communicate your new client’s goals to the team and decide who will handle what.

You don't want to be fielding questions about your service or product all day. So this is a great time to decide on the point of contact (the first stop for all your client’s questions or concerns). I have business and marketing advisors on my team, but for you, it might be an account manager or support.

Make sure you've defined who does what in your operations manual.

Step 6: Arrange a welcome meeting.

Introduce your new client to the team that will be working on their account. Explain who handles each part of a project and clearly outline the project plan.

Go over goals again. If you use particular software or tools to contact your customers, you need to demo these products and get them set up. For instance, I use Slack to stay in touch with my clients and Calendly to book calls. So I'll get each set up on Slack, and they'll get access to my coaching calendar to book a call with me.

This is just one way I'm able to enhance their experience and deliver greater value.

Remember, using a business process like this can increase customer satisfaction. Where human intervention is not required, automate. It simplifies processes and reduces human error. The next step is to build your first business process. Here's how.

How to build an efficient business process within an organization

1. Start with goal setting.

Define your goals for each task in a process and decide what you want to achieve.  It might be to streamline operations, improve performance, and free up management to focus on growing your business.

2. Plan your process.

Once you've defined your goals, start planning your process. This often requires group discussions with all stakeholders involved in a process.

Who will work on what and when? What software is needed to achieve your goals? Something like Asana, a productivity management tool, could be massively helpful to your people when determining each step in your business process.

3. Map it out.

Now that you've identified your process workflow, map it out. Jot down what resources you need. Who does what and when? What tools are necessary? And any other important element.

Then analyze each step. What can be improved? What takes up the most time or requires the most resources? Can you include examples to help simplify the process? This all needs to be considered when creating your business process.

4. Assign each task in a process.

To implement your process, delegate which tasks your employees will handle and which tasks you can automate.

5. Test the process.

Try a dummy test. This is your chance to catch mistakes and discrepancies early and adjust accordingly.

6. Implement.

That's right, get your process up and running.

7. Monitor the results, review, and revise accordingly.

The first step to improving your processes is to pay attention to them. Just because things are getting completed, doesn't mean the processes are optimized.

Suboptimal processes cost your business money, and they waste resources and time. Work might be duplicated or not done at all, and deadlines may be missed.

Check in with your team and see if they have any helpful suggestions. By monitoring new processes, you're able to create better ways of doing things and, in turn, deliver value.

8. Repeat at scale.

Pretty much everything in your organization should have a business process, so once you've identified a gold standard process, roll it out at scale.

Key Terms

Business process mapping: Like a map shows you how to get from point A to point B, business process mapping visually details each step within an organization's operations.

For example, you might represent the process of writing and publishing a blog post or resolving conflict with customers in a workflow chart.

Use business process mapping to optimize operational procedures and ensure everyone in the company has visibility into how things get done. Remember, mapping makes the business process model possible.

‍Operational processes: Also known as core or primary processes, operational business processes are essential to delivering value to your customers. Core processes are the activities that keep your business up and running. Think of the things you do on a day-to-day basis that would halt your business if they didn’t happen. Those are your core processes.

Knowing which processes are necessary to keep your business functioning properly is a surefire way to keep your customers happy. If an organization spends too much time focused on secondary business processes, customer relationships may fail.

For example,  in some businesses, core business processes may include marketing, manufacturing, addressing customer questions or concerns, etc. It’s necessary to document these processes well.

‍Supporting processes: These are the processes that support and help manage an organization's operational processes. For example, in software development, you need accounting to manage the financial side of your business.

‍Process modeling: This is a visual representation of an organization's workflow or business processes. It shows the set of activities required for each task to be completed. Organizations use process modeling as a gold standard for getting tasks done timely and correctly. It removes confusion, improves performance and productivity, and reduces downtime. Process modeling is a crucial element of process automation.

‍Process improvement: A key feature of business process management (BPM), process improvement focuses on analyzing existing processes, identifying areas of weakness, and re-engineering them to enhance customer experiences to get better results.

‍Management processes: The purpose of management processes is to create more effective managers. These five functions make up a management process: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.

‍Business process automation: Using technology or software to perform essential repetitive tasks saves time and money.

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Are you ready to build your Business Process?

The primary goal of every business should be to create processes.

Now that you know how important business processes are for your business, it’s time to start building and implementing yours. As a business owner, you want to identify tasks that currently take up a lot of your time but don't benefit your business financially. Map them out, test them, assign them to key team members, and implement them as soon as possible.

Once you free up your time, you'll be able to focus on the facets of your business that drive growth. If you found this helpful, share this article.

Every business needs to know how to write a press release. Forget about social media. Public Relations (PR) is an essential component of your marketing strategy, and all it costs is your time.

Create breaking news that reporters and editors want to publish, and overnight you can attract qualified leads and build your authority.

It all starts with a good press release. That's why, in this article, I’m going to show you:

• How to identify something newsworthy (an angle or news story) that your target audience and its go-to media sources would care about
• How to write a press release and format it so editors and reporters take notice
• How to pitch your press release to journalists so it doesn’t get deleted or ignored

I’ll also include a free press release template you can download and examples for you to scrutinize and learn from. So let's get into press release writing.

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What is a press release?

A press release or news release (call it what you will) is a brief news announcement or statement sent to the media by a business or PR agency to inform the public about an upcoming event, product launch, company acquisition, and much more.

It can help a brand or company stand out and build a relationship with a particular publication or a news outlet’s audience. It’s about creating news and sharing a story that benefits the public.

A well-written press release provides just enough information for a  news outlet to run the piece as is or follow up with an interview.

Why write a press release?

As a small business, you probably don’t have a huge marketing budget. Paying for a full-page spread in a magazine or newspaper is simply too expensive.

1. Write a successful press release, and you can get free media coverage. If the media runs your news story, you can raise awareness about your brand, product, event, or story without investing in advertising.
2. It also builds credibility and authority. Remember, media outlets and their journalists have spent years building relationships with their target audience. They know what matters to their readers or listeners. So if they publish your press release, essentially, they’re saying your brand and the news or story you share is trustworthy. You can’t buy this kind of press.
3. Getting your press release published also helps with backlinks. Most media websites have a high domain ranking. Typically, they’ll link back to your company website, driving potential traffic. Google views these types of backlinks favorably because the media is considered to be reputable.  So it can increase your domain ranking.
4. Lastly, it’s a great way to manage a public relations crisis. Bad press is bad for business. You need to be able to respond quickly, and this is a great way to do it.

Do you need to hire a public relations firm?

Now you might be wondering if it's better to use a traditional distribution service to handle public relations for your company.

I prefer to keep things in-house. Yes, it can be time-consuming to build relationships with journalists, but you're building your intellectual property (IP). You're not waiting on someone else to write your press release. All you need to do is to have a good idea, write it, put it into a press release format and hit send.

Just download our free press release template and follow our step-by-step guide on press release writing, and soon you'll be creating news.

So let’s look at the types of press releases you can write.

Types of press releases

• Book launch - Publishing houses will write a press release to promote a new book launch or touring author. This is sent to book journalists and often includes an offer to interview the author, review the book or perhaps a giveaway for the media’s audience. This type of press release includes a brief synopsis about the book, the price, author’s name and book title, and the publicist whom the journalist can contact to arrange an interview.

• Product launches - A new product or service on the market is newsworthy. A product launch press release notes price, product specs, and availability.
• New acquisition or merger - A company merger is newsworthy, particularly if it impacts your customers. For example, it could be two medical schemes or airlines merging. In this case, you'd send a merger press release.
• Event - An event press release is an excellent way to get media coverage for your virtual or live event. It offers journalists something timely to share with their target audience. Examples include adventure races, grand openings, music or book festivals, conventions, and much more.
• New hires or promotions - Has your company hired someone noteworthy? It's not unusual for media in certain industries to share news about new company hires. Typically, this would be a niche publication.
• Raising awareness about a cause - Are you trying to raise funds for a good cause? An effective press release can help promote your cause or competition. Think of the Ice-bucket Challenge. It raised $115 million for ALS.

• Product updates - Big brands like Samsung or Apple will send a product press release whenever they launch a new product. This also allows journalists to test the new product and review it.
• Rebranding - As an established brand, it can be a risky move to rebrand your company. What if your raving fans hate it? But rebranding creates conversation, and it can attract a ton of new potential customers. The key is to get it right.

• Grand openings - A great way for new restaurants to attract potential customers is to send a grand opening press release. Invite the media to cover your launch and write about it. Entertainment or foodie journalists typically cover grand openings.

How to write a press release published

Journalists work on tight deadlines. Budgets are being slashed across the globe, and they now have to churn out multiple newsworthy stories each day. If you can make their job easier and provide a news story, they’ll take notice.

But it’s not just about the content you provide. How you structure your press release can impact the journalist’s decision to publish or ignore it.

So when writing a press release, it needs to be grammatically correct and ready to go. If the media can copy and paste your press release into their publication with minimal changes, all the better.

Formatting your press release

Keep in mind that a good press release format is essential when pitching your news to the media. You need to include these elements:

• A company or brand logo
• For your attention / immediate release PLUS Embargo details and dates if necessary and contact details (name, telephone number, email address)
• An attention-grabbing headline
• Include a sub-heading if necessary (one sentence (at most), providing extra information to help sell your story)
• Media release: Include your location and the date
• Intro / first paragraph: summarize your news in two or three sentences without repeating the headline.
• Body paragraphs/body copy: Tell a story, answer a question, include interesting facts or stats, as well as bullet points. Keep sentences short and punchy. Break up walls of text. Avoid repetition, fancy language, and jargon (unless required). Stick to the facts: who, what, where, when, why, and how?
• Quotes: Include one or two interesting sound bites that the journalist can use.
• Call-to-action: What do you want the audience to do next?

Note to editor: Also known as a boilerplate, this is a section where you include details about your company and contact information.

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*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***

*** UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL DATE & TIME *** (only if necessary)

ATTENTION-GRABBING HEADLINE (MAX 20 WORDS)

SUB-HEADING TO HELP SELL YOUR STORY ONLY IF REQUIRED

MEDIA RELEASE: City/Location, Date of Release e.g.: June 1, 2017:

INTRO: In two to three sentences, summarize your news in this paragraph.

BODY COPY: It’s secondary information which is relevant to the story.

• Who is the source of the news announcement?
• What is the news announcement?
• Where is this news occurring?
• When is this news occurring?
• Why is the news important to your reader?

INCLUDE ONE OR TWO INTERESTING QUOTES

ADD photographs, infographics, or videos

INSERT A CALL-TO-ACTION

Facebook – INSERT YOUR COMPANY PROFILE

Instagram – INSERT YOUR COMPANY HANDL

Twitter – INSERT YOUR COMPANY HANDLE

- END –

Note to Editors: For further information, images, or interview requests contact:Name: email address, phone number, mobile number

About: INSERT YOUR NAME/COMPANY NAME

‍Give a brief description about your company (no more than 150 words).

Use these tips to help write your press release:

How to write a press release

Keep in mind, the perfect press release follows these 10 rules.

Rule 1: Select a topic that will generate a buzz

Journalists love to be the first to share the news. So the topic you write about needs to be a scoop, news announcement, or data trend.

Rule 2: Ask yourself, Why would anyone care?

Before writing anything, put yourself in the journalist’s shoes and ask yourself:

• What’s in it for me and my audience?
• What’s the story?
• Why should I care?
• Why should I care NOW?

What value does your press release offer? PR can make your story more influential, but it needs to be factual, credible, and relevant to the publication you’re sharing it with.

Rule 3: Choose an impactful headline

It needs to be an attention-grabbing headline. Can you write something punchy, captivating, and informative? Here are a few ideas for a strong press release headline:

• Use numbers or statistics.
• Have a unique point-of-view.
• Make an audacious promise.
• Use what, why, how, or when.
• Be controversial. If you have an angle in opposition to a commonly held opinion or fact, that’s a great way to get the press's attention.

Rule 4: Create interest with a stat, controversial idea, or authoritative quote

The first paragraph of your press release must outline the topic you’re addressing and the argument that supports your position.

Journalists love data. Facts and figures lend credibility to a story, so if you can show some form of data, do it. But it needs to be the real deal. You can’t survey 100 of your closest friends and hope to be taken seriously. You need to accumulate information from at least 2,000 sources, and they need to be relevant to your industry.

Once you’ve got their attention, use the following sentences to expand on your position.

Rule 5: Establish credibility

To become a source, you need to establish credibility. And to do this, you need to specifically lay out what makes you qualified to speak about a particular subject.

• Have you written a best-selling business book or built a multimillion-dollar business in a year?
• Did you invent something that’s trending?
• Were you a speaker at a TEDx event?
• Have you broken a world record?
• Can you show social proof, for example, podcasts or publications you’ve been featured in?
• How many years have you been in business? Draw on your experiences, and if it’s beneficial to the press release, the mistakes you’ve made.

Basically, what have you done that can lend weight to your press release and make the journalist take notice of you? Make sure you include this information in your press release.

Rule 6: Tell your story in a nutshell

Can you explain what your story is about in three or four sentences?

• How does this impact others?
• Why is it important?
• Who should care?

The body copy is your chance to sum up the angle of your press release.

Rule 7: Keep your press release short

The optimal length for a press release is between 300 and 400 words. You want to give enough information so the journalist can run the story as is, without needing to arrange an in-person or Zoom interview.

You also want to align the tone of your press release with the publication's style and tone.

Stick to the facts, keep it concise, and don’t use flowery language or lots of jargon. Your press release needs to be immediately understood.  A good tip is to write so that a 14-year-old could understand it.

Rule 8: Format your press release

Unless you’re on personal time and reading a novel, walls of text can be intimidating and off-putting. Journalists want to be able to scan your press release and quickly pick out key points. To make your press release more readable use:

• Bullet points
• Numbered points
• Italics
• Bold
• Headers and subheaders

Rule 9: Include a call-to-action

The ultimate goal of your press release is to get a follow-up interview with the journalist. To do that, they need to know whom to get in touch with.

So at the very end of your press release, you must include your contact details:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number

For example, (Name) is available for interview or comment. (Include your landline or cell number and email address).

Rule 10: Close with a boilerplate

This is a short description (roughly 150 words) of your company or the author of the press release.

Top tips for sending your press release

1. Don’t bulk email

After putting all this effort into writing a press release,  you need to make sure you generate actual press for your story. Keep these eight tips in mind when sending a press release:

2. Personalize your pitch

Again, something as simple as writing the journalist’s name in the subject line can give you a leg up in the pitching process. Whatever you do, don’t include the wrong name. Another great tactic is referencing an article they’ve recently written that you particularly liked or felt was relevant to your press release.

Or consider taking a contrary view and have the data to back up your thought process. Compelling arguments are hard to resist, so give the journalist a reason to keep reading.

3. Watch your tone

This isn’t your pal, so while you want to be professional and friendly, it’s also important to keep your tone conversational.

4. Use your subject line to summarize the story in under 10 words

Email subject lines are powerful. You need to spend a good amount of time figuring out what would make the journalist stop scrolling and start reading your press release.

5. Explain why your story is interesting

Again, why should the journalist care? How does the information in your press release benefit the media's readers? What are they going to get out of it? If it doesn’t serve their audience, if it’s not new, they won’t publish it. So keep it concise and compelling.

6. Paste the press release in the body of your email

While some PR agencies might tell you to attach your press release, I prefer to include it in the body of the email. I’d also attach a high-resolution image of your company logo or yourself. Alternatively, include a shareable link to your Google Drive where they can download your press pack.

7. Connect with the journalist over social media

If you can, reach out to the editor or journalist and mention that you’ve emailed them. Some PR agencies suggest phoning the journalist. It really depends on where in the world the journalist is located.

In Australia, calling a journalist before you send your press release is good practice. But in the U. S., journalists don’t have time to answer your call. They usually prefer an email or a DM via Twitter or Instagram. So make sure you know the preferences of the journalist you’re engaging with.

8. Follow up two to three days later

If you haven’t heard back from the journalist in two or three days, send a follow-up email. Remember, reporters' inboxes are inundated with pitches from hopeful business owners much like yourself. Some land in their spam folder, so it’s a good idea to send a follow-up email. Something like this:

‍

Hey (their name),

It's (your name) from (brand/company). I'm just checking to see if you received my email about (topic). I sent it a couple of days ago and I'm available to talk things over whenever it's convenient for you.

(Mention why you think the topic would interest their audience. Does it take a stance, back up a new thought or trend?)

Here’s a high-level overview:

(State what the news is.

Mention why it’s important to their audience.

Include compelling stats or data.)

You can read the full press release here. (Make this a hyperlink to a Google folder.)

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

‍

You don’t want to send your follow-up email too soon or follow up more than two times. This will only irritate the journalist or, worse, make you look desperate. Your name and email address will go into their do-not-engage list, and you’ll never get featured in their publication.

Also, avoid boring subject lines like RE: or Checking In. Instead, rephrase it to include the journalist’s name, For example, Hey (name), I haven’t heard from you…

Example of a press release template

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Pitching on behalf of someone

Hi there,

I handle PR for (insert name), the (founder/owner/author/CEO) of (name of business). I’m getting in touch because (state newsworthy angle). Here’s why (this story) would be a great fit for your (publication, talk show, podcast, etc.):

(State why the content is relevant in three bullet points.)

(Close with a call-to-action (plus your business phone number and email address.)

(Include a link to your website and social media networks.)

P. S. (Brand, company, or your name) has an email list of over (00,000) (state the audience, for example, small business owners) that we'd be happy to share the article with.

Note: Paste in press release PLUS attach PDF version and high-resolution images.

Pitching as yourself

Hi (name),

My name is (your name), and I am the (founder/owner/author/CEO) of (your business). I’m getting in touch because (state newsworthy angle – hosting an event, raising funds for a good cause, launching a product, innovating a service etc.). Here’s why (this story) would be a great fit for your (publication, talk show, podcast, etc.):

State why the content is relevant with three bullet points.

(Close with a call-to-action (how to contact you: your business phone number and email address).)

(Include a link to your website and social media networks)

Kind regards,

(your name)

P.S. (Brand, company or your name) has an email list of over (00,000) (state the audience, for example, small business owners) that we'd be happy to share the article with.

NOTE: Paste in press release PLUS attach PDF version and high-resolution images.

Press release example

I’ve compiled a few press release examples you can use to inspire the writing process.

• Company announcement press release:

View the full press release here.

• Book launch press release:

Read the full full press release article here.

• Event launch press release:

• News announcement press release:

Read the full CNN press release here.

• Mergers and acquisitions press release:

Read the full story here.

Make free Press Apart of your Plan

And that's our guide on how to write a press release that gets media coverage. These are tried and trusted tips and techniques that we’ve used to get coverage for our brand. Make it newsworthy, get the format of your press release right, and don’t forget to list your contact information.

If you know how to write a press release that journalists want to cover, you'll always be able to generate free press for your story.

So make sure you include public relations in your marketing plan.

What are you waiting for? The media waits for no one, so start writing your business press release now.

If You Need Help, Consider The Lean Strategy Course

It covers how to build public relations into your marketing strategy. Plus, I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too.

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