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Make Your Event a Success

Lesson 23 from: How to Make a Living Selling What You Make

Megan Auman

Make Your Event a Success

Lesson 23 from: How to Make a Living Selling What You Make

Megan Auman

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Lesson Info

23. Make Your Event a Success

Lessons

Class Trailer

Session 1

1

Class Introduction

19:47
2

Define Your Big Goals: What Gets You Out of Bed?

31:09
3

Finding YOUR Ideal Number

37:12
4

How Much Should You Pay Yourself an Hour?

32:03
5

Who is the Ideal Customer for Your Products?

30:33
6

What is Your Customer Willing to Pay?

38:34
7

Pricing Your Products for Profit

31:06
8

Where Does Your Brand Need Work?

51:31
9

What Are The Strengths and Weaknesses of Your Products?

40:07
10

What Makes You a Great Business Owner?

36:19
11

What Should Your Product Be Now?

43:38
12

Bonuses w/ Purchase

01:33
13

Bonus w/ Purchase: Your MAL # (ideal #) in Detail

05:50
14

Bonus with Purchase: Testing Customer Profiles using Facebook ads

16:27

Session 2

15

Live Check In

40:19
16

Shift Your Money Mindset

43:12
17

How To Finance Your Business

33:57
18

Are You Ready to Crowdfund?

52:51
19

Analyze Business Opportunities

35:12
20

Test the Market by Entering with a BANG

50:33
21

Plan Your First Big Sales Event

55:31
22

Market and Promote Your Event: How to Build Buzz

57:00
23

Make Your Event a Success

54:17
24

Analyze and Move Forward

33:18
25

Bonus with Purchase: Calculating ROI

20:10

Session 3

26

Evolve Your Product Line

59:42
27

Create a Production Strategy

52:12
28

Plan for Growth and Future Revenue Streams

35:47
29

Your Big Business Vision

41:23
30

Draft Your Daily and Monthly Action Plan

44:09
31

Keep the Momentum Going

19:48
32

Live Check-in - Finale

28:59
33

Bonus with Purchase: Adjusting your MAL # with employees and contractors

15:16
34

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Catherine Utschig

00:54
35

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Christine Herrin

01:35
36

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Holly Tanner Straus

01:17
37

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Joy Jenkins

01:03
38

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Leah Drapkin

01:08
39

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Lisa Jones

01:12
40

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Monica Jacquay

01:12
41

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Richelle

01:13

Lesson Info

Make Your Event a Success

Hello everyone so today we are on lesson eighteen make your event a success and that's really our goal today, right? So we've been talking about this test market event it might be an online about my being in person event but we've been building and planning and learning how to market for this event and say we want to learn how to make it a success right when that final piece together so in the last lesson we created the marketing plan for your test market event and as you know that's really the secret right? We're trying to get people excited to buy before they actually can write that's super important but there are still some things that we can d'oh to improve our success rate during the bet and that's we're going to talk about today so we are in session to generate revenue quickly and we're in less than eighteen make your event a success so during your test market event you have two goals the first one is to sell your product right the theme of this session is generate revenue quickl...

y so ideally we want to sell product right that's cool number one but equally important especially if goal number one is not quite going you're right but even if it is is to gauge customer response so you can improve and adapt nobody get everything right about their business the first time out the gate right there are always going to be places that you can improve your product line, improve your presentation, improve your sales pitch there's always things to improve and the best way to know how to improve is to get products that out in front of customers engage their response right because what you think is important name may not be what they think is important, so we want to make sure that we're getting in front of them. So in this lesson we're going to focus on making the sale and in the next lesson we're going to talk about howto analyze and move forward, but that doesn't mean that while we're thinking about making the sale, you can ignore what's going on with the customer, right? We have to know how to balance and pay attention to both of those if you're doing an in person event and that feels super overwhelming, bring a second set of eyes right bring someone else to help you online it becomes a little easier but also a little more challenging because we're not interacting directly with our customers, right? But we want to keep both of those things in mind, but for now let's talk about making the sale because I think this is something that makes a lot of makes a lot of people nervous, right? Yeah, I see some nods in our studio audience, right who's scared of selling there are at least selling makes you feel uncomfortable, right? You don't seem maybe pushy right? So we want to kind of take that out here now again, the more strategic anticipation you khun build through that pre event marketing, the easier it is to get people to buy during the event, right? If they already know they want it, then making the sale can be as quick as hey guys, go here and buy it right here it is now available for you or maybe in person it's they know they want the scarf right? Let me help you find the right one right? That's what we're going for so the more you can do that marketing piece, the more strategic anticipation you can build the better, but we always have to work a little bit, right? There's still has to be some aspect, so effective selling combines that immediate attraction that kind of gut visceral attraction with a hook that gets people to seal the deal right? So this is a quote that I love. Pamela danziger said the prime motivator of desire is rooted in passion, not logic. I would like to tell the story I bought my last car and I have no idea why, but I really, really, really wanted a diesel volkswagen golf, I don't know why I did that was just what I wanted, right and then people are like, oh, well, this car gets better gas mileage. This car gets this whatever, but at the end of the day, I wondered what I wanted, and then I was able to look at all of those facts and justify the purchase, right gets good gas mileage, all those good things, right? But I just really, really wanted it. And when people really, really wants something that's way easier to sell, then trying to sell them on the logic, the fuel economy, guess mileage, the functionality of your piece, the story, but if they really, really want it, all of that stuff can help them justify it, but that stuff is hard to make the sale with. So for most of us, for what we're doing, that immediate attraction piece is the visual right, and then the hook, the thing that we used to steal the deal is verbal. So depending on what your event is, it could be the written copy where it could be the things that you say to the customer about it, right? But we want to suck them in first with the best possible visual presentation, so you need thio immediately immediately attract customers with strong visuals if you're doing it in person event, say, you're a craft show. Two seconds they're going to decide if they want to stop by your booth or not right same thing with a trade show with a trunk show yourself in somebody else's store there's a lot of other products right even if they came thinking they wanted to see you a lot of other stuff competing for their attention even worse online right half a second something doesn't hug him there out the door right how hard is it to get someone to click on just a second page on your site if the firm if the person doesn't hook him that's it they're gone right and then then you can make the sale with what you say or what you right right but you can't expect people to listen to your sales shell or read your copy if they aren't immediately attracted so let's talk about those visuals because they are super key to making the event of success and even though you're going to handle the visuals before the event actually starts they are such a key to succeeding that I want to talk about them again so for your online event anything that you're selling online it's your product photography that's it you can't escape it and I mentioned this in the previous lesson too if selling online is your primary market if you identify that that is the number one target market for you you need to invest time, money, education whatever fits in with your particular skill set you need to invest in your product photography there is no way around it right you have to do it and even if you're not selling online let's say that your target market is to get into stores but you want to do it by reaching out through catalogues any e mails sending your line sheet whatever it is just as important right? So if you're one of those people who like I don't like the face to face I don't like that contact and you better get really good at this or hire someone who's really good at this right and photos need to do more than just illustrate or explain a product they have to create desire I know that's easier said than done but that's what they have to dio so I'm gonna pick on monica for a minute you know monica look that's so when we were at your product page what you guys were trying to dio is you're trying to illustrate right? You're trying to say this is what the product does but your brand is about being a chic stylish mom and if you're a chic stylish mom, the first thing that you want to see is not the wipe yes we want the wife to be accessible and that's an important selling feature of the product right? But seeing the wife on top is not what's going to hook you on that product right you do a great job on your home page this she stylish she's put together barely see the wipers they're the kid is cute and happy this is that immediate attraction, but the problem is as we've talked about in previous lessons, right not everybody comes in through the front door rain they sneak in through a product page, they click over from something else right? So I'm not saying that this necessarily becomes your product image there is a certain visual language that happens on product pages for sure, but this is not attracting you to the product, right? Right? This becomes a second or a third or fourth image but not the thing that drives you and because this doesn't make me desire your product, it makes me think crap, we're out of wipes, right? Right that's what you that's what you're making someone think right there, right? So that's really the key is that you can illustrate and you do often need those images, especially if you have a product that's more complicated, but this is what attracts people in don't even know what the prophecy about like that mom seems happy and stylish the kid seems happy I want to know what's like what's her secret that's really what you're selling is like what's her secret toe look so put together and stylish right and every image should communicate that but especially the first immediate image that they see right all right, so the first exercise for you guys because you know I love to give pinterest hallmark right? I want you to create a pinterest board for product photography inspiration even if you're planning on in person event this exercise never hurts and in fact I do it before every single photo shoot that ideo particularly with a model right here's the reality when you're thinking about your product photography you do have to have those white background images somewhere they have their place they have their advantages but they never tell the whole story so you want to make sure that you've got something else is well, you know, we had tiffany whips on as a guest a few lessons back and I heard I was talking about this and she was like, yeah, I know I needed those white photos you know, for things like polly for reaching out to press but that's not what sells her product shoes on these beautiful natural backgrounds because that's what helps her product sell right? I do use white backgrounds, but it fits very clearly with my brand in my aesthetic, but I do a lot of model photography because that's what hooks people in right? So what you guys to create a pinterest board for product photography inspiration I keep mine private you khun dio either or but you go through and you figure out what you're doing right and I tend to do mind shoot by shoot right so this was my planning for the contra collection shoot right I do this I take screen grabs I printed out I take it to the shoot with me if you're working with a photographer if you don't have that skill set you can show them right I showed this to my model beforehand as well a lot of times photography becomes a team effort right even though we talked on previous lesson I do a lot of things myself I am not my own model right I got to bring somebody in for that so she's on the same page she's looked at these visual she has looked at these images she knows you know I also a lot of times we'll do aboard and print it out when I go shopping just to style the model right so I'm in the store like okay what are my target one of my target pieces what am I looking for? What am I thinking about right and then you're not going to copy exactly when you do these inspiration board you know I still put my own spin on it I still got a particular color palette I'm working on but spending some time doing this really hones your visual language it helps you find that point of view and if when you're doing this exercise you pin and you create this board that doesn't feel super cohesive right? Like this feels pretty cohesive if you're doing that and it doesn't start deleting because if your inspiration board starts out like a hot mess, your photo shoot is going to look like a hot mess to write, so spend some time on they're looking for the inspiration honing that visual language and then you can see how it carries over for me, right? So I translates into everything but then I also in view infuse that additional point of view of that kind of really strong black, white and gray because those are my brand colors, right? So that's your first exercises to create that pinterest board now if you're doing an in person event, the key visual is the display, right? So we've got the products were in person we don't have to worry necessarily about photos, though of course you're gonna need them for your your pre marketing right? But the display has to hook people in, and one of the mistakes that I see people make when they're thinking about their display is that they start with the space that they have to design in and they try to fit that and that's the wrong way to think about it right don't design for a specific location or event, define your aesthetic and then create a set of display pictures that can be adapted to any situation and of course that make your products pop right? It is possible I've been there to have a display that over shadows your product I remember once I was like going as planning for new york and I had this cool idea that I was going to take all these photos with my model like her hands outstretched and then I printed them out and I use pins I hung the jewelry so it was like she was holding the necklaces people came up and they're like, what a clever display and then they walked away wait look at the jewellery look at the jewelry right so it is possible to be too clever in your display think that's really important to remember right? The product should be first and foremost but the display should make it pop and really support your brand. And so you want to develop this visual language this set of pictures and then you can adjust the arrangement to reflect traffic flow and space right when the space changes. When the show changes, you're not redesigning and recreating the fixtures you've got this set and then you're figuring out what what works best for your show flow so I have several key pieces that I use you know they make my products pop, they help him stand out I had this visual language, you know, when I first started everything was like white walls and then I put the product on and it was way too white so for me it's about this sort of layered effect right the dark and then the light and then the dark product again really helps my product pop right? And of course I like black white and gray, right? But I can take these pictures and maybe I'm doing a trade show where I'm flying right monica we talked about that suitcase both of you, right? This is a suitcase booth I rented tables there they use their pictures and I set it up what I love to always have my beautiful hard crazy yes, but you still got the impact you still get the poppet still draws people in and if I'm doing something else you know I did the sfmoma jewelry jewelry trunk show all you get is a little table right? So I can take the same fixtures I don't have to redesign I did have to remake I don't have to rebuild but they go from here to here to here and they create that immediate visual attraction. The other thing that people do now, obviously my aesthetic is pretty minimal when it comes to display, but a lot of people go way too far to the other side right there's so much stuff that people can't tell what's the product and what's the display and that's something else you can listen to during the show to get that feedback right? I used to use it I thought it was super clever right when I first started and I had these rolls of paper and I would stick him in my booth and hang hearings on them and then I realize that an outdoor show they're going to blow away so that I would start putting rocks in the bottom right and people will look in and be like oh look it's a rock like is the rock for sale I was like no why the jewelry's for sale people are not always smart right? You have to plan for that when you're designing with no the rock is not for sale it's not it's just it's just a hole this way down right so keep stuff like that in mind you know that thing that you found at the flea market might be really cool but what can you d'oh so that it becomes the background piece that makes the product pop and not something that fights for attention, right? So once you've got those pictures then you can play around with the space and we're actually giving you guys a bonus lesson if you purchase this class on and it's pulled from my previous class tell your products to retailers so then we'll talk about how this idea of flow how you can kind of go through and adjust your pictures to make that work right, but the main key is that you want to find that strong visual aesthetic. So just like we did with your product photography, make a pinterest board, right, make that board for your booth design and the other mistake that I see people make when they're thinking about a pinterest board for their booth design is they go into pinterest and they search booth design ideas and yes, you're going to get booth design ideas, but then you're gonna make a booth that looks like everybody out else's instead mine your existing pinterest account, look for what's clearly your aesthetic, and pop that in as your inspiration, right? So for me, it's like, oh, that was a cool living room or, like that's, an interesting kitchen, or even like, oh, I really like the color palette of this woman's outfit because, of course, it's, black, white and gray, right? Let's, be honest, it's me, we're talking about here, that's, what you want to look for, and then you can decide what the display needs to be around it, right? But don't just be like, oh, both ideas, then you make something, looks like everybody else, and you're gonna lose that immediate visual pop that bringing people in it would be like especially me like a craft show or trade joe seen it seen it seen it seen it seen it and they'll walk right past right we don't want that we want oh my god this is the most amazing product I've ever seen and they don't realize that they have been drawn in because it was the display that led them to it right and again this takes time I did not start with this I showed you guys a picture of that really awful booth right? So part of this also comes from observing the audience while you're in the event right observing how people respond to the booth so aim for close which I've tried this with monica aim for close but then use your test market event as an opportunity to gauge how people are responding right so they think the rockets for sale are they not looking are they afraid to step into your booth because you've got that diving board effect of lycopene kink over the line can't go in pay attention to those things because then you can adapt and change them for your next event and you're next to it and your next event right? So then the second piece of this is we've got those strong visuals but we also need to then look at how you're going to make that final hook how you're going to make that final sale right? And so we're going to do that with your product descriptions and your sales pitches sales pitches we're not going to memorize the script that you repeat verbatim for customers right? It's much more conversational it's much more interactive but it's easier to do that if you have an idea of what you're working towards right? So your second exercise is that I want you to rewrite your product descriptions or your sales script to reflect the emotions and the stories behind your product so we can talk about what that looks like right? So once we've attracted people through those visuals then you ca n't tell them about your products or have them read your copy I'm gonna pick on monica again for a minute you're in trouble you were in my previous classes on your website a lot as I was writing this one right? So you've got this whole explanation right? There's not a lot of people reading it hate to break it to you right? But they're not because there's nothing about this that makes them want to know more write the other thing for you guys is your product is so demonstrable that you'd be much better off with the video there anyway, right? Something they can see in a couple seconds understand nobody reads on the internet anymore they might they might if they're looking for news right? But if they're looking for a product they're probably not reading that the reading anything about a product they're reading other people's reviews right? They don't care what you have to say about it this is a really classic example of show don't tell but you still want that there because there are a few people who read right but we have to hook them with that strong visual first what would this be a good case for a gift? You know, when it just kind of repeats the you could you could actually put a gift in their words like fold fold unfold and it's like the image just loops itself I don't want platform you're built on so it may very well that a gift you know the gifts are like those little animated yeah yeah yeah but I'm like a gift right now but it depends on what you're your site supports it may just be better off being a real short video it just not every site supports that as an example in their product, right? Um but then the other thing that we want to think about is that we want to move people along the line from features to benefits to emotions and stories because again it's passion right it's passion that makes the sale and we want to kind of think about it in this idea of you in the newspaper industry they have the inverted triangle right? So the most important thing comes first and when a lot of people write copy they think the most important thing is the feature or the benefit it's not it's an emotion it's that story it's how the product is going to make you feel they want to see right so you're kind of starting here the only affordable right feature feed your feature feature feature what it really should be is like you could be the chic est bom in the block because you're not fumbling for wipes anymore because you don't have to bring the big bag you know whatever those things are but you start with that emotion you start with the story you start with even just the benefit you guys are are here you're not even here yet right we want to move you even further along but if we could get an emotion and then a couple of benefits that's still better than feed your future future future future right so just to give you another example of what that looks like so in my work the feature is it's made from steel that means nothing to my customer right the benefit is that it's lightweight and durable that's better but gives us a little closer but really what I want to show people is they can wear this big piece of jewelry and it's easy and it's stress free right? It doesn't always happen with big jewelry right? So I want them to see that and I do that by telling stories I do this a lot when I'm selling in person when I met shows you know, so I talked about when I travel I just toss it in my bag and and while I'm doing that I'm literally I'll just scoop up the closest necklace to me in a big handful and drop it back on the table so it's not just telling a story there's a whole picture that I'm painting right? So I just drop it in my bag and when I get where I'm going I pull it out it's fine I toss it on I'm ready to go has way more valuable to my customer then it's made from steel right? Who cares? So that's what I want you guys to dio as your first step is figure out what are the stories? What are the emotions? What can you say and how can you say it concisely right? I have just my couple of little stories that I tell again and again I always tell people that sales is a little bit like stand up right you test your material, you go in, you test, you gauge the audience response if you get a good response it goes in your act the next time if you don't you let it go maybe you try it once more with a slightly different delivery see if it works but you're always adapting but the difference between sales and stand up is that at an event you get to try it over and over and over and over and over again you don't have to wait till the next night where the next open mike night or whatever it is right a falls flat on the first customer you tried on the next one you try something a little different on the next one you see what people respond to and I have a couple that I rotate through depending on the conversation that I'm having with a customer but I tell the same stories a lot you're going to hear them a lot right you're going to get so bored with your stories the people helping you are gonna get so bored with your stories but it's fresh and new to every customer and you have to deliver it like it is right so let's go ahead and do a couple hot seats because I wanna walk you guys through this feature benefit emotion and story and it's actually in your workbook ahs well so you know if you're the kind of person who's been selling on features and benefits you can start there and then use that to help you figure out what are the emotions and what are the stories that you want to tell help communicate those emotions because I can say you feel easy you'll feel easy and stress free and confident but that's not very convincing, but when I tell that story they get the emotion out of it, right? All right, who wants to jump up here for hot seat come off and they'll take michelle next you're already taken on you anyway, we might as well uh, yeah, we'll get you sorted out, right? Yeah, totally. All right. So right now you're selling a lot of features, right? Right. So how could we move that along? So can we focus on one? Yes, but that is perfect, but let's focus on one product. Let's do the nursing school because I feel like I have a handle on the perfect. All right, so what you happened to be wearing happen to be wearing awesome. So the feature is that it's an infinity scarf that converts into a nursing cover. The benefit is that you will have maximum privacy to people of breastfeed wherever you want and, um, it's already on you, so I have to worry about packing anything. Okay, um what what's the emotion. So the emotion I think, would be the freedom, the freedom to be able to breastfeed wherever you want whenever you want. I know that you have privacy to do it forever, right? Because how many moms are scared to go out with their babies, especially in the beginning, because they don't want to have to try to breast feed in public. They don't want to have to try to find a space right you might you might find a bathroom, but there's no place to sit right there. There's a lot of anxiety that happens, especially for new moms around that. So that is, freedom is absolutely that emotion. You have that freedom. You're not chained to your house, and I would say to its that not only is it freedom, but it makes it a little easier to enjoy the same life that you had before the kid, right? Right? Because the kind of mom who's gonna want to go out is the kind of mom who was doing that before, right? She wants to go have lunch with her girlfriends, right? So it's having, like, the baby changes much less right? Right? You have that freedom to go out totally right? So what kind of gruesome stories that you can tell to support that and that's what I'm like? Do I go my own personal story or, like a for instance, you can go, I think, it's more of a, for instance, story so like, for instance, if you're out at lunch, right, having coffee or something, all right, having coffee with the girls, right? And it's really that's really all it is it's those little details so it's not a specific story that's like let me tell you about customer x y z right what it is it's just those little triggers those specific details that remind them of the life that they want right? So so you're out having coffee with the girls and you couldn't do that and your babies immediately fussing you're right, I don't need to get up and go right? Or I could just quickly have, right? And the beauty for you is I'm actually make you do it. You can demonstrate that while you're telling a story because you're wearing it right, you're mike has not clipped it's clipped your shirt right? How does that work? I want it. I want you to tell the story and do it the same time when you can combine the story with the demo right now, it's not let me show you how it works, it's oh someone you're out with your girls so you could be having conversation baby gets fussy picked baby up don't worry about it just hold baby right here flip this around cm doing this ball with one hand babies under boob is in mouth right on then you pick up, you keep going with the conversation, right? Yeah, right so it's not just look, let me demonstrate this this is how it works it's look how easy it is to do it while I'm maintaining eye contact with you breaking up my coffee cup, right and so it's something they're not thinking like oh that's! Nice like what am I going to use it? It's like, oh my god, I can go have coffee with the girls now and not have to find a sitter or worry if the baby fusses that's huge, right that's a huge draw. Enough to pump right there's. Such a big draw, right? You say you want something else? I mean, one of the biggest things is your life doesn't have to change that right period. Like you don't even realize how much you anticipated changing totally so that could that that's. Right, paul it right? You can bring the baby along. You still feel like you you can still do the things you did before you still feel chic and put together because that's, the other thing when I look at you wearing this, I don't think nursing cover right? And there are some really ugly nursing covers on the market. I know you know that that's what you made a better one, yeah, yeah, so right you don't you're not like oh look he's wearing understand cover here like what a cute scarf where did you get that right totally you're also going to get that reaction that's another story you could tell right? Just that idea of like you're going to get so many compliments on this and people aren't going to realize that you're wearing anderson cover right, which is another big deal I think write write write awesome thank you so much, tonto we send you down there so we're going to pop you up here we'll do one more and then the other thing that I want to say is as you start to get these stories right, then the best thing is practice practice practice right practices in the different scenarios get really comfortable telling them with people and then it's easier to do it when you're in that scenario because sometimes you get that sale scenario suddenly you're like, oh, I know I have this but like my mind's a blank because now I'm like, I'm supposed to be selling know you're not supposed to be selling you're supposed to be storytelling right? That's what you're doing all right let's talk about you what we're talking about the constant photopc right? So what are the features of benefits have you been selling them now you are kind of on specific features or um yeah, just like preserving memories goes so what do you talk about in your sales copy? Um I've actually it's evolved a lot over even taking theo but uh yeah it's telling trying to tell other people stories and not just the story of the of the product, right? But the one thing that I think you really have to be careful of when you say telling other people stories, you use a lot of testimony, right, which is good but you also want to use a little bit of that you focused language like you can do this you will get this because people sometimes have a hard time imagining themselves in someone else's shoes, right? If we all could do that, we would have no problems in the entire world, right? We have no war, we have no crime, we have no hate be perfect, but as we know, people can't do that right? So you have to give them that really you centric language sometimes to really drive it home. So what would you say if you were tying someone about the piece? Um that day will look the gift giver will look like a gift giving rock star it'll be impressive they'll get great feelings give it you're gonna win christmas right? And I actually can't take credit for that when I remember anna from an apple talking about that one time like customers like they win the baby shower right when they give that as a gift, right? So yours they win christmas or they win the birthday so that's a big thing right there is like, not just like you're going to feel good giving the gift you're giving the best gift, right? Right? Because it's kind of a big essentially if you have multiple people in your family were competitive givers in my house like you want to be the one who wins christmas where I am by your mom's favorite and oh, yes, right there, the favorite by giving her this amazing gift, right? That this part doesn't seem that complicated if I put some effort into it, I think you'll figure it out, but I kind of want to like what we were talking about before tell the story about the ease of ordering, like, make that a story that I also tok. So you're thinking about that online or at an in person in line because I know I'm always going to sell online, right? Perfect. So how are you currently? So I have to admit that I looked at your site and I couldn't actually figure out how to order one, so that right there is a problem, so you're definitely not telling that story well, but how are you telling it right now? I think I just have a paragraph that says it's easy to order all you do is send me your photographs, I take them and process them and, you know, involve you as much or as little as you want, so that's, right? And you're also missing first of all, you're missing the key element the buy now button right there, there's nothing in there that tells me where I go to buy, right? We want to be super obvious spelled that out, right? So click here to buy this or click here to shop or whatever it is, right? Because I think the other thing that you're missing is not just the ease, but like how they make the decision about which one, right? Which piece of george todo right so like, okay, car, the orders are they getting the necklace or that getting you're so you're kind of you're missing all of those things, right? So this might be a case where you don't actually need a better story, you eat a clear call, the action okay, may really be what you're missing, and I think that's really that's the thing is, you know, you want to tell the story and you want to give all of this on dh, then, like you took your foot off the gas right before you're supposed to make the sale right right you didn't you didn't you didn't wantto for the sale let me tell you how great this thing is okay great what do I do right and so you want to spell it out really simple click this button choose the one you want and then I would say something like you'll get an email within twenty four hours requesting pictures right so it also takes the pressure off of them right if we don't we would love it if they can upload it online but if that's not an option or if that's not an option yet you want to give people really clear things so whether it's storytelling or kind of this detail detail is key don't make them assume because if they have to assume they're going to just go away it feels too hard they're going to just go away right? So you click the button by now you've been an email within twenty four hours so that you can send the images and then you'll get your peace within x days okay so they also know that because gift givers on a time crunch right right so you want to let them know what the time frame is that they can expect yes and then the other thing that I think that you can dio is also give them an option so that when they see that timeframe if they realise they've missed it help them remember for next time okay and the way they do that is by joining the mailing list, right, mr opportunity to give this, join our mailing list so you can remind so we can remind you about our order deadlines for the next holiday, ok? Because then you can remind people christmas coming mother's day is coming, and really you could actually spread out that season by giving people incentives to order in advance of mother's day in advance of christmas, right? Help them give them an incentive to not be last minute, right? Yes, something else that you can think about is well on dh you could also just offer a service, you know, like, if this is going to be late, we can send you an image that you can wrap up and show them what's coming or, you know, we can give you like, a teaser and maybe they don't want to spoil the surprise, you know, you could also help them kind of deal with that as well. But again, if those really clear details that are going to help make this sale for you because that's what's really missing on your website right now is actually making this cell right that's the hardest part because you're just like, well, they know it's there, so they don't they buy, but yes, they don't know it's there and they don't like I said, I loved and I couldn't figure out I was like, how do I buy this? I have no idea, right? I'm a smart person if I couldn't figure it out. There's a lot of people. I recently changed my page. So maybe you saw the old one because I think when did you change? I looks like two days with the start of the yeah, yeah. No, I love to write what I looked. I looked very closely. Oh, ho ho. Yeah. And you want to keep it as clear as possible. And this is another case as well. Where, you know, we're not selling info products. A long form sales page is probably not serving you as well. I think it is right immediate, visceral reaction, key emotions, details on how they need to buy. Okay, and then below that if you want to add in the testimonials in the stories and things like that, you can okay, but the people who are hooked immediately, they don't need to read all of that. Just tell him where to buy it. All right? So, yes, that's, we're gonna work on for you is getting brave enough to ask for the sale. Including on your web page right so and then it's the same thing so I wantto while you're up here I want to know about one more thing really quick in terms of asking for the sale because I know that we're talking about you doing some in person events as well and so you know you're gonna have to figure out what the kind of visual details are how you display how you communicate you're going to need some sign ege but it's going to be super basic it's not telling whole story it's like custom photo pendants that's the whole sign right? Okay, I'm not you could see it my booth and I'm not a big sign ish person no one reads text in your booth right but you want them to know that they're not getting that picture they're getting their picture right so really custom photo pendant or custom photo jewelry that's all you know you got the word custom so they know that me and something special now and then you can engage people and so in your case when you're doing that sales process you know you can tell them this is what I dio we put this on here they make amazing gifts you're gonna win christmas don't be afraid to say things like that or you're going to be your mom's favourite when you get her this way she's gonna love you more than all the other kids based on this gives you alone right don't be afraid to say stuff like that but then once you've got them excited you can also start to ask questions you know are you looking for a gift when would you need it by and then don't be afraid teo ask for the sale like you know what you're probably okay I get it online you like you can but if you want to write an order here it's a little bit less we can get you all taken care of and then I'll shoot you an email within twenty four hours to grab those pictures don't be afraid to ask for the better in person yeah yeah and I think that's key to but you could do the same thing online yeah and and really help that awesome awesome thanks all right so let's talk about a couple other keys that have to happen at your event so in addition to drawing people in we also have to think about customer service right that's really our job we're there to serve the customer so I know all of this is super obvious but I also know that almost nobody does it or not enough people do it right so if you're adam in person event smile right goes a long way smile not the crew not the creepy smile that I just did other likea riel genuine smile right now like you're the joker make I contact look at people if you're not good at this remember we're playing our strength if you're not good at this don't try to do it in person event figure out how to sell it online right if you're not good at this but this shouldn't feel hard right smiling, making eye contact and saying hello feels hard to you then there's probably not your damn right get those product photos better and work on that online audience right saying hello is huge germany people walk around shows trade shows craft shows stores like this on their phone let me check whatever it is I'm texting someone I'm paying tenant facebook looking for that thing on pinterest like I don't know why people going public if they're going to do that right but they dio right if you say nothing they stay here if you say hi how are you there like oh hey there's a person here oh hey there's product right? I cannot tell you how many sales I've made by saying hi to a person who wasn't looking at me right huge thing the other thing is you have to stay positive even when it sucks even when it sucks so bad that all you want to do is leave and go home and pour a glass of wine and put on your sweats and getting a bad right chances are a lot of times you can also keep a glass the line underneath your table that helps right, that helps you stay positive, right? You have to wait till you get home, drink that glass of wine that really makes a big difference, but you have to stay positive till the bitter end because you don't know the person who loves your product and wants to buy five or ten or write a two thousand dollar wholesale order maybe the last person to walk into your booth. And if you've packed up, whether that's, actually or mentally you missed that opportunity, you never know I was at that show that I was just talking about some previous lessons that did not go well, and one of the show staff was like, I can't believe you're still so positive. Well, I'm not going to make a sale if I'm miserable, right? It's not gonna happen. I'm going to stay positive, gonna make friends with my neighbors who have booze. I'm just going to make the best of it, right? At the end of the day, there are worse places you could be. I didn't awful awful renegade brooklyn in the rain and I was driving home and I was like, this is the worst I'm never going to do this again for the record, I pretty much gave up retail shows after that, but I was like, this is the worst you ever stopped, like the rest station to get something to eat and then I was like, oh, you don't look happy now, but I'm having a really bad day and he's like I've been here since five a, m and I was like, oh, standing in the rain having a bad show, it's still way better then spending like twenty hour shift at a fast food joint on the turnpike, right? There are worse places you could be, so we want to stay positive and we want to collect those email addresses, right? Lead, capture, lead generation if you can't make a sale, at least generate some interest, get him in there, be able to contact them again super important, right? Okay, you don't make any sales, but she came out with twenty people who are interested in your product twenty more people than you had on a mailing list before they started, right? All right, so it's a little different, obviously for an online event, we can't smile and say hi to people you ken but it's not quite the same, it always feels a little more still korean creepy online, right, but you still need to be accessible if your test market event is a one day thing be around make sure you can keep an eye on your phone right? Don't make your test market event online launch the same day that you have a big presentation at your day job, right? You want to be able to respond to people to answer questions no, keep your phone on I usually have a thing where if I launch I usually get out of the house after I like send that e mail just because of the rise you're like so I sell something did I sell something? I saw something but I still try to keep an eye on everything I have my push notifications come through on social media jump into my e mail just to make sure but no one's asked you I want to show people are asking me questions that I can respond really quickly because I was a quick response is the difference from the sale and not a sale right and let people know that you're accessible a lot of times I end my emails with if you have any questions replied to this email reply to this email is one of the best calls to action you can put in anything right you're not trying to sell someone something or if you're trying to make a longer sail reply to this email, reply this email to get our new line sheet right reply to this email to order your custom pendant for mother's day right that's super clear super clear called action and all they have to do is hit reply it's easy it's clear it's easy on those sneaky tricks that also then just creates audience engagement right? Maybe you're trying to get people excited for the launch apply to this email and tell me which one is your favorite you're gonna get a lot of responses but you might get a couple that's really valuable information right throughout the event you need to pay attention to the way people respond and react to your products right? You need to be watching all of the time it's fun people watching this fun right now is going to channel that right? How are people responding? What are they looking at? What are they doing? And again if that feels really unmanageable for you in an in person event, bring a second set of eyes and let them in on the plan like, hey, we're trying to gauge customer feedback I also keep a notebook right? Any in person about to keep a notebook someone walks away my room we talked about this they like to this thing what whole session I'm like oh, that was this store oh look there kid went to college at the same place I did look whatever it is right, write it down, write down what people are looking at write down what people are buying keep track of that because later you're going to look it like your squares orders that you've processed you're like I know how much and I can't remember what they bought right write it down keep track of what people are buying keep track what people are looking for it the more you can write down, the easier it is to analyze at the end of the day and you can even do this online right before I do a launch or the morning of a product launch, I go into my evernote, we create a file for that launch. They write down all of my stats all my social media followers, how many people are in my mailing list and then at the end of the launch I can go in. This is what sold this is how quickly this is the dollar amount. This is the a d s but because I wrote those stats down, I can also figure out what I converted for my audience, right? And sometimes I'll even write them down at the start of a launch cycle that I know like, oh, doing this launch cycle generated fifty, new email subscribers, right? You can see those results so you can write these things down on line two, you know, I'm partial to ever know you can use whatever you want google docks if you have a notebook that you don't lose, I lose every notebook I own so I never noticed the best tool in the world but whatever it is right it down right? Because you think I'll remember that and you don't I only remember the things that I've written down, I could go back through my I am I do have a binder for trade shows that that stays with me, right? I have the sales written down for every day of every trade show that I've done when I'm in a show I can flip back and say, well, this show last year this is what I did on this day this is what stores I saw this is when they wanted their order for I'm never gonna remember all of that, but it's hugely insightful to have all of that written down so the more you can write down the better right? And then your number one goal, of course, is to self right that's why we're working on that presentation, it's why we're working on moving from features and benefits to emotions and stories and also asking for the sale, right? So I were doing all that, but if you aren't selling or you aren't selling as much as you'd like, then your goal is to learn right it's to learn everything that you can so you can make improvements and move forward and that's, we're going to talk about in the next lesson, so we're goingto analyze your test market event and make that plan for moving forward. But before we go let's look at today's homework, so I want you to create a pinterest board for product photography, inspiration or booth design, aesthetic or both. You know what? It's fun, that's, fun homework, right? Never been in school and, like, make a pinterest board right fun homework so you might not make both right, and I want you to rewrite your product descriptions or write a sales script. By that I mean shot down those couple of stories that you're going to tell us. You know, while you're selling to rewrite, those descriptions are those scripts focusing on emotion and story, and then your extra credit is to share a product with an updated description on social media. Share link. Let us see how you've changed that story and of course, use our hashtag make love cell and I will see you guys in the next lesson.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Class Workbook
Private Facebook Group Invite
MAL in Detail - Numbers Template
Editable Bootcamp Workbook in Pages Format
Editable Bootcamp Workbook in Doc Format
Cost Plus Pricing Elements Bonus Video
How to Talk About Your Products Bonus Video
Trade Show Traffic Flow Bonus Video
Visual Branding Basics Bonus Video
MAL in Detail - Excel Template

Ratings and Reviews

user a03f28
 

Love the shorter and longer format to this class. It keeps me interested and I don't have to schedule a whole day at once, during the free play. Well worth the money if you pay for the class too. Megan is amazing! She really knows business, marketing and has strategies which apply to all kinds of businesses. The work book is 150 pages long and breaks everything down into small bits and teaches you to really think about all aspects of your business. Where you were, are now and best of all where you want to be and how to get there. Highly recommend any of her classes. Thank you so much Megan and Creative Live for bringing us such wonderful content!

user-e2bf69
 

This course was totally awesome!!! I cannot express enough how fantastic Megan Auman is, what a great teacher she is, and am so thankful she offered it for FREE!!! Wow!!! It was exactly where I was at, stuck and frustrated. Exactly what I needed to begin to get my business off the ground. I am currently implementing all I have learned from her. Rebranding my self, rebuilding my website, new product shots, model shots, list building, etc., etc. I am still connected with the Facebook group, and that is awesome we have that connection to continue helping each other out and using each other as a sounding board. I plan on purchasing the course as soon as I can. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this course to anyone who is struggling to get their business off the ground and going!!!

user-3f5a23
 

Thank you Megan for this opportunity. I really liked the first classes. You indicated interesting directions to think about. Even though life verifies the rest it is still worth to become smarter. Great Work! Best regards from Poland. Ewa

Student Work

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