Jane Hamill

Increase revenue using content & email marketing.

Podcast

Calling All Entrepreneurs: Stop Wasting Time on Instagram

Stop wasting time on Instagram for your small business!

Instagram is NOT a marketing strategy. It’s only one piece of a strategy. And yet, so many entrepreneurs obsess over it and it frustrates me.

I have a question for you and please be honest.

How much time do you spend on Instagram?

And what’s the ROI of your time spent? Are you making money with Instagram?  Is the effort you put in resulting in sales in a significant way — or any way at all?

This week, I’m not exactly sure why, so many of our members came to the coaching session and were really frustrated with Instagram.

What am I doing wrong with Instagram? Why isn’t this working better? What am I supposed to be posting? What’s the aesthetic? How do I get my brand message across? Why can’t I grow my account?

My response…guys, stop wasting so much time on Instagram!

There are a few ways to use it that are important and great. I’m not dissing on Instagram. I’m just telling you, it’s not driving that much traffic for that many people.

There are 3 main ways to use IG to actually move the needle on your business growth. Do these 3 things and you will see better results.

Listen below or watch the video to hear more:

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher
Radio

Show Notes:

  • How to Build a Following BEFORE You’re Even Ready to Sell, Online Workshop

And tell me this…

Are you interested in a 7 day video challenge to help grow your email list? If so, just type “I’m in for the video list building challenge!” in the comments below.

I love hearing from you.

xoxo Jane

Q&A with Jane: Questions from the Build a Following Students

I’m changing things up a bit. Today’s podcast is rapid fire Q & A day. I just had the most fantastic experience with the students from my Build a Following Before You Have a Product Ready to Sell and I want you to hear just a few of the great questions I got.

First, here are the 6 Steps to building a following that we go through in the course:

  1. Who’s your ideal customer and your marketing message
  2. Build a list
  3. Get a home base
  4. Create content and add value to your ideal customers lives
  5. Show up
  6. Increase your reach – tentacles

We like to think that we can sell to anyone who has money. but you can choose your customer. Think about it… Who do you most want to see using your product or service? The key to having a really successful you need to choose your niche and your ideal customer, meaning they like what you do, they get it and see the value and have access to money.

Here’s a sample of some questions I received:

“I’m still having trouble with the ideal customer. What if I don’t know personally know a real person or know of a real person that could be my ideal customer?”

“For posting videos, do you post directly to your blog, and then directly to your Instagram, then directly to your Facebook  so that every platform you want to post them is done separately or is there a way to link them?”

“How much in advance should we talk about content that is related to some holidays?”

Listen here to find out Jane’s answers:

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher
Radio

“You really should focus on product development at the same time you focus on customer development.” -Jane Hamill

Show Notes:

  • How to Build a Following BEFORE You’re Even Ready to Sell, Online Workshop

I love hearing from you! Let me know what you think of this format or if you have other topics you want to hear, leave me a comment below.

Jane

 

6 Steps to Extreme Productivity with Stephanie Wasylyk

There’s a lot going on in the world right now and there are so many things that demand our attention.

I find my thoughts racing — a running stream that gets crammed together…

…police brutality, racism, protests, Covid-19, homeschooling, Black Lives Matter, I need to do more, I should be reading more books, did I pay the electric bill, when is that Spanish test for kid #2, what’s my content for the membership next month, damn I need a haircut, Say Her Name, why did they shoot her, why isn’t that lady wearing a mask, what did I tell my business coach I would accomplish this week, WTF is wrong with our President, how fast can Instacart get here, pizza again, good moms probably don’t serve pizza 3 nights a week, how much wine is too much, I need to water the plants…

I’m not implying that my haircut is on the same level of importance as Black Lives Matter.

Hell no.

But the entrepreneurial crazy brain is BUSY right now. Are you feeling it too?

It’s difficult to focus.

So let’s pause for a moment. Just STOP the racing thoughts. Take a deep breath and focus on business for a little bit.

My guest this week is business coach Stephanie Wasylyk. Stephanie runs the Monday morning “Next 3 Steps” accountability calls for my monthly membership program.

She’s an expert at helping entrepreneurs go from overwhelmed and frustrated to having clarity and a plan by determining the next 3 most important steps.

Like a laser beam, she can spot the BS work that seems important and switch it to the money making activities.

Stephanie shares 6 ninja productivity steps and you can download the EXACT weekly worksheet we use for our members – for free!

Download your FREE “Next 3 Steps” worksheet here:

 

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher
Radio

Show Notes:

  • How to Build a Following BEFORE You’re Even Ready to Sell, Online Workshop
  • Business Coaching Membership with Jane and Stephanie, Imperfect Action Membership
  • You can download the exact weekly accountability worksheet we use for our coaching members by clicking the button below…

Download the “Next 3 Steps” worksheet

Thanks for listening,

Jane

I’m Listening…

It’s been an incredibly emotional week. Our hearts are breaking.

It’s hard to care much about email marketing or content when the world’s on fire.

So I won’t even try.

Today, I’m just  listening.

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher
Radio

 

“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

–Stephen R. Covey

#blacklivesmatter

Thanks for being here,

Jane

I’m Feeling Behind in My Business and I Hate It. What Can I Do?

Heads up! If you want to build an audience for your business from SCRATCH, our best-selling workshop has been completely updated. You can start immediately.

I was feeling “behind” for 3 straight days this week. Which caused me to NOT make much progress. It really sucked and I felt a low level of anxiety and deep frustration that I couldn;t quite pinpoint.

Then I realized 2 things…

  1. I had set a 30 day goal and was working towards it when I UPPED the goal in the middle of working on it. I changed the rules on myself.
  2. I forgot the golden rule of productivity – there’s a time to THINK and make a plan. And there’s a time to ACT and implement the plan.

Think vs. Act.

These two can’t happen at the same time. If they do, we second-guess  our plan and our decisions. We start to think there’s a “better” plan and our brain spins. Then  we feel behind and nothing gets accomplished.

This episode explains what to do about it so you can achieve extreme productivity.

Not to mention peace of mind – because feeling “behind” feels like crap.

Have a listen…

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher
Radio

Show Notes:

Thanks for listening,

Jane

The #1 Startup Mistake and How to Avoid It

You can sell out your new product…even if you haven’t launched yet!
Learn the step-by-step strategy in this completely updated online workshop

Today’s video + podcast is all about the mistakes I’ve made and I see every single day with startups.

This mistake kills their sales, the entrepreneur’s morale, and the checkbook.

You can download the CHEATSHEET from this episode.

Watch the video (and download the slides) or listen as a podcast:

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher
Radio

Quoted in the episode:

  • “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occasion. As our case is new, we must think anew and act anew.”  – Abraham Lincoln
  • “Entrepreneurship is a manic act.” – eCommerce Fuel
  • “Times of great struggle are times of great growth.” – Tom Hamill (aka Jane’s Dad)

Show Notes:

Thanks for listening,

Jane

Marketing & Connecting to Your Customers in Different Ways – with Cathy Wagner from Retail Mavens

Today’s special guest is my colleague, friend, and mentor Cathy Wagner from Retail Mavens. Cathy works with independent boutiques to help them make more money, manage their inventory, and enjoy their business.

Cathy has over 30 years experience both as a boutique owner and consultant. She is a wiz with financials and has the superpower of coming up with creative ways create additional income streams for small companies.

I’m in awe of her brain.

This is a clip from a LIVE event we did together recently. Cathy tells us about leaning IN to your customers, getting their attention, loving them up, and marketing to them in new and creative ways.

I learned a lot from her in this episode. Have a listen…

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher Radio

Quotes from the interview:

  • “So if there’s 10 people who purchased from you, of these 10 people, if you put down your fingers and leave your thumbs, 2 out of 10. These 2 out of 10 – your thumbs, will generate 80% of your business. Always, every day.” (3:51)
  • “There’s still a way of lifting people up, but you gotta know that as the business owner, you want to be there for these people whether you’re actively selling right now or not.” (5:08)
  • “I found that the more honest I was, the more people responded to it. And I came right out and told people that colleagues thought I was crazy and thought I shouldn’t sell anything right now but that I believed in my heart that I was serving.” (7:00)
  • “N0 matter how many (followers) you have, you just keep loving on them. I don’t care if it’s 6 people, there’s someone who needs to hear from you today.” (10:40)
  • “I always look at emails as your chance to deliver a gift. If you want to get an email opened, you have to deliver a GIFT! What does GIFT stand for? Genuine Information For Them:heart:“(14:06)
  • “Let’s be honest…you frankly aren’t operating at full capacity. Nobody is, nobody is. And so it’s so essential that you remember that. You remember that done beats perfect every time. (19:14)

Show Notes:

Thanks for listening,

Jane

About Cathy Wagner

Cathy Wagner has over 30 years of experience in retail as both an owner and a consultant and has the unique position of having worked on both sides of the counter. There is an art and a science to retail – and she has the science nailed. She also has seen firsthand the tremendous benefits that the paying attention to your numbers makes. This combination of knowledge is what helped her to grow to 3 stores grossing in excess of 2.5 million dollars. She sold her stores to be able to help other retailers achieve the same success.

RETAILMavens’ private clients continuously see more profit and create more cash flow than the previous year. Last year, clients saw sales increase an average of 22% (over same store last year sales) with 16% less inventory. She continues to find and develop creative and additional income streams for retailers.

 

Overwhelmed with Marketing? Just Do These Three Things

How to know what marketing is best for your online shop

Overwhelmed with all the different ways you could market your business? I feel ya. We’re all so busy and we want to DO LESS and get MORE results.

Not to mention that we’re all distracted right now and our productivity is down.

And the truth is that there are really only a few things you need to do consistently to get real results.

Let’s keep it simple and focus on the THREE things that matter most with your marketing.

Do these three things – and do  them  consistently – your business will be just fine.

Learn via podcast or video…

You can also listen on iTunes. Spotify, and Stitcher Radio

The 3 Most Important Things to Focus on to Build an Audience That Buys From You Online

  1. Audience (choose your target customer)
  2. Content/value (create content that actually helps people)
  3. Consistent communication (email marketing and/or SMS text marketing

Notice what’s NOT on this list? Social media.

That’s because all social media platforms are TOOLS, not strategies. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat — all of these are useful for one thing and one thing only. Distribution.

I suggest you use social get your content and your message distributed to a larger audience.

That’s the best use of social media. That – plus engaging with your audience directly.

But the next step is key.

You then have to take these folks off of the social platform and help them take the next step to click over to your site and join your community and engage on a deeper level.

That means building your email list and/or SMS text list. You own your email list. You don’t own your IG followers and they can be taken away at any time. It happens every day.

No one can take away your email/text list and no one can take away the relationship you have with your audience.

So please, stop worrying about the perfect Instagram feed. Stop worrying about the number of followers you have.

Concentrate on true CONNECTION and getting your audience over to your site – where they can either buy or join your list to stay connected.

Make sense?

Show Notes:

Have a great day!

Jane

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