Get Ahead In A Tough Market: 6 Golden Rules You Can't Ignore

Do you remember how it felt at the start of your business journey? You’re excited, motivated, energised, ambitious, optimistic. Like you can conquer the world! And here’s how it often feels when you get going: WTF was I thinking? I can’t do this! I’m utterly exhausted, have NFI what to do next & I cannot possibly work any harder than this.  We start to despair that we can ever achieve our goals. We lose faith that things will ever change for the better. We start to believe our current reality is our forever reality… If you’re getting traffic to your website, but not generating enough sales… Or you’re stuck at the same revenue and can’t seem to break through to the next level… This episode is for you! In fact, I’ve got a 2-part-series coming up for you of two mini-trainings that work together.  If your sales are languishing, or just not growing to achieve your sales targets, then you definitely need to stop doing some things that aren’t working the same way they used to, and start doing some things differently so that you can match your customers where they are right now. In this episode, we share some of the current trends in eCommerce as well as some of the common mistakes eCom brands are making a lot right now, and how these things might be impacting your business. Along with some tips and strategies to overcome them. Next week, we’ll pick things up again and go through some of the specific business and marketing strategies you can and should be doing to overcome these challenges and get your business back to growth. Even in today’s tough economy.   Let’s dive into part 1…   Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-226/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together.   https://www.catherinelangman.com/work-with-me-shopify-expert/   Episode 214, “Simple Website Navigation Fixes That Boost Your Conversion Rate” www.catherinelangman.com/episode-214   Blog post, “How To Win At Digital Marketing For Your eCommerce Store” www.catherinelangman.com/how-to-win-at-digital-marketing-for-your-ecommerce-store/   Episode 165, “How To Become A Cashflow Queen” https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-165/   Episode 189, “How To Bust Past Fears To Build A Thriving Online Superstore” www.catherinelangman.com/episode-189/  

In the last couple of months, it seems as though every single digital marketing platform we need to use for our Ecommerce businesses have all been rolling out major updates. And Klaviyo is no exception. And whilst new functionality is designed to deepen the integration with your online store and help you make more money, the changes do tend to disrupt performance in the short term. The automated flows in most, if not all, Klaviyo accounts I’ve reviewed in recent weeks have taken a downward turn. Flows like your New Subscriber Welcome flow and your Abandoned Cart flow – usually the biggest money spinners – have declined. And that is not a situation you want to allow to continue!  So in this episode, we will discuss 4 steps you can take to make more money from your automated flows in Klaviyo. And if you haven’t taken a look at your Klaviyo flows in recent months (or years in the case of many accounts I audit), then use this episode as your kick up the bum to get in there today. Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-225/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. https://productpreneurmarketing.com/klaviyo-audit/  

If I had a dollar for every time during the last couple of months that I heard an entrepreneur say something like, ‘I haven’t changed anything but sales have dropped off a cliff’, I’d probably make it onto the Rich List. Well, maybe not that, but in all seriousness, it does feel a bit like the Digital Marketing Sky is Falling In. Not to be too Chicken Little about it! Right now, there is no denying the seismic shifts that are going on, between the inflationary economy and the massive changes happening across all digital marketing platforms. Both these factors are wreaking havoc with all businesses. Everyone is feeling the impact, and it’s not exactly comfortable is it? When that happens, we need to shift and change how we show up in our business and with our marketing. What strategy we deploy, what we focus on or don’t focus on. And that’s what I’ll be sharing in this episode: the 6 golden rules of marketing that will equip you to survive and thrive in this 2024 economy. Episode: 🎙️ https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-224/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. https://productpreneurmarketing.com/klaviyo-audit/ https://www.catherinelangman.com/work-with-me-shopify-expert/  

Acquiring new customers at a profit, and keeping them coming back again and again, is essential if you want to grow your business. Without it, you won’t have the cashflow or the profitability to sustain your business, because those two things – cash flow and profits – are like blood and oxygen to your business. However, the way you go about acquiring and retaining customers will be different depending on what kind of product or service you sell. And most likely, it’ll change over time as the world we operate in changes. From time to time, I’ve found a really valuable exercise is to analyse what some of the most successful brands and companies are doing, and to compare and contrast them with others and with my own businesses. When you do this kind of exercise, not only can you come away with some fantastic new ideas to try out in your own business. But you’ll also notice that even the most successful businesses in the world don’t experience a straight upwards growth curve from start-up to success.  So today on the show, we’re going to dissect the Netflix business model and we’re going to  tease out 6 specific components that contribute to their success that you might be able to emulate. We’ll also compare these to other brands as well, to identify the type of business or product that best suits each strategy. Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-223/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. https://www.catherinelangman.com/work-with-me-shopify-expert/  

Using Facebook Ads has been a tried-and-true method of increasing traffic and sales for eCommerce businesses over many years now. But, it’s never without issues along the way…  I’m sure we all know the frustration when you invest the time, energy, and money into ads that either don’t produce the expected results, OR that suddenly take a nosedive for no apparent reason. The truth is, many business owners run into the problem of their Facebook ads not converting.  Lately, Facebook has been rolling out a lot of new updates to the Ads platform, many of which have caused issues with campaigns that were otherwise performing well. And whilst there is no playbook that Meta hands out – Meta are notoriously silent when it comes to sharing any kind of information about what they’re doing and how it impacts the way we use the platforms – so there’s no foolproof guide for troubleshooting issues when they happen. However, long experience tells me there are several steps you can take to bring your ad performance back where you need it to be. So in this episode, I’ll share 10 fixes you can implement when your Facebook ads are broken or stop converting.   Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-222/     Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. https://www.catherinelangman.com/work-with-me-shopify-expert/  

In the increasingly busy digital landscape we operate in as brand owners and eCommerce businesses, it’s harder and harder to capture the attention of your customers. Think of the last time you spent time on social media. How many pieces of content did you notice? Did you scroll past most of it? What was it that actually stopped you scrolling? One of the most effective ways to cut through the clutter is through brand design. I don’t mean just your logo. A logo is only one small part of your branding.  Think about the brands whose marketing you really notice and engage with. They all have a distinct personality.  Their visual, written and experiential elements all consistently convey the brand personality and brand value. And they manage to produce marketing content that is engaging, memorable and inspires action – purchase. In this episode, I’m joined by brand designer Janelle and we dissect the branding of 4 successful brands, teasing out what it is that helps them connect with their customers.  At the end, we have a fun, free exercise you can do to help identify your own brand’s personality and style, so that you can also elevate your marketing to the next, more impactful level. Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-221/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together.    https://www.apple.com/au/ https://au.whogivesacrap.org/ https://gotoskincare.com/ https://styleware.com.au/  

Did your eCommerce revenue drop in March? Or maybe February? When results decline, the common knee-jerk reaction is to assume you’ve stuffed up in some way. That you did something to cause the downturn.  Or, to blame poor sales on the state of the economy.  Either way, you’re liable to end up in the same place: not investing time or money in marketing to drive your business forwards. First of all, just because your sales might decline sometimes, does not mean your business is a failure.  Nor does it mean that consumer demand for your products has all but dried up and your business is doomed. However, if you are experiencing a sales slump, not taking any action to rectify that situation WILL lead to that dismal ending! And I don’t want that for you. So today on the show, I want to help you to identify what the real issue is, and what is the right action you need to take to fix it. Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-220/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. https://www.catherinelangman.com/work-with-me-marketing-specialist/ https://productpreneurmarketing.com/conversion-rate-optimisation/  

Is your business amazing yet? What do you need to do to get to Amazing? This past month has felt a bit chaotic and unpredictable, with things like Afterpay Day promo being a massive high, and then a bunch of changes on the Meta Ads platform destabilising ads. And I know a few of you have been feeling anxious as a result, wondering if it’s something you’ve done to stuff things up. Trust me, it’s not you, it’s across the board. However, you don’t want to let it stay like that! As we draw to the end of the first quarter of 2024, it’s time to do your quarterly review to assess what’s happened, what worked, what didn’t, and figure out what you need to do next. Don’t stress – I’m here to help! In this episode, I share 5 short, fun exercises you can do to take stock and plan your next steps. Remember, success is not an accident!  Episode: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-219/ Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together.   https://www.catherinelangman.com/work-with-me-marketing-specialist/

Do you feel like you’re working your butt off but getting nowhere fast? Like, you’re so busy all the time you could not possibly work any harder or longer hours than you already are.  I want to talk about the concept of Return On Effort. Not Return On Investment, but Effort.  How can you get a bit more leverage into your days so that the results and outcomes you can produce are bigger and better compared to the efforts or inputs you put in. Often, people don’t figure out if their efforts are actually generating a return. I see far too many business owners working for peanuts over a very long period of time, and they don’t even realise it. In this episode, I’ll be sharing how you can plan ahead while considering your return on effort as well as investment. Then we’ll discuss how you should measure your actual return on effort to make sure the actions you took produced the level of results you wanted. And most importantly of all, we’ll discuss how you can improve your return on effort AND get there faster than ever before. For the full show notes visit https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-218/   Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. Time Sucking Monster quiz: https://quiz.catherinelangman.com/sf/ca2386a4 90 Day Planning Process podcast: https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-158/ Hire a VA: https://www.catherinelangman.com/ecommerce-virtual-assistant/  

It’s often the case that entrepreneurs launch their brands feeling as though they’ve done the hard work by actually getting their product to launch.  But while designing and manufacturing a product and getting it to market is no small feat, the real hard work of growing a business is yet to happen. Building an audience. Gaining brand awareness. Getting customers to actually buy your product – not just once, but over and over again to produce consistent and growing revenues. None of that stuff is easy. Often it’s a bit boring. There are frequent problems and disappointments and issues that require solving.   There are certain ingredients we must have in order to sustain motivation and productivity over the long-haul, which is necessary if we want to experience lasting success.And certain strategies we need to employ consistently if we want to build brand awareness, create demand for our products and convert paying customers. Your eCommerce business and the success and profitability of your digital marketing, requires all of these ingredients, which is the topic of today’s episode. Today on the show I’m joined by Raph McGowan, founder of innovative Aussie brand Bakslap. Since launching only a few years ago, Bakslap has experienced some rapid growth and is now primed to take some major international markets by storm. There are four key takeaways I want you to take away from this conversation, that could really help ignite massive brand visibility and fuel faster growth in your own business. Starting with passion and purpose, the two ingredients that fuel Raph’s motivation through all the ups and downs, as well as forming the basis of the stories and content that capture and engage his audience’s attention. And then the two key strategies – public, grass-roots events and partnerships – take those stories to the masses, giving Raph and Bakslap the kind of brand awareness that a successful eCommerce business needs to leverage in order to scale and grow. Aside from creating this incredibly successful venture, Raph is also humble and clearly enjoys what he does every day. His positivity is quite infectious!   For the full show notes visit https://www.catherinelangman.com/episode-217/ Links mentioned in this episode: If you’d like help to achieve your goals in 2024 I invite you to have a chat to find out how we can make that happen together. https://bakslap.com/ https://productpreneurmarketing.com/lets-talk/   Photo Credit: Couriermail Australia