Hey, to celebrate 2022, I've created something special...
First, because you're a business owner/entrepreneur, I figured you'd be interested in the marketplace's numbers for the year, so I've included a few for you.
Then, if you've ever wondered who sells the most on the marketplace (by volume, not dollar amounts), I've created a 'Seller of The Year' award featuring the top 3 sellers.
And finally, I have compiled the most popular nuggets from this year (based on your feedback) and put them all into this one Digest.
There's a lot of gold in here!
So, here are our numbers...
This year has been all about building; our incredible developers built and launched a new marketplace, and we've been working hard to build a community to help you achieve your goals. Without the typical marketing effort, still:
- We've had 26,129 new visitors to the site
- $245,162 was invested by business owners and entrepreneurs in services on the marketplace (that takes us to $1.24m since the marketplace was launched)
- 558 services have been purchased
- 92% of these services were rated five stars!
And the seller of the year awards...
Three sellers took the lion's share of those 558 services purchased:
Tied 2nd with 62 sales are:
James Hughes (his best-selling listing was '7 Figure Funnel Strategy by a Sales Funnel Expert')
Matty Milligan (his best-selling listing was '2 Comma Club Funnel Strategy Session + BONUS ClickFunnels Course')
The top-selling expert this year, with a whopping 126 sales, is Omolola Ibrahim! (His best-selling listing was 'I Will Design Eye Catching Ebook Cover Design - Free 3d Mockup')
Congratulations to all three of you! We had a lot of exciting new talent arrive in Q4 this year, who I'm sure will be pushing for those top 3 places next year.
A double congratulation has to go to James Hughes, our highest-earning expert this year!
Now, onto the top 3 golden nuggets from each of the categories. These are the nuggets I received positive feedback on the most:
TOP 3 FBM EXPERT TIPS:
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Have you ever wondered what the secret to hypnotic copy is?
Copywriting and funnel building expert George P told me recently one of the fastest ways to create scintillating, must-read copy is to add a story. But not just any story...
Typically, many people lose interest before the end of your email, video, or blog post. Therefore, your conversions suffer. But this formula from South Park writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone will keep them glued till the end.
It's called 'The but... therefore... rule.'
Most stories go something like, 'this happened, and this happened, and then this happened.' This may reflect what happened, but it's boring for the reader.
Change your stories to... 'this happened, THEREFORE this happened, BUT this happened, THEREFORE this happened!'
And suddenly, you've created tension and unpredictable open loops. Therefore your reader/viewer consumes to the end because they are subconsciously driven to close the loops. But, rather than feel stressed and overwhelmed, they perceive it as a fantastic story. Therefore, their affection for you grows. Here's a video for more context: The video
Here's George's profile if you want him to implement this for you: George's profile
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Want to install conversion increasing trust in your visitors without having to spend months posting content?
Marketing expert Aiman told me recently one of the most underutilized marketing tools is also one of the most powerful and often has the highest ROI!
He was talking about sponsored posts.
It’s no secret that influencers hold significant power to drive conversions.
They have spent years building their followers' trust, and this trust instantly gets transferred to whatever they recommend.
Most business owners are worried they're too small or new and the influencers won't pay them any mind...
Interestingly, social media pages with less than 10k followers (i.e. those who probably don't consider themselves influencers) have been found to have the most significant sway over their audiences. Many will be shocked you've even thought of them!
Want to tap into this vast ocean of potential clients? Reach out to Aiman today.
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Could better images and graphics be the secret to increasing conversion rates?
You've likely noticed I often stress the importance of high-quality copy. But Design Expert, Berny Pereira, reminded me of the old adage, 'A picture is worth a thousand words.'
Successful business owners know this, but few share it.
On 17 November 2022, Jimmy Donaldson achieved the Guinness World Record of "Most Subscribers for an Individual Male on YouTube" with his MrBeast channel at 112,193,139 subscribers.
When asked about this incredible success, Jimmy said one of his secrets is spending between $5,000-10,000 per thumbnail because 'the thumbnail makes a difference between 50 million views or 200 million.'
You could be leaving conversions on the table. Instead, send Berny a message today and take your funnels to the next level.
TOP 3 MARKETING TIPS:
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Could a press release ignite the traffic coming to your page?
I read a post yesterday by Jouni Flemming, the creator of startuptimer.com. He said on October 27th, he spent $50 on a press release, and on October 31st, his app was featured in a major German computer news website called Computerbase.de.
This feature sent thousands of visitors to his site. And now, just six weeks later, he has just over 20,000 active users of his app.
If you think it's worth a go, I suggest having one of our copywriters help write your press release to give it extra appeal.
If you'd like to talk about this or anything business related with me, feel free to book a time to chat here.
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I found an interesting study this week - Two researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa discovered all visitors to your site have three fears that will keep them from opting in.
If you can calm these fears, your conversion rate will increase considerably. Below I've included the fears, the typical questions the visitor will ask themselves and how you can overcome them.
Performance Fear
Q: Is this a good investment of my time and/or money?
A: Compelling copy, offer a free trial, showcase testimonials, and explain how and why your unique product/system/service produces results.
Personal Fear
Q: Can I trust this person/business? Is this a scam?
A: Repeatedly expose them to you/your business, offer a free trial, have 3rd party reviews, offer payment via PayPal, and have a social following.
Social Fear
Q: Will this increase or decrease my social standing?
A: Show testimonials of people like them, and suggest results that will increase their social standing (money, intelligence, prestige, etc.)
Scan through your funnel and ask if you satisfy these three fears. If not, try adding some of the above (notice testimonials help with all 3, free trials with 2/3.)
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The above-the-fold section of your landing page is the most important. It determines whether someone continues to browse your page or clicks away and does something else. So, to make this section the best it can be, make sure it follows this formula from marketing experts Harry Dry:
- Explain the value you provide (title)
- Explain how you'll create it (subtitle)
- Let the user visualise it (visual)
- Make it believable (social proof)
- Make taking the next step easy (CTA)
Here's a great example to follow:
TOP 3 TIPS FROM FELLOW COMMUNITY MEMBERS:
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Cathy Yoder (YouTube air fryer sensation check her YouTube channel out here) said one thing she recommends to everyone is to add a small picture of themselves to the bottom of their emails.
Having an image may seem simple, but it increases the know, like, and trust factor with your audience with every email you send. This, as you know, has a huge impact on your conversion rates and the community you build, so add this today (I implemented this!)
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Craig Barber from London, England, teaches UX and UI design and today shares 3 mistakes to avoid in webpage design.
Craig Barber here. I’ve spent over 40,000 hours designing websites. Websites for some of the biggest brands in the world including Citi, LG Mobile, Samsung and PayPal.
I’m going to cover the top 3 mistakes I see designers making right now.
Let’s dive in.
1. Using low-contrast colours
Using colours without enough contrast is a big no-no. Especially when it comes to typography.
You must use high-contrast colours for your background and your type. Not only is this bad design. It makes things really difficult for people with vision impairment. Accessibility is something we must take into consideration.
Don’t know if your colours are high contrast enough? No problem. Here’s a free tool to help you out.
2. Using too many colours and fonts
Some designers use way too many colours and fonts in their designs. It creates a bad user experience because it creates more work for your users. They have to ‘decipher’ each different font which creates a cognitive load. This directly affects things like click-through and conversion rates.
My advice is to use just 1 font and 3 colours; one for your background, one for your typography, and one for your accents - things like buttons and calls to action.
3. Too many things on the page
Some designers cram way too much information into any given space on the page. I know. You’re trying to get as much bang for your buck.
You must let your design breathe. Allow ample space for a limited number of elements within a given space. For example, If I’m designing a simple brochure-type website I like to put just one block of information in their viewport. This allows the user to absorb the information before scrolling down to the next section.
Remember, less is more.
Avoid making these mistakes, and you will be well on your way to more sales or your next big client.
- Craig
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What would you say is the most underutilized method for increasing conversions?
Digital Marketer's Perry Belcher would tell you it's including a premium in your offer.
At FHL, Perry (a fantastic marketer) told the story of how the magazine 'Sports Illustrated' was on the verge of bankruptcy. They couldn't sell magazine subscriptions for love nor money...
One day, while wandering around New York, marketing manager Martin Shampaine came up with the idea of giving away a football phone with every subscription. This one premium changed everything.
Between 1986 and 1991, the magazine sold around 1.6 million new subscriptions, saving the company and putting the football phone on the map.
What premium could you include in your offer?
4. TOP 3 FUNNELS OF THE WEEK:
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Funnel and copy expert George P (over 120 5-star reviews, and a rare talent because he has a very good eye for design and is also a fantastic copywriter) sent me this high-converting funnel below. It's been created by him from top to bottom.
I think it hits the 3 points in this email pretty well. It has a USP (although it could be more obvious), the design is very clean and well done, there are evident testimonials, the offer is excellent, there is a big guarantee, and I can use PayPal.
What is your opinion on this page?
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If your opt-in page started converting 85% of cold traffic, what kind of a difference would that make to your business?
Hack the funnel below, and let's find out (pay special attention to the perceived value of the item on offer):
https://free.frxfreedom.com/free-lot-calculator
This comes from the vault of our very own Mike Harris. He can help you implement something as successful. If you're interested,
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I have TWO funnels for you this week!
Both are selling the same type of product but come at it from very different angles.
If you notice yourself thinking, 'I much prefer this over that,' perhaps your ideal customers will too.
So, which gets your vote? *Let me know:
A.
or B.
5. TOP 3 FOODS FOR THOUGHT:
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“Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too.” — Mark Twain
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“We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.” - Jim Rohn
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“I want to do business with a company that treats emailing me as a privilege, not a transaction.” — Andrea Mignolo
That just about wraps up what has been a fantastic year. The dawn of a new year is always a fantastic time to reflect on the previous 12 months, decide where you want to be this time next year, and make a plan for how you want to achieve that.
Let's make 2023 the most successful one yet team.
Happy new year!
Always in your corner,
Lee
I've had quite the year
outside the marketplace!
What will 2023 bring?!