#296: Secret Truths About Selling - Part 2 (Insider Tips on 6 Best Ways to Sell)

Jillian Leslie, host of The Blogger Genius Podcast, is excited to share the second part of her series on selling. If you haven’t yet, first listen to Part 1 – Why Selling Is So Uncomfortable!

In today’s episode, Jillian explores six key tactics and platforms that can help bloggers, creators, and online entrepreneurs make sales and expand their online presence.

Table of Contents

Upcoming Live Workshop

Before diving into the details, Jillian announces an upcoming one-hour live workshop on Zoom. This workshop aims to assist participants in transforming their membership ideas into profitable ventures.

It’s called: “Launch Your Low-Key Membership in 12 Days With No Stress.” This workshop presents a fantastic opportunity for learning, growth, and networking with fellow creators.

Secret Truths About Selling - Part 2 (Insider Tips on 6 Best Ways to Sell) | The Blogger Genius Podcast with Jillian Leslie

Show Notes:

Tip 1: The Power of Email Marketing

Growing an email list is a crucial aspect of online selling. Jillian emphasizes the significance of email marketing, which offers a higher return on investment compared to social media. I

t serves as a direct line of communication with a person’s audience, enabling individuals to share updates, promote products, and build relationships.

Tip 2: Social Media as a Top-of-Funnel Strategy

While email marketing is essential, Jillian acknowledges the role of social media in gaining exposure and attracting potential customers.

She highlights social media’s effectiveness as a top-of-funnel strategy, drawing people in and guiding them towards the blogger or creator’s products or services.

Tip 3: Optimizing Your Blog or Website for Selling

Jillian advises all bloggers and creators to optimize their websites or blogs for selling.

This may involve creating blog content related to the offered products or services, or designing your website in a way that facilitates easy and intuitive purchasing.

Tip 4: The Power of Social Proof and Online Communities

In the world of online selling, social proof holds significant influence.

Jillian encourages active participation in online communities to build relationships, gain recommendations, and enhance the credibility of one’s offerings.

Tip 5: Leveraging Personal Networks

Personal networks should not be underestimated. Gillian suggests sharing updates, offering discounts or exclusive bonuses, and seeking introductions as effective ways to reach a wider, warmer, audience and increase sales.

BONUS TIP 6: Reaching Out to Your Biggest Fans

Jillian emphasizes the value of engaging with the most dedicated fans who actively interact with content, leave positive comments, share the work, and have made previous purchases. They highlight the benefits of reaching out to these fans personally, as it can yield significant results.

How to Find Your Biggest Fans

To identify the most dedicated fans, Jillian advises reviewing social media metrics, blog comments, and other engagement platforms for frequently mentioned and positive names.

Once identified, a personalized message can be sent to express recognition and appreciation, accompanied by offers such as early access to new products or exclusive discounts.

The Value of User-Generated Content

User-generated content adds social proof to offerings, making them more persuasive. Gillian notes that the most dedicated fans are likely to provide constructive feedback and share their experiences through testimonials or with their friends.

Engaging with the Audience

One of the most impactful experiences Jillian recently had was in a friend’s Facebook group where she teaches bloggers how to grow their businesses.

Upon joining the group, Jillian introduced herself and shared a bit about her podcast and the topic of selling digital products. She made it clear that she was there to provide support and answer any questions they may have.

The response was overwhelming. Members of the group were eager to connect and engage with her, asking questions about selling strategies, platforms, and other related topics.

She also took the time to address any concerns or challenges they were facing in their own selling endeavors. This direct engagement allowed her to build trust and credibility within the group, positioning herself as a knowledgeable resource.

Not only did she provide value to the group members, but she also gained valuable insights into their pain points and struggles. This information was instrumental in shaping the content of my podcast episodes and future workshops. By actively participating in the Facebook group, I was able to tailor my content to address the specific needs of my audience, ultimately leading to increased engagement and sales.

Jillian shares a story about her personal engagement with the audience in a friend’s Facebook group that lead to a member reaching out, sharing her positive feelings about what Jillian taught about creating and selling digital products. This story illustrates the power of direct engagement and the importance of addressing audience concerns and questions. The woman ultimately bought a lifetime subscription to MiloTreeCart

Conclusion

In conclusion, leveraging your online presence as a blogger or creator is a multifaceted process that requires a strategic approach. By implementing the six key tactics and platforms discussed in this guide – growing your email list, utilizing social media as a top-of-funnel strategy, optimizing your website for selling, leveraging social proof and online communities, reaching out to your personal network, and engaging with your biggest fans – you can significantly enhance your selling strategies and grow your online presence and income.

Other related Blogger Genius Podcast episodes you’ll enjoy:

MiloTreeCart, the Best Tool for Non-Techies to Sell Digital Products

I also want to introduce you to the MiloTreeCart, a tool designed for non-techies to sell digital products easily. It comes with features like fill-in-the-blank sales pages, check-out pages, a sales dashboard, upsells, and customer support. MiloTreeCart is currently available for a lifetime deal of $349 or three easy installments of $116.33. Plus, there’s a limited-time offer of a one-hour free coaching call for those who purchase before the end of September.

Full Transcript: “Secret Truths About Selling – Part 2 (Insider Tips on 6 Best Ways to Sell)”

Jillian Leslie (00:00:00) – My name is Jillian and I’m host of The Blogger Genius Podcast. Before we get into today’s episode, let me ask you a question. Are you wishing you could turn that someday membership idea into a money making reality? I’m hosting a one hour live workshop on Zoom on Wednesday, September 27th at 1 p.m. Central Time to show you exactly how.

In fact, I’m going to show you the best ways to come up with your membership idea. Set it up, attract your members and launch it in 12 days flat. Plus, I’ll show you how to only spend four hours a month running it at the end of the one hour, I promise you will come away with the confidence and excitement to start your own membership.

I’m charging $10 for this workshop because I know if you pay, you’ll show up with a more serious mindset. And just FYI, our Milo Tree card customers making the most money. All host memberships to sign up and find out more. Head to low key membership dot Milo tree cart because it’s super low key and that’s what all the Gen Y kids say again head to low key membership dot Milo tree cart and sign up and I look forward to meeting you on the 27th.

Announcer (00:01:33) – Welcome to the Blogger Genius podcast brought to you by Milo Tree. Here’s your host, Jillian Leslie.

Jillian Leslie (00:01:40) – Hi, friends. Welcome back to the show. As I mentioned in my last podcast episode, I’m doing something different. I shared last week that I’ve talked to over 120 of you, and the place you have the most difficulty is with selling. Somehow selling has become a dirty word. So in my four part series, I am reclaiming the word. I want to make it a good thing.

You’re offering solutions to people and getting paid for them. I call that a win win. So in this part two, I want to share some of the best places to sell, because one of the questions I hear most often is, Jillian, where should I sell my products or services and how do I do it without coming across as pushy or salesy? I’m going to explore five tactics and platforms for making sales, including a bonus strategy. You won’t want to miss. Okay, Selling platform number one. And this is, by the way, the most successful place people sell email.

Jillian Leslie (00:02:42) – You’ve heard it a million times. The money’s in your list. But why? Well, because your email list is a direct line to people who are interested in what you offer. Now, I’m going to say that again. It’s a direct line to the people who are most interested in what you offer. These people have opted in to hear from you and they want to buy from you.

If not hope, they unsubscribe. So email seems kind of old news, but it’s still weirdly powerful. It’s got the highest ROI return on investment of any sales channel. So this means for every dollar you spend on email marketing, because these systems can be expensive, the return is $44 and the average conversion rate, which means 100 people read your email. How many of them by? Well, the conversion rate for email is 1 to 5% versus social media, where it hovers below 1%. Because think about it, unless it’s like one of those flashy products like weird keto cereal on TikTok or Instagram, you’re not necessarily in a buying mood while scrolling.

Jillian Leslie (00:04:00) – However, people open email. I do. The average open rate for email is around 20 to 25%. So think of your posts on Facebook or Instagram Honestly, what percent of your audience actually sees them? Imagine if a quarter of them did. So I’ve met a lot of people with small but engaged lists, and guess what? They are getting sales.

So if you haven’t started growing your list or if it’s small, no problem. Please just put some more energy into growing it. Ask ChatGPT to come up with ten awesome ideas for freebies you could offer in your niche. Okay, now selling platform two social media. So as my second platform for selling, you’re probably thinking, Of course I’m going to talk about social media.

And you’re right, but not in the way you think. What I have found and what many other bloggers and creators have told me, social media is the best way to gain exposure and then to give something away like a freebie or an opt in in order to get somebody on your list.

Jillian Leslie (00:05:09) – Think of social media as top of your funnel. These people don’t know you. They don’t yet care about you. But if you could put something in front of them that is free, that offers value, hopefully they will then opt in and then you can nurture them through email. So yes, there are shopping features on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and that’s a great way to sell if you can get it to work. But these typically take a lot of money, a lot of trial and error and lots of time to optimize. So you can start this is what I recommend using these platforms just to showcase your behind the scenes, what you do, the value you provide just to warm people up so they recognize you. In fact, for most people who run ads on Facebook and Instagram like this is advice I have gotten. People might buy a lower priced item directly from the platform, but for high ticket sales, it’s best to use paid ads to get somebody on your list and then sell to them.

Jillian Leslie (00:06:15) – And I know I’m sounding like a broken record. In fact, we’re going to be running Facebook and Instagram ads soon to sell an e-book we created, and we’re selling it, hoping to break even with our ads. So we’re hoping to make as much money as we spend on the ads, because the.

Real goal is to find our target audience who want to buy the e-book, which then gets them on our list. And ultimately, the goal is to sell the military card through an email sequence or paid workshop or an exploratory call. So people do buy from people and stories, YouTube shorts, tiktoks. They do humanize us and they humanize our brand. So do not underestimate that.

And don’t underestimate the power of video, because it’s a lot easier to get people to know, like and trust you when they can see and hear you. Okay, Selling platform three, your blog or website. So the third platform for selling is of course using what you’ve already what you own, your blog, your website.

Jillian Leslie (00:07:21) – And the success of this of course, depends on your traffic. So where should you optimize your blog for selling? Well, I am going to say everywhere and fact. Please think of every piece of content, every blog post as a sales page. So make sure you’re doing one of these things on your blog post.

When you’re selling your products or services, you’re promoting an affiliate product, you’re promoting a brand, you’re working with your potentially booking a call, or you are getting someone on your list and I’m going to say it, sell hard on these pages, like mention your call to action multiple times, not just at the end is like a piece like we’ve it into the narrative.

Make people want to buy what you are offering or join your list or book a call with you because it’s the next step on their success journey. So the other thing is to create blog content related to what you’re selling and offering. So you’ve come up with a product. Great. Create a blog post about that that hopefully encourages people to buy.

Jillian Leslie (00:08:41) – Okay. Selling platform number four Sell where your people hang out. Let’s talk about social proof. When someone in a Facebook group asks for a recommendation and you or one of your fans mentions your product, that is gold.

So to make this happen, you need to be an active community member. Find three Facebook groups and get busy, answer questions, provide value, become a go to expert. Then when it’s time to sell, the community will actually want to hear from you. You need to abide by the rules of a Facebook group. So I would not be just blasting your offer, but try to build one on one connections as people, if you can message them or DM them and then get their feedback on what you’re selling selling platform number five. Well, this is not really a platform. It is a powerful strategy and this is to tap into your personal network. So we often underestimate the power of this.

But these aren’t just your friends or friends of friends or family, but this includes past colleagues, people from college that mom you see at pick up.

Jillian Leslie (00:09:55) – And here’s how to leverage these relationships without coming off as pushy and weird. And by the way, if you’re cringing right now, go back and listen to part one of this series where I talk about the discomfort.

Now, it’s funny. When I need courage selling, I think about my daughter because I know that if I can make more money, I can enable her to do something like send her to a summer program or pay for lessons, those kinds of things. And it weirdly changes my perspective and makes me brave. So you might try that strategy. It’s like I, I reassess where my priorities are and then I become kind of fearless and I’m okay with a little bit of discomfort. So here’s the deal.

This is how you do it. And also reduce any weird feelings first post on social media or in a group chat and just let people know what you’re up to. Like make it sound kind of interesting. You don’t even have to sell to them. Maybe they’ll reach out because they want to find out about it or it speaks to them.

Jillian Leslie (00:11:00) – And before you go public with your product, here’s another thing Offer it to your network at a discount or with an exclusive bonus or for trial like this will not only get you your first customers, but you can ask for valuable feedback.

Another way to do this message, old colleagues just to catch up and in the process talk about what you’re doing. Talk about your offer, see if they know anybody and if you know someone in your network who has a connection that can benefit. You. Please don’t hesitate to ask for an introduction. Just make it easy for them. Say, like, hey, I’ll draft like a short email or a text that you can send just to introduce us if you’re cool with that.

And I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been turned turned down when I’ve asked for an introduction now before asking for something. This is a great strategy just in life. Give something. So give some advice. Or if you’ve got a product just, you know, offer like a smaller version for free.

Jillian Leslie (00:12:03) – Just something because this is a great way to generate goodwill. And again, you don’t seem like you’re asking for the sale. It’s much more like a give and take, like two friends helping each other out. And remember, your network is this weird web of relationships. You don’t even know how big it is or how many people it connects to.

So chances are there’s somebody in there looking for your solution or knows someone who is. And now for my bonus advice, this is not a platform, but this is a strategy. And I think it is so powerful. And this is to reach out directly to your biggest fans. This, I think, is so overlooked and I recommend you do this. So these are the people who already engage with your content. They leave positive comments.

They actively share what you create. They purchase your past products. They are a goldmine because they already love what you do. So why wouldn’t they be interested in a more, let’s say, premium value packed offering? I like to call these personally my VIPs.

Jillian Leslie (00:13:19) – So go through your social media metrics, your blog comments, or wherever you engage with people. Look for the names that appear frequently and positively, because these are those people, these are your VIPs. And so therefore, I recommend you use a personalized message when you reach out to them. It could be an email, a DM, what I love voice memos, but make sure it shows that you recognize and appreciate their ongoing support.

So give them early access to your new products or send them an exclusive discount. This will not only make them feel valued, but also increase the likelihood that they will buy. Your biggest fans are also the people who will give you the most constructive feedback, which can be golden, and they are the most likely to share your product and their experience in a testimonial or tell their friends.

And remember, user generated content is incredibly persuasive. It adds so much social proof to what you’re offering. So I’m going to tell you a story of how yesterday I went into a friend’s Facebook group.

Jillian Leslie (00:14:28) – She teaches bloggers how to make money. I’m in the group and I’m talking about my favorite topic, which is how to build your digital product empire. And at the end of the presentation. So I’m giving tons of value, giving them the whole framework and an outline.

And at the end I mention my cart as the best way for these bloggers to sell their digital products and all the value that we provide. And I say, then you can buy this right now for a lifetime deal and pay $349 and never pay again. And we’re doing this because we want to reward our first thousand customers. So as people are asking questions, one woman says, Well, I really want a course platform. And I say how funny we are actually building that out. And then another woman says, Well, wait a second, you said that you never pay again, but will we have to pay extra for the course platform? And I say, no. Everything we build going forward is grandfathered in for these thousand customers because I want to lean into them and I want them to lean into me to trust me.

Jillian Leslie (00:15:43) – Then another woman said, I think this sounds too good to be true. What’s the catch? And I said, There really is no catch. And my friend also said, No, there really is no catch. And that was very interesting for me to hear because the truth is there is no catch.

Anyway, a couple hours later I get an email from one of the women who went who was in the group and she wrote this. I am so totally getting in on this. It’s amazing what you’re doing and putting your customers first so we can put our customers first. It literally did feel like it’s too good to be true. You listen to us and our suggestions and you are very clearly passionate about this.

I was so delighted when I got this email and I have to say that night she bought my card and. We’re going to get on a call because I want to help her get set up for success. I know her success is my success, and maybe I can turn her into one of my true fans.

Jillian Leslie (00:16:46) – I believe in karma in general, and I especially believe it on the Internet. I believe if you lead with authenticity, honesty and a genuine desire to help you get it back many fold. And this is the secret to building a successful business.

So please think about how you can incorporate this into your own business and build lasting relationships, lasting customers, and lasting true fans. So as I wrap up this episode, I want to quickly revisit the six key platform strategies I discussed for finding your customer’s first platform email The golden oldie of digital marketing, like this, you will get your highest ROI.

This is really something I would focus on. These are the people, remember, who are actively interested in the value you offer. Okay. Platform two Social Media. This is a great way to introduce yourself to a large audience, but it’s shallow at the beginning, so continue to move these followers, these people to your email list so you can go deeper with them. Number three, using your blog or website for sales.

Jillian Leslie (00:18:04) – So the more traffic you have, of course, the more sales you have. Please think of each blog, post each piece of content as its own sales opportunity and optimize it for that. Number four Hang out where your people hang out and this is where you get to add to these communities. Be an authority, build relationships, that’s your priority, and then sell to the people who can really use your solution.

Number five, your personal network. You don’t know how big this network is, so I recommend you tap into it. These people are warm leads. They already know you or they know somebody who knows you. People I have coached have had tremendous success with this. And now my last favorite strategy for finding your customers. Reach out to your biggest fans. I think we underestimate how powerful this group is. Show them some love and they are sure to love you back. Don’t miss next week’s episode in my sales series where I will lay out specific scripts for how to sell so you do not feel salesy.

Jillian Leslie (00:19:16) – And if you are ready to start that membership that you have been dreaming of and you want to do it in a low key way, come to the workshop I’m hosting on September 27th at 1 p.m. and to sign up head to low key membership dot military cart again low key membership dot military cart.com. I hope to see you there and otherwise I will see you here again next week.