Lessons

Lesson Info

Hi! - How People Find Your Craft Business

We're going to just very beginning start to look at what your cost customer path is so that you get a view and overview of it and then we're going to jump right into high that moment where people first discover who you are so the reason why you want to do a customer path is because it's going to defeat marketing overwhelm instead of thinking everything that marking could be were instead of going to focus on what your customer path is and how to make it really clear and easy so your customers path specifically has three parts the first part is high this is where people first come in contact with you however that is they first learn that you exist the thing to keep in mind is that this is most likely not on your platform this is someone else leading their friend to you because if they're on your platform already know who you are and they've already discovered you and we're going to go over each of these in each segment today so high is what we're going to do in a minute and then come clo...

ser this is where people learn and actually get to know you and like you and trust you now this step can happen in seconds of landing on your site and feeling like yes, I belong here or you know I didn't mean to land here and go away so in this step this is where all your content lives. This is your plawgo, your email list, aa lot of your social media. This is just helping people get to know you and your brand in your products better. We'll do this in segment three today and then by that's what we're all trying to get them to dio is it to actually purchase our thing? We'll cover this in segment for and we're going to talk about how to make it clear ask how to get, like, ask for the sale because by that ins are good, but you also have to lead people to the place where they could buy and tell them you can buy this thing. We're going talk about getting comfortable with that and then have to absolutely delight the person once they get your product. So let's, start by thinking about what your castle customer path looks like right now, and if you check out your work book on page twenty seven, I askyou tio, think about your customer path and this is how you've learned a little bit high come closer and buy before you learned any more what? How is it that people come to you and I want you to map this out like it's, a path in the jungle or through a field? So the first step will be how people discover your work and the second step is what they do next after they discover you did they read your website your blog's they sign up for email newsletters and then the last up is when they buy what have they done to get to the point where they can buy? I'm actually gonna give you an example on the board and we can talk about each of yours and do your examples, but as I'm writing, you be writing on page twenty seven of your workbook, not about what your customer path looks like right now thing is you're gonna have multiple entry points, you're gonna have many different things that is at the high stage and they're going to probably have a couple things they can do to come closer, then you'll have maybe one or two like your product pages where they actually buy. So, um let's let's use somebody as an example to get started with anybody. Yes, ok, because I'm confused with this part. Okay, see, your name is also spelled the same, but your terror and you saw scarves but increasing accessories s so I have in my shop now their scarves, headbands and like bohemian style bags ok, so they're going to buy the product that's the very last step and is it on etsy, or is it in a shop on your website at sea? All right? I'm trying my hardest to write legibly this is not my natural state. So how do easing people how people end up on your site? What what's possible for people that not what you're saying right now? Well, most of like, if I go to my tea shop, I'll get views, but there's never that buy buttons, so I don't know where they're going or why why they're going away or how that path even looks all I know, they're looking, okay, so I'm going to do a in theory path for you, then what it could to be ok. So one of the ways that people can find out about you, there's a few ways people can find you, and we'll go over how to do each of these, but it could be that they're searching for you. They're searching summer scarf say so hopefully that's big enough, or we were talking at the break about how you'd like to get press, and so perhaps a magazine could feature item or a blawg ifyou're, if you're right, person is a mom of young children, perhaps a blogged that she reads it's for moms of young children. So a blogged could say here's, a round up of my three quick ways to look fabulous when you've been puked on, um, it seems like that would be useful to know and so these are this is hi this is where people first discovered you write so they search and then they end up at your at the shop and they can buy a blogger perhaps links to your website where people will find out more information writing is getting worse as it gets bigger um where then they will read your blawg realized you are uh smart because you're just like them so you know what it's like to have to manage a baby his puting on you which we already know because they were reading the pew king baby blawg that there are already a person who cares about that so when you talk about it on your web site there like this isn't just a tip that this blogger says but this is a person who gets me so they go from your blogged to buy your product on that sea ok, ok, so another way that this could go is that they go to your website they click around there like I want to remember this but I'm I'm nine months pregnant I don't have a big booking on me and I'm not ready to buy it maybe I live in the desert so I can't really picture how I need a scarf but I want to remember it so they sign up for your email newsletter and you send them a monthly email that has each month you give a different tip or tell a different story about how mom is looking good on the go with your scarves she opens that email she's like oh yeah I did want to buy so she goes to your shop and she buys it says another way so she found out about it the same way but she took a slightly different path okay if someone tweets about your work I just bought the scarf I love it I threw it on to her own twitter followers they're going to then go to your website maybe true email and there be on the same path is that other girl who came to you from a different place and then by your thing does that make sense? Can you all see your own paths? Okay, so it's with us my path looks something like well, so you're watching me on creative I've and uh you're like, who is this chick? So you go to my website um have a podcast you subscribe? Oh my goodness on dh then you listen for, say, six months and I mentioned that I'm about to do a new class in your town, so what you buy is the local class now where repeat customers come in is that I also have a book, so maybe when you're at the local class you by the book and that might be where our path together ends, but most likely you are going to keep listening to the podcast or you're going to be reading my blawg and I know from experience and we're going to talk about this later on today you can learn what your customer path is by asking people by paying attention to your analytics on your site where people go and you will learn by the time that people get over here, most people do the same thing so I know for example, that most people read my blogged for at least three to six months before they purchase something and then they usually first but purchased the book because it's one of the lower priced things then they take an online class and then I have a year long program that they come aboard the starship and we work together and they work with other create have to stay accountable in their business. So then they during the starship most people do not invest in a year long program before they feel like they really know me they've already done some stuff they know what they're getting been reading my blawg they've been I've been showing up in their life for usually over a year, so when I know that but this changes for me knowing this is that if I try to tell everyone who's seeing me here that they should join this I'm trying to bypass the natural pathway I'm trying to just be like, no, I'm dragging you over here, right? When in fact, what I know is that people need to go through a couple of steps before they get there you have a really high end product or expensive product or one that requires a lot of trust usually need usually we'll have a longer path whether you want to or not. Now, if you're not providing each step of the path for the people, they would just go away if I need a long path in order to send you my family photos and trust you to make my jewelry and you only give me a short path, I'm just gonna get off the path I'm not even going to go to your house, but if you give me if you have a block where you feature different products and I read it for three or four months and my anniversary comes up, then I trust you so it's a matter of both me being in the place ready to buy and you being in my life until the point where I can trust you with my photos now for a lot of product, so this is way short if I'm going to buy a five dollars hair clip like I really just need to hear about, you see it like it, buy it it doesn't mean you don't need to have a blogger because some people will take longer some people will come back again and again and by their hair clips from you forever so you're part of the path will be the people move through your other products and become big fans and by for years does that make sense? Okay, so I'd love to hear from you guys about your customer path um well the first question is to identify what your path is and then the next step is tio I'm trying to see if there's a workbook page for this no you need to look look at where it needs work so if I just had one place for you to learn about me they hear a creative life and then I only offered one product I would need a lot of work I need work in the middle of the come closer part and I need work on the product side I need to offer you a lower price, less risky products and the same thing might go for anybody who does custom work you might need to offer ah five dollars ten dollars you were talking about that you have lower priced accessories that aren't custom right? So that gives me a chance to try you out before I like lets you do my big day veil for my wedding and I need that in order to trust you now for you with your knitting designs because they're higher priced and they're more detailed, really, what I need is to trust you for a while and be reading your blawg and be getting tips from you and see that you're really an expert in both fashion, fit and knitting make sense. Yeah, and so one of the things that kind of really changed in the last couple of years is mother's used to buy their patterns through local yarn shop, so that allowed me to, like, cultivate some yarn shops, but now yarn shops don't wantto by the powder and write, and so I'm trying to work on a way to get them to provide the information about my patterns without them having to buy the powder and so that they would just have, like some marketing collateral and their shop. Um, because I still think for my customer, even though I've got like twelve different ways on the web that they can find me that they're like me and they don't do a lot of web searching and that they probably actually one apart with that cash while they're talking to their yarn shop owner. Okay, so what is the what is the way that the yarn shop owner can then sell them your pattern if the urine story that they can go on revelry and do it through there, and it okay, and then it becomes like a sail for them, okay? And they pay me at the end of the month, so I mean it's really a win win for the you're in shop owner because they don't have to do anything else and then they were into it and hand it to the person they don't even have to print it. They just give him the rivalry since the person a link to their web site or to their email address. Okay, so it's super easy I don't have currently have that you could do that on my website, which is like my next step, right? Because so it because you're in store owner the yarn store, I'm here at the yarn store right here in toronto talks about you, we talk about your patterns and why they're great and you've provided that you're in store owner with that information, they're not going to know it, so your job is really like to give them everything they need in order to talk about it. This is local here in store owner that but life so means they that senators out there will know that s o they actually buy it from you and that's the end of your past so the customer and you didn't interact at all, but you still have a job here to give them the information and so that would be the yarn store owner goes through their own path, right? They go to your website, and then you have to have information on your website about your program, uh, about and then their choices not actually to buy, but to just decide to do that right, to take your information and decide that so they just decide to be involved with you there's like an affiliate's marketer for you? Yeah, and so the benefit for them is that they don't have to pay up front for the pattern says it used to be that you're in stores would just stock ten copies of all these patterns, but that you only saw one at a time, and you don't know what's going to be popular, and there are thousands, so now you can buy it from a website, and then it goes directly to the nether that they don't have to do inventory on it. They don't even pay for it until well after they've made that retail sale on dh, then they pay at the end of that, whatever that month is so it's, really sweet, except that yarn shop owners I don't know about that are freaked out because they're not selling patterns, even though they didn't want to sell patterns before, so it's your job, tio, get in there with some I've got ah huge wholesale yeah email list and I send these things out I offered to do class outlines for them I offered to send the marketing collateral you'll sell of this stuff and they just I think they're just so overloaded that they don't or they're not seeing the benefit of it then you have two choices you can continue to work with them and know that it's going to take a long time or you can decide that this is not a path that's productive well I want like ten stores I don't think a whole bunch of us want and I've got one that I'm just going to say like seriously I'll just try it right so you can figure this out um but how do you break through when people are like or do you just is there a way well there's no way to control other people that I would use that power so I think that you can do decide to things if a customer seems really unwilling to buy even though it would have massive benefit for them you can either decide to take the time that it takes I think what you're really learning here is that what they just need tons more information but they also need tons of time and that's just the part of their path can't make him going faster so you can decide to invest in that or you could decide to let go of it sorry, yeah, he's like, well, if I can get one shot to do it, then I can, like blogged about it and tell the story of, like this, right? How we did it. And this is what it's going to do for you and right? Absolutely okay, so I just have to convince what right that s o editorial to those shop owners so they know the pattern you're selling, ok? It's, like, I can't even get them toe get past right? And I think what you have to remember is that they need that information multiple times. They've done it once a no, no. Ok, so that path is a long one, and with any path, no matter how long or short you can decide, is this productive use of my time? Or is it not? And if I know it's going to take a long time in a lot of information, I need to accept that I need to let go of my idea that this is going too fast because you want to be in business forever, like you're not going to stop making knitting designed patterns so it's okay that it takes a year to year doesn't do it okay, so worried for the length of your life, just starting to say, and I thought that's on weird for as long as you want to do this you're going to be in business so if it takes a long time it takes a long time now if this was your only income stream and your goal was to be providing the living wage to support your family then you would need to take paths that got you there sooner so that's why it's really great actually that you brought this up because you can choose not to use um paths or you can choose to say this path takes a long time but what I really need is some more immediate sales so I'm gonna go directly to the consumer on going to market it in this way I'm gonna make sure they find me that my websites perfect because those buyers act faster but that doesn't mean you have to give up on the other one you just you got except that it takes time and it sounds like you're getting to that point are there any questions about customer path online before we go on to actually getting into it no, we don't have that many questions coming in yet but people are sharing there's a lot of people haven't really thought about this until now so I'm glad that we're doing this exercise but you know people are saying that you know for instance rocks he says I've only used facebook pinterest and twitter I don't yet have a place to buy so now they're starting to think about how do I make these all fit together? People are doing these actual drawings and mapping it out. I think it's really helped a lot of people, but some people are saying that their entire path right now, it's really just facebook or just their blogged, they don't have all of these different aspects yet. So this exercise is going to help a lot of you out there to realize this, and the thing is, in this actually warning, I have in my notes to make sure to say you'll get lots of ideas. You could have fifty ways people find you fifty ways they connect fifty ways to buy, but you don't need that you need one or really clear path that leads a person who doesn't know you two get to know you better to take the step to buy, and you need to make that very clear and get very good at it before you move on toe adding more tools to your arsenal, because all of these things we're talking about websites, blog's, pinterest is they're all just tools, and you get to choose which tool to use, and we'll go into and session three about choosing the right tool for you, but you're gonna get tons of ideas now, so do not get like that, you have to do it all right now we actually have a whole filtering system in session very about how to decide what to do and what not to do for now. Write down all ideas, though, and don't get overwhelmed thinking there's no way I can do this all day, come up with the ideas and will filter through them. But if you stop yourself from coming up with the ideas, you might miss something that's really great that you wouldn't have thought of before. So let yourself think crazy thoughts now, so let's actually get started on the first try the path I'm going to this, so don't watch, I want I want I mean an example that came in from virginia and they say, as of now, my path needs work. I make high end maternity fashions for photoshoot purposes. I do not have a website yet on ly, a facebook store and etc. Most of my new customers come from word of mouth, which is something that's hard to kind of quantify when it's all coming in through word of mouth or looking at other photographers work, then they seek her out. I didn't understand how important is to have a home, but now I'm going to be setting up my web site as soon as possible. Yeah so I got here that so where did math is actually one of the ways that you are going to get to hello that is a great way and we're going to do how about howto kind of optimize that improve on that even though you can't measure it it leads to more people who trust you right up front because their friend told you you were great it's at social proofing again that someone they trust said that they should trust you so when you talk about hello the main question is how does anyone find you like the internet's a big place how do they come across you and then how do does your right person that potential buyer how does she even know you exist? Right? Like you guys have really clarified you're right buyer and what she needs and why she needs it and you're all ready to speak to her but then like she has to know you're there right? So there's actually only a very few ways I see so many crafters get tangled up and how they're going to get people to know about their website there's a very few ways that people will actually find you so you just want to think about we will talk about each one and how to improve it but there's not that many options the first way is by searching they're going to search for the thing that you sell now searching is interesting because the concert from google insurgent etc then also search socially so when I want to know you are asking me where I find shoes that fit my big feet right you just searched and I gave you I told you where I had to get them and how tricky it is to get them so that's another way that we search like I need a really great outfit to wear this vent I need a necklace that goes with this dress then I'm searching my friends they're all telling meets that's another way of searching is when people ask about you how easy is it for the people who know about you to recommend it in another way is falling a link that someone else shared reading it deep into this but ah lot of people will come across you because one of your customers tweeted I just got this great scarf you should go check it out or uh someone shared on facebook or someone wrote a block post or someone shared a link to something you d'oh and they found it it's the wonderfulness of social media is people are always talking about what they're buying in doing so you want them to be talking about you and sharing the link and the first the second one about sharing link that's like that social proof thing they're saying I like it I trust this person you might like it too and then the third way is like discovering the real world. So just actually you saying I like the shoes and me telling you where it's from you just discovered this, we didn't need the internet, we didn't mean links we didn't need social media, we had a conversation s o that happens, this also happens if your work is in shops and people go into a shop that they like and there's your work and they buy it right that's, that's discovery in the real world it's a bunch of ways for your thing to be discovered and word of mouth it's in this section, and then the last one is by clicking on an advertisement. We're not going to go deep into this because this cost money on a lot of crafters you're just trying to get everything else in their path right before they invest money with it, just definitely what you should do not invest any money in your marketing until you know that each part of the path really works to bring people where they need to go, but clicking on advertisement is another way they'll find you.