Marketing To Crush Your Competitors: Online Business - Marketing Strategies - Fabienne Raphaël

This week, meet Cynthia Johnson. Cynthia has a very interesting story and background, plus, a very busy agenda. She deals with a lot of responsibilities and is master at managing each of them. Here is how she does it: Schedule, Calendar, Content Development, Content Repurposing (which is something that so many people forget to do!) Then, we talk about a strategy that many business owners use to build their brand. Being a contributor to a major publication. Have you ever done it? From her experience, Cynthia advises to first have an expertise and second, find useful content to share. Here is what she thinks about it: “I feel that sometimes people want to write for publications before they know what they want to write about, and it’s really important to first figure out what and why you’re writing somewhere.” After that, we dive into building social media presence. Having a tribe. Contribute and help other people. Have conversations. Remember that those conversations are often inspiration for your content c

This week, I made a special episode, just for you. I am back from 2 live events where I was speaking: Agents of Change Conference in Portland, Maine & Biz Buzz Social Media Conference in Syracuse, New York. On the first one, I had a workshop on "Small Business Champion Tactics: Connect with Influencers to Boost your Awareness and Expand your Reach" On the second one, I was a featured expert for the panel on "Influence & Authenticity". It made me reflect a lot of how crucial attending these events is. Either if you are starting your business, nor when you are established. I go through 7 Reasons why you should definitely attend live events. Now, tell me, what event will you attend next? Ways to Connect with me: Join my FREE Community: Connect, Build, Automate

This week, my guest is Amada Goldman-Petri. And we talk about something that could be contra-intuitive for a lot of people.   The majority of us were brought up to believe that in order to get something in life, you have to work hard and to hustle. All the time. Night and day. As if there was no other recipe to success, to goal achievement, to happiness… Amanda has declared the war against hustle!   Seriously. She shares her own story and how her mindset shifted about hustling.   She also advises you how you can start getting rid of the “hustling” thing. In life : Start by saying no to certain things: when was the last time you said no to someone or to something that is not on top of your list? Saying no to certain things is definitely a sign that you focus on your priority. Let go of some stuff: are you still thinking that you should do it all yourself? Delegating could be a great thing to start doing! In business: Think about leveraging: for example, instead of doing one on one, can you group these peopl

Name of guest: Courtney Daniel When I was a little girl, my cousin Daphney and I would correspond via mail. Sending ourselves letters. Secret letters. With special coding. So only both of us would understand the message. We called our system the Messenger Cousins. I was 9 years-old. We still talk about this today and are amazed about how we were patiently writing these coded letters.  We also took extremely good care of sending them on nice paper. Always. Why Handwritten Letters? I tell you that story because my guest this week is a personal correspondence liaison. She specializes in sending handwritten letters, cards, and correspondence to create lifelong memories. Courtney is fighting against the posts, the tweets, the text messages or the pictures that are sent quickly on social media. The communication changed through the years… But even if it did, people are still very excited about getting a handwritten letter, which is more likely to get opened as opposed to something with your typed name on it. As Cou

People’s number one fear is public speaking.  Are you scared by it too? This week, I interview Grant Baldwin, and we share the same passion: speaking. And for both of us, it’s definitely not our number 1 fear! This interview will relate with you a lot if you want to embrace the speaking career, if you don’t know where to start or how to do it the right way. One of the first things we discuss is if a beginner speaker should be paid on his first speech and if speaking for free is worth it or not. You will be surprised, because both options are possible and both options can end up being very profitable. We also discuss one of the biggest mistakes that speakers do and it is not to have a plan for their presentation: if someone is sitting in your audience and want to know more about you or the topic you just talked about, what should he do? Each and every person in your audience will always have these 2 questions in mind after your speech: So what? Now what? And you better have an answer for them! Making your pr

Name of Guest: Olivia Charlet Olivia has a unique background. You know how online entrepreneurs aim for the location independence lifestyle? Well, Olivia had that type of experience growing up, living in several countries. And it felt amazing for her. For some people, traveling abroad might feel scary, or giving the impression that you are losing ground… But in fact, Olivia explains that the “ground” at that time was her family. They were pretty tight, and that is where she felt her security was. Meeting so many different people and having to adapt to different societies and countries, Olivia became very good at quickly “sizing” people and knowing right away if they are a good fit for her. And in business, especially in online business, you need that sense of recognizing if a potential client has all the criteria to become your actual client. Then, we dive into a huge mistake that online entrepreneurs do when they begin: they want to please everyone… So let’s go with a step-by-step in order to find clarity. 

Name of guest: Charm Fernandez In this episode, Charm and I start the conversation with a big mistake that she did when she was still in the startup phase of her business. Her website was hacked and she did not host it with a very reputable company. Since she was helping people with their websites and recommending that company at the time, she realized that she had to up her game and standards, so she would show the right example to her clientele and ensure them website security with another hosting company. That was a great reminder that as online business owners, we absolutely have to be congruent about what we say and what we actually do! The One Rule  And since we are talking about websites, Charm states the only rule to apply in order to transform your website into a high-client magnet machine: Taking your potential clients to a path!  Don’t leave them hanging. Falling on your website and leaving without any call to action. In extension to call to action, we specifically talk about where you should put y

Success is Predictable.   That is Dr Jeff’s Spencer’s premise.   And he can prove that he’s right about it.   It’s a question of applying what he calls the Champion’s Blueprint Model: the outcome of very specific actions consistently applied, and most of the problems that people find themselves, and they are 100% preventable.   It’s also a state of mind. Having the right skills, technique and mindset to achieve the goals that you fixed. It’s about your state of readiness to go through that road.   3 Questions to Ask yourself Before Formulating your Goals   When you formulate your goals, here are 3 questions you should ask yourself: Are you pursuing the right goal? Are you ready to responsibly pursue this goal? Do you know how to achieve goals?   Most of the time, people don’t achieve their goals because they were not ready to face the challenges along the way.   Then What? Now that you have formulated your goal, here are the questions you should ask yourself before going forward with pursuing a goal: What’

Name of guest: Sarah Kaler   This week, I have a pleasant conversation with Sarah Kaler. She is a leadership coach & business consultant. And as probably some or many of you, she started her entrepreneurial journey accidentally. She was good in her corporate job, but she was also surrounded with so many brilliant entrepreneurs. At a certain point, she decided to start her own business part-time. And she was eventually able to make it grow to her full time income.   Entrepreneurship is no Easy Road   You all know that the road of the typical entrepreneur is not a straight line. There are bumps. There are challenges. There are setbacks. There are opportunities missed. But there are also health issues sometimes.   Which is what Sarah faced along the way.   There are 2 ways of reacting to it when it happens. Either you let it weaken you. Or either you let it strengthen you.   Sarah chose the hard way, but it eventually paid off!   She went through a major lifestyle makeover and finally got to experience bal

Name of guest : Laura Allen Laura is called « The Pitch Girl ». Not that she knows how to pitch a ball (well actually she might), but she’s an expert at helping individuals create a better pitch that they can say in just 15 seconds. What you are doing as an entrepreneur is most of the time related to what you were strong at as a kid, or what you were truly passionate about, or what you were skilled at. And asking Laura about that, I found out that as a kid, her persuasion skills were already above average. Entrepreneurship is also about thinking outside of the box and being different than the majority. Laura said that she was the “weird girl”, that she felt like she did not “fit in”. She just wanted to do her own thing. Then, we go on about the pitch. How at networking events, people are not prepared for it. How sometimes, their pitch is way too long. How it is crucial to learn it, so you can nail it when needed. She created a formula to help entrepreneurs get their best pitch. 4 Steps for your Best Pitch

I met Cliff 3 years ago at Podcast Movement and I remember that it was very pleasant. And it felt exactly the same, talking to him for 20-25 minutes during this podcast interview. Remember Episode 208 with Kevin Rogers, when we discussed the saying : « Follow the passion and the money will follow»?   Well, we get into it again, because Cliff has another view on it.   He quotes Dan Miller and mentions that there are 3 things required to enjoy a successful business: You must be passionate about the topic You must have talent And you must have an economic model if you want to turn your passion in a business.   This whole idea of success brought me to ask him about how he is feeling now that he has lost 100 pounds.   Is financial success enough? To feel congruent, do you also need to have success personally? Is taking care of you part of feeling like a success?   We go quite deep into these thoughts and it will definitely make you think about it for yourself too.   Finally, we get into the topic of paying for

This week, I interview Jessica Rhodes. And we share the same passion, which is podcasting.   Jessica decided to take the plunge and put herself out there, hosting her own show a few years after she had started her business helping people get booked on other podcasts. And I am sure that a lot of you relate to what she experienced. Having these thoughts that people won’t like what you do. Or being so afraid that things don’t work out for you.   Well, today, she’s glad that she started all of this. It totally pays off!   We get into a very interesting topic: business structure. A lot of online business owners (beginners) don’t know which type of service to offer first. Should it be coaching, membership, writing a book… And Jessica explains how it has to do with testing. Trial and errors. But the most important thing? Hire a coach! It will help you avoid so many mistakes… Especially with helping you finding your price points. To make sure that you are not charging too much or too low!   We continue the conversati

Name of guest: Shelley Davidescu I had a very pleasant interview with an inspiring guest, Shelley. We start the interview directly by stating how human beings are powerful and gifted and how when we really understand how to harness the power of our emotions, we are limitless. Do you agree? It’s amazing because Shelley’s story relates with so many other people, still experiencing the 9 to 5, or with those who have already taken the leap into entrepreneurship. She had a job and was expecting a raise. Of course, she was an extremely good employee and did everything to get that raise. But when that day came, she was told that the company had no budget and that they could not secure that raise.   What would you do? Now. If any of you is in that situation. What do you do? It's too easy to put the fault on anybody else. Your boss. The economy. The company you work for. But guess what? The only person that led you to be in that situation is yourself. And the only person able to get you out of this situation is yourse

Name of guest : Kevin Rogers I met Kevin a few months ago, at Titans’ Masterclass, an incredible event hosted by my friend Brian Kurtz. Kevin is a copywriter who has an interesting and inspiring story. He started his career as a broke comedian and explains how he fought his way to become the person he is today, and how the saying “Follow your Passion and the Money will Follow” is not necessarily true… Technically, this saying would work under some conditions… Passion is definitely not enough! We also explore how to embrace your true self and how to integrate who you are in what you do. Which is unfortunately a place where a lot of entrepreneurs fail, feeling that they have a boring story or that they should copy and try to be someone else instead of just putting themselves out there. We rant a bit on the shiny object syndrome and then dive in into copywriting. How to recognize when to hire someone to do it for you, why you should definitely develop your copy skills and many other things. This was a very pleas

Introvert or Extrovert Entrepreneur? It’s funny sometimes how what we see and how someone got there is an inspiring story. Regan, a woman who appears confident and extrovert admits on this interview being a learned extrovert and born introvert. That it’s a skill that she learned along the years for her business, but also to make her impact bigger in the world. I totally relate with what she says, because it’s the same for me. When I was a kid, I was the solitary type. Quiet. Not that much sociable. And I am sure that it also relates with a lot of you, reading or listening.   What do Entrepreneurs Struggle with? Regan and I also talk about how people are torn between doing what they are actually called to do and doing what’s expected of them. How sometimes people stay stuck for a long time and how it takes a lot of courage to get out of this trap and finally express their true self. How sometimes, as entrepreneurs, people do the mistake of creating another job, still trading time for money, instead of structur

Dr Sharon has always been curious about what’s going on in people’s head. Here is what she says about it : « It’s just amazing to me that people have such interesting reasons that they don’t even know about. If you scratch the surface you can get at it, but they will give you a rationale alibi for what they do. The real reason they do it has something to do with a feeling that they have. There’s an emotional end benefit that’s much more important. You can’t get that by asking it directly. »   Dr Sharon & Fabienne discuss about the importance of knowing about your audience’s psychology as an online business owner. Who they are, What’s important to them What problem they are trying to solve Say out loud the words that represent features and functional benefits What is your unique solution to their problem Dr Sharon then takes good time to explain the emotional ladder that a client goes through, when they consume your product or service. And to do that, you have to ask them to do a chain of benefits.  Ther

Abbey is the copywriter and content strategist for six and seven figure plus businesses. She’s been writing copy since 7th grade when she tried to make a boy fall in love with her by writing a 30 page novella and now she writes her own blog, On Life and Writing dot com.   In this interview Fabienne discusses copywriting with Abbey and Abbey shares lots of great authentic information along with her opinions. Talking about her book ‘How To Learn Voice’ Abbey defines 'voice' and explains what would be the first thing an online entrepreneur could do to find his own voice. She suggests there are 3 parts which makes a voice: tone, vocabulary and length. Abbey also explains in detail 3 steps to recognize your voice. She gives clear and informative answers for entrepreneurs in finding the right copywriter and how and when they should delegate the copywriting process, in what extent they should be involved in the process themselves. She also gives advice for copywriters in order for them to write a great copy for thei

Izabela is the company director, business development manager and head of customer experience for Music Radio Creative. Music Radio Creative is all about voice overs and jingles. Izabela is the brains behind many operations within the company. Izabela is also the co founder of New Media Europe, a conference for entrepreneurs, freelancers, business owners, content creators focused on growth.     In this interview Fabienne discusses with Izabela about her company, how she started it and also about the New Media Europe, a conference for entrepreneurs, freelancers and business owners focused on growth. Izabela's company deals with sound and audio professionals and explains in detail what business owners most struggle with. She gives examples of 2 kind of business owners and says the tricky part is when someone is getting started in their business and they don't know from where to get started. Izabela explains how is it working with your husband on a business and how one can enjoy the working relationship. She alo

Sheevaun is a business advisor, master coach, and energy thought leader. She founded Energetic Solutions, Inc to help entrepreneurs and individuals alike to achieve amazing results using uncommon ancient principles.   In this interview Fabienne and Sheevaun talked about healing oneself with the energy inside them. Sheevaun believes that energy is everything. She has been using it to build sales teams, marketing plans, get successful and has also discovered a formula for it. According to her there are certain meditation techniques by which one can not only heal themselves but also to make their businesses better. She explains in detail that how she's helping others to recognize and achieve it. Sheevaun shares the secret of why some entrepreneurs get stuck in their business and what's the main cause. She helps people in realizing the negative thoughts inside them and how to take control of it. Listen to this amazing discussion of healing powers with the help of positive energy!    

Justin is the co-founder and president at Conversion Fanatics and the best selling author of ‘How to double your customers, sales and profits with A/B testing’. Justin is a 14 year veteran of digital marketing having worked on hundreds of profitable campaigns. A self proclaimed numbers junky with a firm belief that the numbers don’t lie, has a knack for finding holes in marketing campaigns and offering simple solutions to quickly plug them, effectively improving the results. An avid student of marketing and business, he firmly believes that you must continue to improve daily in order to stay ahead and succeed.   In this interview Fabienne and Justin talk about testing, converting and optimizing to make a business sales grow faster. How one can create a world class company with incorporating systems and processes. What are the key factors when it comes to a target market and how to make your sales & landing pages more attractive for customers to buy more. Justin differentiates between strategy and tactic o