Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How Big is the Leap from Your Site to Your Sales?

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Are you asking your website visitors to leap from discovering your site and being mildly interested in you to purchasing your top-level, most expensive service?

Instead, invite your website visitors into your marketing funnel.

A marketing funnel is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. At the top of the funnel are your free products and services, including one main "pink spoon."

Free gifts are easy for your prospective customers to say yes to, and increase the likelihood that they'll hop into your funnel.

From there, the funnel becomes narrower, as the prices of your offerings increase.

Someone may not be willing to go from a free product right up to your highest-priced product or service, so you offer them many levels in between – keeping them in your funnel, building a relationship with them, and showcasing your expertise and skill at solving their problems.

The fuller and more varied your funnel, the longer someone will stay, the more they can (and will) buy from you, and the more likely they will make it to the bottom.

For a more complete explanation of how to apply these concepts, please check out Andrea Lee's masterpiece Multiple Streams of Coaching Income.

Written information products are a great way to fill your funnel. And you don't have to start from scratch. Clients have hired me to:

  • Turn a collection of free articles into an e-book for sale,
  • Turn their coaching program into an e-course,
  • Turn their blog posts into a special report, and
  • Create a learning guide to accompany a recorded tele-class.

Remember, a visitor may not be ready to jump from a free pink spoon to your most expensive offering, so make sure there are some choices in between.

If there are gaps in your marketing funnel, contact me about how we can get started today to fill them.

What is Pink Spoon Marketing?

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The term "pink spoon" was coined by Andrea Lee, and was inspired by the popular ice cream store that hands you a little pink spoon and lets you sample some of their 31 flavours.

A pink spoon is a valuable product such as an article, tips sheet, special report or e-course. You offer this item to your website visitors in exchange for their email address and permission to contact them later with more information about your products and services.

Many clients have used my help to prepare a pink spoon for their website. Some already had some content (e.g. blog posts, newsletter articles, emails they'd written to clients or assorted ideas they'd collected over time), and just needed some editing help to pull it all together.

Others used my ghostwriting services and I coached the content right out them!

Who Are You and What Do You Want? Writing for Your Niche

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I have some bad news, and it might be tough to hear.

Not everyone is going to like you, trust you, believe in you or want to work with you.

You might be rolling your eyes and thinking, “of course not, I didn’t think that …”

Take a good look at your marketing, though. Who are you writing your marketing messages and promotional materials for?

I hear so many small business owners say “I work with anyone who …”

Even if you truly believe that anyone and everyone could benefit from your solutions and services, if you try to dilute your message to appeal to everyone, it will not stand out to anyone!

Choosing a niche market is a courageous step. If you’ve done it, congratulations! Please read on.

If you haven’t done it, please take the Lighthouse Test by Jan H. Stringer and Alan Hickman. [Update December 22, 2014: The test is now available here with a subscription to the Attracting Perfect Customers newsletter.]

Once you’ve chosen your niche, here are three ways to make sure that your writing is targeted to exactly who you’ve decided to serve.

1. Know your niche.

[Updated December 8, 2012] When she used to have a business called Money Smart Woman, Cindy Morus created a composite ideal client named Debting Debbie. She could tell you anything you needed to know about Debbie, including what kind of place she lived in, her education level, what she cared about, and how much money she made.

What’s more, every time Cindy sat down to write something for her website, newsletter or other promotions, she knew exactly who she was writing for.

Even more important? Debting Debbie, sitting at her computer, could feel that Cindy was talking just to her. She felt seen, heard and understood, and she instantly connected to what Cindy was offering.

As well, there were a lot of people that heard or read Cindy’s message that had a “Debting Debbie” in his or her life, and they instantly recognized this was a website they should pass along.

2. Write headlines that draw the right readers in.

Be as clear as you can in your headline about what the reader will find within. Yes, it’s important to get the reader’s attention by asking questions, using a snappy catch phrase or making a bold statement. But you also need enough detail for your ideal client to know that this material was written just for him or her.

Even if you don’t address the person you’re writing the article for in your headline, you can address the problem they’re looking to solve or the solution you have to offer.

3. Research, read and collaborate to write for your niche.

Andrea Lee introduced me to the concept of being a Google for my website and blog visitors. In Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, she writes:

“The fact is people are no longer looking for more information. They are looking for the exactly right information at the precise moment they want it.”

Keep up with the newest trends and read the latest news. Find, evaluate and share the information your ideal client is looking for.

Also, remember that two heads can create more content than one. Collaborate with another expert in your area of specialty – someone with a complimentary service to your own. Write an article together, interview them as an expert and publish a podcast or package it all together with a learning guide you can both sell as a product.

Quick Writing Prompt: Who’s the “Debting Debbie” of your niche market? Now look back at something you’ve written and evaluate whether he or she will see themselves.

Note: This article was edited on July 26, 2008 to conform with The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write.

Planting seeds to grow your business

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"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." – Robert Louis Stevenson

I like to remind myself of that sentiment on those days when I’m not seeing RESULTS (e.g. new clients).

The thing is, I know that if I just keep on keeping on, my actions will get results. Usually not the way I imagined they would, and almost never when I want them to, but always according to God’s perfect plan.

Let’s keep planting those seeds!

Top 10 ways to re-use frequently asked questions

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  1. Publish an FAQ page. If you haven't done so yet, add an FAQ page to your website. If you already have one, update it with new questions as they come along.
  2. Save time on your next reply. Keep a copy of your response in a special email folder to recycle when the question comes up again.
  3. Hit the drawing board. Create a product that solves the problem – not just for that one person, but for many.
  4. Mine for content. Turn your reply into an article or a series of articles.
  5. Create an opportunity for learning. Combine five, seven or ten questions and answers into an e-course that's delivered by autoresponder.
  6. Call in an expert. Interview an expert on the topic. Record the interview and combine it with a learning guide and/or workbook to create a passive revenue product.
  7. Package the solution. Create a concrete, time-limited, flat-rate service that will address this problem or question.
  8. Search and research. Research the most current books, blogs and articles that answer the question and review those materials on your blog. Your visitors will keep coming back to you for the latest and greatest information about your area of specialty.
  9. Systemize your business. Develop terms (to share with others) and procedures (for you and your team) for your services and most common business activities. Go for maximum efficiency in minimum time.
  10. Head off questions at the pass. Edit your website and marketing materials to make sure they're as clear as possible. Try to answer the questions before people ask them!

Remember to smile and be grateful for each and every time someone asks you a question. It means they were interested enough to find out more.